WAC
The wait is over. After four seasons in NCAA-transitional purgatory, head coach Thunder Dan Majerle’s Grand Canyon Antelopes are finally eligible for the NCAA Tournament. They also enter this season as the favorites to win the league’s bid to the Big Dance, with Josh Braun coming back and the addition of Oregon transfer Casey Benson. However just being the favorite does not mean that the ‘Lopes can punch their dance tickets in November, as the conference has its share of contenders for the crown.
Utah Valley will look to move up this season thanks to a veteran lineup. New Mexico State is always dangerous, and the school may have a few grudges to settle this year after rival New Mexico nabbed their head coach in the offseason. Seattle has a new head coach with a proven track record and don’t forget Cal State-Bakersfield — the Roadrunners made an improbable run to the semifinals of the NIT last year as the 8th seed in their 8-team region. In all, this should be another wild season in the wacky WAC, a conference that has always been near and dear to our hearts here at HoopsHD.
Predicted Order of Finish
- Grand Canyon – For the past four years, the Grand Canyon Antelopes have been building towards this year — their first with NCAA Tournament eligibility. Now that an almost painfully long transitional period is over, the ‘Lopes are ready to dance for the first time, thanks to senior Joshua Braun and Oregon transfer Casey Benson. Oh, and don’t forget the incredible home court atmosphere, led by the always rowdy and crazy Havocs student body fan base!
- Utah Valley – If experience is the key to winning championships, then Utah Valley is the team to watch out for in the WAC this season. The Wolverines have 11 juniors and seniors on their roster, four of whom averaged more than 9 points per game last season. A strong group of newcomers and transfers should give this team the depth they need to be right in the battle for the top of the league standings.
- New Mexico State – Chris Jans takes over as head coach after Paul Weir bolted for rival New Mexico after only one season at the helm. Jans’ team should be right in the thick of things, especially with Texas Southern transfer Zach Lofton (last year’s SWAC Player of the Year) and redshirt freshman Johnny McCants.
- Cal State-Bakersfield – The Roadrunners lost three of their top four scorers from last season’s regular season WAC champions that made a run all the way to the NIT semifinals in Madison Square Garden. They do return Damiyne Durham, who will be looked on to carry even more of the scoring load, especially with five freshmen faces on the roster.
- Seattle – Jim Hayford takes over as head coach after having a ton of success at Eastern Washington. Although it may take a few seasons for him to build the roster to his liking, there are definitely some solid pieces here this season, most notably 7-3 260 pound center Aaron Menzies, a player that most WAC opponents will have a lot of trouble matching up against.
- UTRGV – The Vaqueros were among the top ten nationally in adjusted offense according to kenpom.com; however, an almost complete lack of defense last season left them with 10 wins overall and only 2 in conference play. Seven of the team’s top eight players do return, though the lone loss will sting as Antonio Green transferred and took his 16.7 points per game with him. Nick Dixon averaged almost 19 points per game last year and has a chance to be among the nation’s highest scorers this year.
- UMKC – The Roos had a winning season last year, posting 18 overall victories against 17 losses. It was only the team’s second winning season since 2005. That was the good news. The bad news is that all five starters are gone and this team is back in rebuild mode. The even worse news is that the university itself is exploring dropping its athletics program down to a lower division. A successful season this year can be had simply by convincing school officials that such a move would be a huge mistake.
- Chicago State – It is rare that the Chicago State Cougars have a bright spot on the team heading into a season, but they may have finally found one this year. Fred Sims, Jr. averaged 18.8 points per game last season and could significantly add to those numbers this year. Of course there are very few complementary pieces here, but at least Sims will be fun to watch.
Doing the Right Thing is Wrong – The Braxton Beverly Decision
Braxton Beverly is a four-star point guard from Kentucky that attended Hargarve Military Academy in Virginia. As a sought-after recruit, he ended up being a big addition when Thad Matta recruited him to play for the Ohio State Buckeyes starting this season. Braxton did everything right, and now, thanks to the genius of the NCAA, he has to pay for it.
Braxton graduated high school and committed to Ohio State. He decided to get a jump on his college career, enrolling for a pair of summer classes in Columbus. This has the signs of nothing other than a hard-working kid (hey, he did go to a military academy!), who committed to a head coach and decided to get ahead of the game in his academics.
Then came the firing. Thad Matta was terminated at Ohio State and Braxton, for reasons that are between him and new head coach Chris Holtmann, decided that he did not want to attend Ohio State. His separation from the Buckeyes was amicable, and he signed to play his career for Kevin Keatts at North Carolina State. He had started a pair of summer courses but did not finish them, thus gaining nothing other than a few hours in the classroom from Ohio State.
The NCAA has now declared that Braxton cannot play at NC State this season, but must sit out the entire year as a transfer (he will have all four years of eligibility left at least). The reason for this decision was that, due to his enrollment in two summer course, Braxton is now a transfer student. Regardless of whether you feel that transfers should even have to sit out a year, to apply this rule in Braxton’s case, where he did absolutely nothing wrong, is utterly ridiculous. He wanted to play for Thad Matta – it was not his fault Ohio State fired him. He wanted to get ahead in his coursework — he did the right thing and now has to sit out a year. The worst part is that it is our understanding he isn’t even getting credits for having completed those courses — all he did was enroll in them for a few weeks.
The last time I checked, the NCAA Core values were as follows:
“The Association – through its member institutions, conferences and national office staff – shares a belief in and commitment to:
[Source: http://www.ncaa.org/about/ncaa-core-values]
Braxton Beverly is a student-athlete. The word “student” comes first in that term. He tried to get ahead of the game and take a few summer courses, using the “supporting role that intercollegiate athletics play in the higher education mission” the way it was intended. Instead, he is now being unfairly penalized. He was acting in “pursuit of excellence in both academics and athletics”. For this, he has to sit and watch his teammates from the sideline this year.
The message being sent by the NCAA in denying Braxton’s application for a waiver and subsequent appeal of that waiver is clear. Don’t enroll in summer courses. Don’t try to get ahead. Don’t put academics first. Combine this with the recent rulings from the North Carolina investigation and it becomes “we would rather you take fake courses that you do not even need to attend than actually put in the work.” Why do we even bother sending these kids to classes at all? Let’s just let them play basketball for four years and, if they don’t become pros, there are plenty of minimum wage jobs available. Maybe I am naive to believe that the term student-athlete means something, but if it does, the least the NCAA could do is reward those that put student first instead of punish them.