Handing out the Hardware: All-conference players of 2022 (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on December 30, 2022 by Jon Teitel

The end of the calendar year means that it is time to recognize the best players in college basketball during 2022. 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 a special award for Player of the Year So Far (POYSF). If you think that he has overlooked anyone then feel free to tweet us your comments, and check back tomorrow for the remaining conferences in Part 2.

America East
G: Sherif Gross-Bullock (Bryant)
G: Kellen Tynes (Maine)
G: Earl Timberlake (Bryant)
F: Clarence Daniels II (New Hampshire)
F: Abdoul Karim Coulibaly (UMass-Lowell)
POYSF: Clarence Daniels II (New Hampshire)

AAC
G: Kendric Davis (Memphis)
G: Javon Small (East Carolina)
G: David DeJulius (Cincinnati)
F: DeAndre Williams (Memphis)
F: Kevin Cross (Tulane)
POYSF: Kendric Davis (Memphis)

A-10
G: Foster Loyer (Davidson)
G: James Bishop IV (George Washington)
G: Erik Reynolds II (St. Joseph’s)
F: Tyler Burton (Richmond)
F: DaRon Holmes II (Dayton)
POYSF: Tyler Burton (Richmond)

ACC
G: Caleb Love (North Carolina)
G: Tyree Appleby (Wake Forest)
F: Armando Bacot (North Carolina)
F: Blake Hinson (Pitt)
C: Jesse Edwards (Syracuse)
POYSF: Armando Bacot (North Carolina)

Atlantic Sun
G: Camren Hunter (Central Arkansas)
G: Kenny Dye (Queens)
F: Devontae Blanton (Eastern Kentucky)
F: Eddy Kayouloud (Central Arkansas)
C: Elijah Hutchins-Everett (Austin Peay)
POYSF: Kenny Dye (Queens)

Big 12
G: Mike Miles Jr. (TCU)
G: Marcus Carr (Texas)
F: Jalen Wilson (Kansas)
F: Keyontae Johnson (Kansas State)
C: Tanner Groves (Oklahoma)
POYSF: Jalen Wilson (Kansas)

Big East
G: Primo Spears (Georgetown)
G: Souley Boum (Xavier)
F: Bryce Hopkins (Providence)
F: Adama Sanogo (Connecticut)
C: Joel Soriano (St. John’s)
POYSF: Adama Sanogo (Connecticut)

Big Sky
G: Divant’e Moffitt (Idaho)
G: Dalton Knecht (Northern Colorado)
G: Isaac Jones (Idaho)
F: Josh Bannan (Montana)
C: Callum McRae (Sacramento State)
POYSF: Isaac Jones (Idaho)

Big South
G: Isaiah Wilkins (Longwood)
G: Ricky Clemons (Campbell)
F: Drew Pember (UNC-Asheville)
F: Kelton Talford (Winthrop)
F: Zack Austin (High Point)
POYSF: Drew Pember (UNC-Asheville)

Big 10
G: Terrence Shannon Jr. (Illinois)
G: Jalen Pickett (Penn State)
F: Tyler Wahl (Wisconsin)
F: Trayce Jackson-Davis (Indiana)
C: Zach Edey (Purdue)
POYSF: Zach Edey (Purdue)

Big West
G: Elijah Pepper (UC-Davis)
G: Zyon Pullin (UC-Riverside)
G: Ajay Mitchell (UCSB)
F: Miles Norris (UCSB)
F: Christian Anigwe (UC-Davis)
POYSF: Elijah Pepper (UC-Davis)

CAA
G: Aaron Estrada (Hofstra)
G: Jameer Nelson Jr. (Delaware)
F: Jyare Davis (Delaware)
F: Jordan Nesbitt (Hampton)
F: Amari Williams (Drexel)
POYSF: Aaron Estrada (Hofstra)

C-USA
G: Jordan Walker (UAB)
G: Quincy Olivari (Rice)
F: Abou Ousmane (North Texas)
F: Isaiah Crawford (Louisiana Tech)
C: Jacob Germany (UTSA)
POYSF: Jordan Walker (UAB)

Horizon
G: Antoine Davis (Detroit Mercy)
G: Trey Calvin (Wright State)
G: Dwayne Cohill (Youngstown State)
F: Trey Townsend (Oakland)
F: Kahliel Spear (Robert Morris)
POYSF: Antoine Davis (Detroit Mercy)

