Conference USA Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on November 21, 2020 by David Griggs

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

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:

  1. Western Kentucky
  2. North Texas
  3. Marshall
  4. UAB
  5. Old Dominion
  6. Charlotte
  7. Louisiana Tech
  8. UTEP
  9. UTSA
  10. Florida Atlantic
  11. FIU
  12. Middle Tennessee
  13. Southern Miss
  14. Rice

 

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE TEAM:

-Jordan Shepherd, – SR, G – Charlotte
-Jahmir Young – SO, G – Charlotte
-Taevion Kinsey – JR, G – Marshall
-Jarrod West – SR, G – Marshall
-Javion Hamlet – SR, G – North Texas
-Bryson Williams – SR, F – UTEP
-Jhivvan Jackson – SR, G – UTSA
-Keaton Wallace – SR, G – UTSA
-Taveion Hollingsworth – SR, G – Western Kentucky
-Charles Bassey – JR, C – Western Kentucky

 

COMMENTS FROM DAVID:

-Let me start with acknowledging what this conference has not only done for college basketball, but what it has done for sports around the world.  They have given us The Curtain!  THE CURTAIN!!!  The greatest thing in sports in perhaps this past century!!  Two tournament games going on in the same building at the same time separated by a curtain, but set up so that fans can walk back and forth!!  WHAT A VISIONARY LEAGUE THIS IS!!!

-Western Kentucky always seem to have big expectations coming into the season, but they run into injuries, or off-court issues, or something else that keeps them from reaching their potential.  With the kind of talent they have, their potential is being inside the bubble come March and not needing the automatic bid.  All five starters from a year ago are back including Charles Bassey, who missed most of last season with an injury.  Despite a rocky road of a season, they did seem to pull it together down the stretch and were one of the hottest teams in the conference heading into the CUSA Tournament.  Had it been played, the Toppers probably would have been our pick to win it.  This year, if they can hold it together then they may run away from the rest of the conference.

-North Texas has some pretty good pieces back from a team that won 20 games a year ago and should once again be a force in the league.  Head coach Grant McCasland has won twenty games in each of his 1st 3 seasons with the Mean Green and appears to have the pieces to do so yet again.

-Marshall is another team that could end up having a big year.  They have all five starters back from a team that played very well down the stretch at the end of last season, and Coach Dan D’Antoni has continued to win consistently while at the helm.  With Taevion Kinsey and Jarrod West they have one of the better backcourts in the conference.

-UAB welcomes Andy Kennedy back into coaching.  He has his work cut out for him, but he also has some things to work with.  Tavin Lovan and Jalen Benjamin make up what should be a strong backcourt, and graduate transfers Michael Ertel and Quan Jackson should be able to contribute right away as well.

-Old Dominion was a disappointing 13-19 last year.  Four of their starters return and we should see quite a bit of improvement this year if the Monarchs can stay healthy.

-Last year at this time I was all in on UTSA…and then they had a horrendously disappointing season where they went just 13-19.  Four starters are back, and it appears as though the potential is there for them to be good, but after what happened last year I will not become a believer until I see it.

-Louisiana Tech had a great season last year where they won 22 games and finished second in the conference.  The problem is that most of the key players last year’s team is gone.  They did have some guys that came off the bench last year that will need to step up this year.

-Charlotte was .500-ish last year, which was a major improvement from the previous year.  It appears to me that they will be in about that same range this year.

-UTEP appears to be in a similar spot as Charlotte.  Three starters back from a .500-ish team a year ago seems like it will land them in a similar spot this year.

-Same with Florida Atlantic.

-Prior to last year, for about three years Middle Tennessee was not just the team to beat in this conference, they were making a splash on the national scene by reaching the Round of 32 in back-to-back years, and reaching the top-25 in the latter part of the season the following year.  Then the roof caved in: Coach Kermit Davis left for Ole Miss and their roster turned completely over.  They won just 8 games last year and while they may be a little better this year, it does not look like it will be by much.

-FIU, Southern Miss, and Rice will most likely not make the conference tournament (assuming they keep it at 12 teams, which means missing out on The Curtain).