Ivy
G: Paxson Wojcik (Brown)
G: Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa (Columbia)
G: Greg Dolan (Cornell)
F: Chris Ledlum (Harvard)
F: Tosan Evbuomwan (Princeton)
POYSF: Chris Ledlum (Harvard)

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games – Friday, Dec 30th

Posted on December 30, 2022 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES:

-For Jon Teitel’s Interview with Mark Montieth about Scott Kyles – CLICK HERE

-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE

-Providence continues to look more and more like a solid NCAA Tournament team.  Butler isn’t exactly setting the world on fire this year, but for Providence to go on the road and totally blow them off the floor was something.  The final score was 72-52 and the game wasn’t really even that close.

-Rice picked up a really nice win at Western Kentucky 81-78 and is now 10-3 on the year.  They’re still a long way from the bubble, but the top of CUSA is good enough to where if they can pick up a few more wins like this one they may find themselves on the board.

-Iowa absolutely stinks all of a sudden.  They have gone from looking like a top 25 team to looking like they don’t even belong in D1.  After losing to Eastern Illinois at home, they were blown off the floor by Nebraska 66-50 last night.

-Michigan appeared to be pulling themselves together, but after losing 63-61 at home to Central Michigan last night and falling to 7-5 overall, they’ve looked like an NIT team or worse more than they’ve looked like an NCAA Tournament team so far.

-UAB and Southern Miss both needed to sweat, but both held on for the wins.  UAB beat UTEP in double overtime 79-73 and Southern Miss held off Troy 64-60.  Both teams are in a position to make a run at the bubble, but they can’t slip up in games like these and both had close calls last night.

-Santa Clara got a really solid win in their conference opener against a San Francisco team that had been playing really well.  They’re now 13-3 on the year with a smattering of decent wins after their 79-67 win.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-NORTH CAROLINA AT PITTSBURGH (ACC).  North Carolina has won four straight and picked up a nice win against Michigan in their last game, but they’re currently 0-2 in true road games, so getting this one against a Pitt team that’s actually halfway decent would be one of their more important wins of the year so far.

-MIAMI FL AT NOTRE DAME (ACC).  Miami FL continues to string together wins, build a strong resume, and climb the rankings.  Notre Dame, for the most part, continues to disappoint.  This should be a winnable conference road game for the Canes.

-NC STATE AT CLEMSON (ACC).  Both teams have good records, but neither has any high caliber wins yet so both have work to do.  A win today for either team would help out their resume.

-USC AT WASHINGTON (Pac 12).  USC is starting to play better, but this will be a tough road test for them.  It’s just their second road game of the year and while they should win, it won’t be a cakewalk.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES/BUY GAMES:

-Buffalo @ Michigan State
-Western Michigan @ Wisconsin
-Coppin State @ Rutgers
-UCLA @ Washington State (Pac 12) – UCLA is playing as well as anyone in the country right now

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Happy Anniversary! HoopsHD interviews Mark Montieth about Scott Skiles

Posted on December 30, 2022 by Jon Teitel

There are a lot of NBA records set my big men that have lasted for decades: Wilt Chamberlain’s 55-REB game in 1960, Wilt’s 100-PT game in 1962, and Elmore Smith’s 17-BLK game in 1973. 1 of the few records not held by a 7-footer is the all-time AST record, which was set by 6’1″ PG Scott Skiles more than 30 years ago when he had 30 AST for Orlando in a win over Denver. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with author Mark Montieth about Scott’s career and his record-setting night. Today marks the 32nd anniversary of Scott’s fantastic feat so we take this time to remember his life/legacy.

In 1982 as a senior at Plymouth High School, Skiles led the state of Indiana with 30.2 PPG, scored 39 PTS (including a 20-foot buzzer-beater at the end of regulation) in a 1-PT 2-OT state tourney title game win over Roosevelt High School, and was named tourney MVP: how good a player was he back in high school, and where does that title game rank among the most memorable in Indiana history? I would rank it 2nd to Bobby Plump’s championship with Milan (featured in the movie “Hoosiers”). Plymouth is the smallest school to win the state championship in the single-class tournament since Milan: they only have around 800 kids. Skiles’ shot is well-remembered: people swear that it curved from left to right. He was certainly respected but not highly recruited due to his size/athleticism. He was originally planning to go to Purdue because he had attended their camps while growing up. Prior to his senior year he did not play well at the camp because he was injured and assistant coach Clarence Glover wrote him a letter saying that they were no longer recruiting him. Coach Gene Keady found out and tried to fix it but it was too late…so Glover was fired the following year! Michigan State coach Jud Heathcote watched Scott in 1 game and he did not play great, but after leaving the gym he decided to return and Scott played very well in his next game so Jud gave him a scholarship. He was a great passer/shooter and was quick enough: you do not have a long NBA career without being athletic. He was 1 of the most entertaining players that I have ever seen due to his passing.

What impact did Heathcote have on him (if any)? Jud gave Scott a lot of freedom as he previously did for Magic Johnson. They were playing against Indiana 1 year and Jud just told Scott to go out and freelance, which he loved because that played to his strengths. Jud could get on his players’ cases and be demanding but he put up with Scott’s personality: it was the right place for him to play.

As a senior he scored 27.4 PPG and was named All-American/Big 10 POY: what did it mean to him to receive such outstanding honors? I think he really enjoyed that: even more than the honors was the chance to stick it to all of the opposing coaches who had passed over him. He had a chip on shoulder so he was proud of the career he had. He had a lot of pride about his game but did not have a lot of ego. I think the memories are more important to him than the awards.

He graduated as the school’s all-time leading scorer (2145 PTS)/FT shooter (85 FT%)/passer (645 AST): I assume that Magic Johnson is the best PG to ever play in East Lansing…but is Skiles that far behind him? Not too far, but you have to give props to Scott. Magic was 6’8” while Scott was listed at 6’1”, which is a big difference. As far as a true PG who could run a team and be a leader, Scott could do that. He was every bit as good a passer as Magic and in college he was a better shooter. Shaquille O’Neal once said that Scott was his favorite PG, which was quite an endorsement.

In the summer of 1986 he was drafted 22nd overall by Milwaukee (5 spots ahead of Dennis Rodman): did he see that as a validation of his college career, or the realization of a lifelong dream of reaching the NBA, or other? He was probably offended that he went as late as he did since he was an All-American. However, being drafted in the 1st round should be considered a great accomplishment. It did not work out for him in Milwaukee as he only played in 13 games because of an injury. He was traded to the Pacers the following summer for a 2nd round pick, which was a good deal for the Pacers.

On December 30, 1990, as a player for Orlando he had 22 PTS and set an NBA record with 30 AST in a 155-116 win over Denver (whose entire team had 14 AST): how was he able to get so many AST as part of a starting lineup featuring Nick Anderson/Terry Catledge/Greg Kite/Dennis Scott, and do you think that anyone will ever break his record? He played 2 years for the Pacers but 1 of GM Donnie Walsh’s rare mistakes was not protecting Scott in the expansion draft. Scott was a backup PG and Donnie protected SG Randy Wittman instead…and I am sure that he regretted it. Even though Scott did not have the greatest talent around him he was still playing with pros who knew how to score. It just speaks to his ability as a playmaker and the way that he approached the game. He was there to be a true PG and deliver the ball to the right place. And, in fairness, Denver was a poor defensive team. The assist record could be broken due to the full-court game now but I cannot recall anyone even coming close to breaking it (note: nobody in the 21st century has had more than 25 AST in a game).

He only started 371 games in his pro career but remains in the top-50 in NBA history with 6.5 APG/88.9 FT%: do you think that he deserves more credit for being a solid PG for a decade in the NBA? Probably so: his name does not roll off your tongue when you mention the best PGs, but he became a great 3-PT shooter and always had a good AST-TO ratio. He had great intangibles: he was cocky and willing to fight anyone, which made an impact on his teammates. Guys loved playing with him.

In his 1st season as head coach of Phoenix in 2000 he went 40-22, upset the defending champs (Spurs) in the 1st round of the playoffs, then lost to the eventual champs (Lakers) in the Western Conference Semifinals: were you surprised that he went into coaching, and do you think that his early success raised the bar too high (he never had a higher winning percentage in any of his 13 subsequent seasons as a coach)? He talked about becoming a coach pretty openly during college. He was a natural and truly loved the game so I thought that he could be a good coach. He is very demanding and is not eager to put up with players who have bad attitudes or management that has a different plan for the future: he was not a politician. I remember speaking with him when he was an assistant coach in Phoenix. I asked him how it was going and he said, “It would be better if I was the head coach!” He knew how to set up a team and get things going but he has made it clear to me that he does not want to become a head coach again. He reminds me of Larry Brown, who always moved on to get a fresh start somewhere else.