Posted in Conference Preview | Tagged , | Comments Off on Conference USA Media Day Recap and Response

The Hoops HD Report: SEC Preview

Posted on November 21, 2020 by David Griggs

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

Once again Kentucky is replacing NBA caliber players with NBA caliber players, and are among the favorites to win the SEC.  Tennessee also has a lot of young talent and is right behind them.  LSU, Florida, and Alabama look to be strong and could be dancing this March as well.  We run through all the teams in the conference and debate, discuss, and assess how good we think they will be…

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

Posted in Conference Preview, Podcasts, Videocasts | Tagged | Comments Off on The Hoops HD Report: SEC Preview

The Hoops HD Report: Big 12 Preview

Posted on November 19, 2020 by David Griggs

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

The Big 12 has three teams that could potentially make the Final Four in Kansas, Baylor, and Texas Tech.  All are stacked with talent and in the case of Baylor and Kansas they have some key pieces back from top ten caliber teams a year ago.  West Virginia is another solid team that will likely spend most of the season in the Top 25, and Oklahoma and Texas are two other teams that we may see dancing this March.  We share our thoughts on each team in the conference…

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

Posted in Hoops HD Report, Podcasts, Videocasts | Tagged | Comments Off on The Hoops HD Report: Big 12 Preview

Big West Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on November 19, 2020 by David Griggs

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

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:

  1. UC Irvine
  2. UC Santa Barbara
  3. UC Davis
  4. Hawai’i
  5. UC Riverside
  6. Long Beach State
  7. Cal State Bakersfield
  8. Cal State Northridge
  9. Cal State Fullerton
  10. Cal Poly

 

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE TEAM:

-Arinze Chidom – SR, F – UC Riverside
-Chance Hunter – JR, G – Long Beach State
-Ezra Manjon – SO, G – UC Davis
-JaQuori McLaughlin – SR, G – UC Santa Barbara
-Amadou Sow – JR, F – UC Santa Barbara
-Collin Welp – JR, F – UC Irvine

 

COMMENTS FROM DAVID:

-UC Santa Barbara is probably the team I am most excited about.  They have four starters back, including two preseason all-conference players, which gives them the experience they need to win the league.  This team has won 20+ games in each of the last three seasons and appears to be set up to do so again.

-UC Irvine has to completely reload with just one returning starter, but they are still among the preseason picks to win the conference.  Two years ago the Eaters made the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament and last year they were the first place team, so they have definitely been the class of the league.  It will not be easy this year, though.  Collin Welp is back, as well as some guys that contributed off the bench last year, but it appears that they are at the bottom of their talent cycle and are in rebuilding mode.

-UC Davis is another team with four starters back.  Although they only won 14 games a year ago, they seemed to pull it together in the second half of conference play so it would not shock me if we see a ton of improvement out of them this year.

-UC Riverside contemplated cutting athletics altogether.  So far they have not, and I am really hoping it does not come to that.  UCR has been very blah in basketball for…oh…the past couple of decades, but they did make some big steps forward last year.  Their 17-15 record was their first winning season in quite some time, and with four starters back they should be able to keep that improvement going.  Hmmm, a team that is looking at cutting athletics but is also set up to have their best season in recent memory: a possible “Team of the People”??!!

-Hawai’i has undergone quite a few changes, and appear to have lost what were their three best players.  Some younger players from a year ago are mixed in with some transfer players who will be expected to contribute.

-Long Beach State has four starters back, but in recent years the program has declined and you gotta start to wonder how much more time Coach Dan Monson has.  He’s had some very good teams, and his formula of playing a killer OOC schedule to give them chances at the national stage as well as getting them ready for league play has worked at times, but not all the time and not recently.  While four starters are back, this team failed to win even ten D-1 games last year, so there is not much to be excited about.

-Cal State Bakersfield joins the Big West and they are in a similar boat as The Beach.  Four starters are back…but from a team that failed to win ten games.

-Cal State Northridge, Cal State Fullerton, and Cal Poly bring up the year of the league.  It could be a long and frustrating season for all of them.

Posted in Conference Preview | Tagged | Comments Off on Big West Media Day Recap and Response

Big South Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on November 19, 2020 by David Griggs

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

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:

  1. Winthrop
  2. UNC Asheville
  3. Charleston Southern
  4. Gardner-Webb
  5. USC Upstate
  6. Radford
  7. High Point
  8. Longwood
  9. Hampton
  10. Campbell
  11. Presbyterian

 

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE 1ST TEAM:

-Phlandrous Fleming – SR G – Charleston Southern (Conference Player of the Year)
-DJ Burns – SO F – Winthrop
-DeVon Baker – JR G – UNC Asheville
-Chandler Vaudrin – SR G – Winthrop
-Jaheam Cornwall – SR G – Gardner-Webb

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE 2ND TEAM:

-Tommy Bruner – SO G – USC Upstate
-LJ Thorpe – JR G – UNC Asheville
-John-Michael Wright – SO G – High Point
-Everette Hammond – JR G – USC Upstate
-Kareem Reid – SO F – Gardner-Webb

 

COMMENTS FROM DAVID:

-Winthrop has consistently been the class of this league, and looks to be the near-unanimous favorite this year.  Coach Pat Kelsey has done a tremendous job with this program, they won 24 games a year ago, and have 11 players back from that team.  This is probably a UTR Top-Ten team, as well as a team that could give someone fits in March if they can get up onto the 12 or 13 line, which is about where they would probably end up.  They are a team with a lot of depth and plenty of weapons and it would not shock me if they ran away from the rest of the league.