In 2009 he was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame: where does that rank among the highlights of his career? He is very proud of that because he knows what Indiana high school basketball is all about. He took great pride in winning a state title with a bunch of teammates who did not go on to play D-1 basketball: it was a real Cinderella story.

When people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? For his fiery attitude and the way that he approached every game. You never had to worry about his effort because he was such a hard-nosed guy. He also played with a confidence level that affected his teammates in a positive way. When he played at Michigan State there was 1 game in Ann Arbor against Michigan. Antoine Joubert was a highly-publicized player for Michigan who was a little chubby. Right before tip-off Scott slapped him on the butt and said something like, “Show me what you got, fat boy”…and then Michigan State went out and won the game. Another story is that a few years after the expansion draft he came back with Orlando to play the Pacers and scored 41 points. Pacers coach Bob Hill called a timeout at one point and as Scott ran by the Indiana bench he yelled, “Call all the timeouts you want; you got nobody who can stop me!” He was a lot like Larry Bird: a cocky rural kid who could dominate a game with his skills. He got into some trouble in college, and even had to spend a few days in jail because of marijuana possession, but never got into any kind of legal trouble after that. He was the underdog who got by on his savvy, skill, and hustle.

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Under The Radar Game of the Day – Friday, December 30th

Posted on December 30, 2022 by John Stalica

North Alabama (8-5, 0-0) at Jacksonville State (7-6, 0-0) – 7:00 PM ET (ESPN+)

Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day matches a pair of schools from the state of Alabama – North Alabama travels to Jacksonville State for the Atlantic Sun opener for both teams. The Lions of UNA have won 4 out of their last 5 games; this includes a win against Ole Miss on the road as well as a double-digit comeback in the 2nd half against Morehead State on the road. Daniel Ortiz averages 13.2 points a game for the Lions.

Much like the Wright State-Northern Kentucky rivalry, there is a lot of history between UNA and Jacksonville State that took place in the NCAA Division II era. The Gamecocks lead the rivalry series 58-35 that dates back to 1950. Demaree King (16.0 PPG) and former Wright State/Morehead State standout Skyelar Potter (15.1 PPG) lead JSU in scoring this season.

 

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games – Thursday, Dec 29th

Posted on December 29, 2022 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES:

-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE

-Villanova didn’t get the win at UConn, but they were right in there for most of the game in the 74-66 loss and it wasn’t until the last couple of minutes that UConn got complete control of the game.  After a 2-5 start, Nova has looked much better, and given that this was probably their hardest remaining game of the year, they’re playing well enough to get the wins they need to get between now and the end to land inside the bubble.  Their record is just 7-6, but I’m betting that by the end of the year their resume will be just fine.

-Tennessee picked up their first road win of the season in a 63-59 battle at Ole Miss.

-Alabama picked up yet another really good road win as they held knocked off Mississippi State 78-67 in a game where they pretty much led the whole way.  The Tide haven’t been perfect this season, but when you look at the quality of their wins they’re of as high a quality as anyone else in the nation right now.

-LSU improved to 12-1 after knocking off a really strong Arkansas team at home 60-57.  LSU’s schedule had been a little weak, but after picking this one up they should be getting quite a bit more attention.

-Missouri is also now 12-1 after beating Kentucky rather handily 89-75.  They seemed to sustain a double digit lead for the entire game, and considering they’ve now blown out Illinois and didn’t even really sweat Kentucky it’s probably time to start ranking Missouri higher than…well…not ranking them at all.

-Xavier is good this year.  They picked up a very nice road win at Saint John’s 84-79 and were actually in control for pretty much the entire game.  At 11-3 with their only losses being close games to Duke, Indiana and Gonzaga, Xavier has shown that they may be good enough to earn a protected seed.  They will face UConn on New Years Even in a game that should be completely off the hook.

-Fordham, who appeared to be having a dream season after a 12-1 start, came back down to Earth a little bit last night.  They really weren’t ever in the game against Davidson last night despite being at home, and only scored 14pts in the first half before losing 57-43.

-UNLV suffered their second lost of the year as they fell to San Jose State 75-72 in overtime.  San Jose State probably won’t land inside the bubble, but at 10-4 on the year with some fairly nice wins they are much improved.  This was one of the worst non UTR programs prior to Tim Miles taking over as head coach.

-Boise State lost a close and exciting one at Nevada 74-72.  Both teams are good, and both could have really used this win.  At 11-3 on the season Nevada is starting to make some noise and deserves some attention.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-PROVIDENCE AT BUTLER (Big East).  Providence appears to be within reach of the bubble, but to get safely inside it this is the kind of road game they need to be able to win.  Butler is 6-1 at home, but they’re nowhere near the bubble and right now the chances of them even making the NIT don’t seem that good.

-RICE AT WESTERN KENTUCKY (Conference USA).  Both teams come in 9-3, and while the margin for error is small both appear to be good enough to possibly make a run at the bubble.  But, both would have to basically really blow through the conference, and that would mean getting a win tonight.

-IOWA AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten).  Iowa went on Christmas Break a little early and needs to bounce back from what was a historically bad loss against Eastern Illinois.  This is a road game they should be able to pick up.

-LOUISIANA AT COASTAL CAROLINA (Sun Belt).  Louisiana is an impressive 10-2, but they need to hold serve in road games like this one if they want any shot at all at landing inside the bubble.

-APPALACHIAN STATE AT MARSHALL (Sun Belt).  At 11-2, Marshall hasn’t always looked perfect, but they’ve looked good enough to where they’ll stay on the radar until they give us a reason to take them off of it.  They need to hold serve in games like this one, which is actually the story for nearly all of their remaining games.

-FLORIDA ATLANTIC AT NORTH TEXAS (Conference USA).  This is a HUGELY important game between two teams with bloated records who both look like they could land inside the bubble, but who both also need notable wins and have limited opportunities the rest of the way.  That’s what makes this one so important.

-SAN FRANCISCO AT SANTA CLARA (West Coast).  I like how both teams have played so far, and think it’s possible for both of them to land inside the bubble with a strong showing in conference.  This is a big opportunity and an important game for both of them tonight.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES/BUY GAMES:

-Brown @ Northwestern
-Delaware State @ Penn State
-Alabama A&M @ Ohio State
-Florida A&M @ Purdue
-Central Michigan @ Michigan
-UMBC @ Maryland
-Hampton @ Charleston (Colonial)
-UTEP @ UAB (Conference USA) – UAB is building a resume that will get them a serious look so long if they can continue to hold serve.
-South Florida @ Memphis (American) – I like how Memphis is playing and think they appear to be a solid tourney caliber team
-Sam Houston @ Tarleton (WAC) – this is a chance for Sam Houston to pick up yet another true road win and improve to 11-2 overall
-Troy @ Southern Miss (Sun Belt) – Southern Miss is having an incredible year and they have a chance to land inside the bubble if they keep playing the way they have been
-Bethune Cookman @ Illinois
-Tulane @ Cincinnati (American) – both teams have work to do just to get back into the discussion
-Valpo @ Drake (Missouri Valley) – Drake is pretty much out of strikes, but they are talented enough to blow through the MVC and get on the committee’s radar
-San Diego @ Saint Mary’s (West Coast) – SMC should be able to hold serve in this one
-Utah @ California (Pac 12) – This is some low hanging fruit for Utah.  It is about as winnable as conference road games will ever be for them

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Under The Radar Game of the Day – Thursday, December 29th

Posted on December 29, 2022 by John Stalica

Florida Atlantic (11-1, 1-0) at North Texas (10-2, 1-0) – 8:00 PM ET (ESPN+)

Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day figures to be one of the best matchups we’ll see all year in Conference USA with Florida Atlantic paying a visit to the Super Pit at North Texas. FAU comes into the game on a 10-game winning streak that includes a win in their conference opener against rival FIU about 2 weeks ago. Head coach Dusty May became the all-time winningest coach in FAU history with the Owls’ win against Northern Kentucky in their last year. Did we mention this is only the fifth season for May?

Since losing to UNC-Wilmington in the championship game of the Baha Mar Bahamas championship game, the Mean Green of North Texas have now won five straight games. They look to be peaking going into the new year; they won by 18 points against UMass in Springfield, MA and also won their conference opener on the road against UT-San Antonio by 24 points. Abou Ousmane had a dominant game against the Roadrunners with 37 points and 11 rebounds.

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