-UNC Asheville has all five starters back, which is presumably why the media seems to like them to come in second.  Two years ago they won just four games, last year they won 15 and were much improved.  This year they could take another huge step forward, so Coach Mike Morrell has done a fantastic job at the helm and is one of the more exciting young coaches in the game.

-Gardner-Webb has some nice pieces coming back, including Jaheam Cornwall and last year’s conference freshman of the year Kareem Reid.  Expect to see them toward the top of the standings this year.

-Charleston Southern also has a lot of experience coming back, and while there was a time where they seemed to be solidly positioned in the conference standings, that time was not at the end.  They finished the season losing five of their last six.

-USC Upstate is another team with a lot of experience coming back (all five starters), but also another team that did not really do much last season to make you think they will be all that much improved.  They lost five of their last seven games down the stretch.

-High Point is another team with all five starters back, but yet another team that was not very good last year.

-Radford is completely rebuilding after a 21-win season a year ago.  It could be a long season for the Highlanders.

-Longwood finished in 4th place last year, which may not sound all that exciting, but this had perennially been not just one of the worst teams in the Big South but one of the worst teams in the nation.  Coach Griff Aldrich has made huge strides with this program in the two years that he has been there.  The problem is they lost four key players and are kind of having to start over on their talent cycle, but it will be interesting to see if Aldrich can develop the somewhat overhauled roster.

-Hampton and Campbell are both a little lower than what we have been used to seeing (well, Campbell is anyway: Hampton has only been in the league for a couple of seasons), but they still appear to have enough pieces to compete with the teams that are picked to finish in the middle of the league.  Presby on the other hand….oof!  They will be relying on a lot of newer/younger players this year.

Posted in Conference Preview | Tagged | Comments Off on Big South Media Day Recap and Response

Big Sky Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on November 19, 2020 by David Griggs

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

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:

  1. Eastern Washington
  2. Montana
  3. Northern Colorado
  4. Montana State
  5. Weber State
  6. Southern Utah
  7. Portland State
  8. Northern Arizona
  9. Sacramento State
  10. Idaho State
  11. Idaho

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON COACHES’ POLL:

  1. Eastern Washington
  2. Montana
  3. Weber State
  4. Portland State
  5. Northern Colorado
  6. Montana State
  7. Southern Utah
  8. Northern Arizona
  9. Sacramento State
  10. Idaho State
  11. Idaho

 

COMMENTS FROM DAVID:

-If you follow this site you are well aware of this, but if you do not then you need to know that this conference has one of the greatest traditions in all of college basketball: THE HALFTIME FLOOR SWEEPERS AT THE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT!!!  For years, on Pluto TV, the opening round games of the tournament have literally no commercials to go to, so at halftime there is no halftime show/analysis/commercial breaks…just floor sweepers!

-As for the rest of the league, Eastern Washington is the near-unanimous favorite to win, which makes sense.  They were the first place team a year ago and although they lost their starting center who averaged a double-double (Mason Peatling), the other four starters are back.  This is potentially a team that we will frequently see in the UTR Top-Ten this year.

-Montana is a team that is regularly a force in this league, and they are picked to finish near the top again this year.  They did lose quite a few pieces from a year ago, but will be replacing them with some transfer guys who should be able to contribute right away.

-Weber State, along with Montana, has been the most consistently successful team in the conference over the years, but not last year.  They finished just 8-12 in league play, and with just two starters back they appear to be in reset mode.  They do have some new JUCO transfers that they will be relying on this year to get them back into the top of the mix.

-Northern Colorado finished in 2nd place last year and has some big pieces back this year.  They have a lot of balance and depth could finish at or near the top again.

-Montana State had some really big moments last year, particularly a big upset win at UNC-Greensboro and another early season game where they nearly knocked off Utah State on the road.  They kind of crashed and burned down the stretch, though.  Still, with three starters back this team’s ceiling is potentially high.

-Portland State is getting some preseason love despite the fact that their roster has been completely overhauled.  In fact their top-seven scorers are gone.  They will be relying on 5 D-1 transfers to try and reload this year.

-Northern Arizona was .500-ish a year ago, and looks to be .500-ish again this year.

-It is worth mentioning Southern Utah, who managed 17 wins for the second year in a row last year, which is a huge improvement from just a few years ago when they were literally the worst team in all of D-1.  Coach Todd Simon has done a great job turning this program around and although just two starters return from a year ago, they still return a decent amount of experience and we should see some players step up in new leadership roles.

-And one thing that virtually everyone seems to agree on is that Sacramento State, Idaho State, and Idaho are the three worst teams in the league.

Posted in Conference Preview | Tagged | Comments Off on Big Sky Media Day Recap and Response