Conference Preview: MEAC

Posted on October 25, 2017 by Chad

MID-EASTERN ATHLETIC

After spending years as the conference with some of the craziest conference tournament upsets we can remember, the MEAC seems to be finding a way to even the score, as the top seed has captured its automatic bid in three of the last four seasons, including North Carolina Central last year.  The Eagles stay in the Big Dance was a short one, falling to UC-Davis in the First Four.  That game was also the final game for all five Eagle starters, meaning that the defending champions are not likely to repeat this year.

The pick to win the MEAC this season is Todd Bozeman’s Morgan State team.  The Bears feature two of the top players in the entire conference in forward Phillip Carr and guard Tiwian Kendley.  However, there are a few legitimate challengers to that top spot, and one of them is Bobby Collins’ Maryland-Eastern Shore Fighting Hawks.  UMES has never made the NCAA Tournament, but has enough talent to grab a bid this season should Morgan State slip up.  Also keep an eye on Hampton, as the Pirates may have the league’s best backcourt and could be another team right in the hunt for the title.

Predicted Order of Finish

  1. Morgan State – Todd Bozeman has a great chance to lead his Bears to the MEAC title with all five starters returning, led by a pair of the best players in the conference, Tiwian Kendley and Phillip Carr.
  2. Maryland-Eastern Shore – Bobby Collins has done an amazing job the past few years turning UMES into a factor in the MEAC.  Even though his leading scorer from last season, Bakari Copeland, is gone, all four other starters do return and this could be the year they break through.
  3. Hampton – The backcourt tandem of Jermaine Morrow and Kalin Fisher make the Pirates a very dangerous team that should be in the hunt for the conference title all season long.
  4. Norfolk State – The Spartans finished second in the MEAC and made it to the conference tournament title game last year thanks to guards Jonathan Wade (19.4 points per game) and Zaynah Robinson (13.5 points per game).  Robinson is back, but Wade is gone, and the team may take a few steps back.
  5. North Carolina Central – Zero.  That is the number of returning starters for the Eagles from last year’s MEAC regular season and tournament championship team.  However, Levelle Moton has had this team in the NIT or NCAA three of the last four seasons and even with a bunch of new faces, they should not be counted out.
  6. Savannah State* – The Tigers run the ball at almost breakneck speed, making them one of the most fun teams to watch in the MEAC.  However, not much should be expected in terms of wins this season, especially with the team ineligible for postseason play and getting ready to drop its athletics program down to the Division II level.
  7. Florida A&M – The Rattlers welcome in former Western Michigan and South Florida head coach Robert McCullum to try to help them avoid the bottom of the MEAC standings.  With three solid returning starters, led by forward Desmond Williams, this team could surprise a few people this season.
  8. Howard – Even though the Bison only return one starter from last season, that player was the MEAC Rookie of the Year, Charles Williams, who averaged over 15 points per game.  If they can begin to develop some more talent around him, an improvement on a 10-24 record is possible.
  9. Bethune-Cookman – After posting a 10-22 record last season, the Wildcats lost three of their top four scorers and parted way with head coach Gravelle Craig.  Ryan Ridder takes over, and does have one piece with senior guard Brandon Tabb, who averaged almost 18 points per game last season.
  10. Delaware State – The Hornets’ top three scorers from last season are gone, and with those players they lost 22 games.  It could be even worse this time around.
  11. South Carolina State – The Bulldogs lost 20 games last season and three of their top four scorers from that team are gone.  It looks like another tough season for head coach Murray Garvin’s team.
  12. Coppin State – The Eagles have a real chance to climb in the MEAC standings over the next few years if their new head coach, former Maryland and NBA player Juan Dixon, can use his name recognition to bring in the recruits.  This year, unfortunately, will likely be a long one.
  13. North Carolina A&T – The Aggies were a finalist for the HoopsHD Centenary Award last season after managing only one win against Division I competition all season long.  With only two starters back, the good news is that it will be next to impossible to be worse than they were last year.

*Savannah State is ineligible for postseason play due to APR scores.

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews new Quinnipiac head coach Baker Dunleavy

Posted on October 25, 2017 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of Jon’s interviews, and the rest of our extensive and continuous preseason coverage

Let’s flashback to March of 2006: Mike Dunleavy Sr. was the head coach of the Clippers and just a couple of months away from making the Western Conference Semifinals; his son Mike Jr. was a few months into his new 5-year/$44 million contract extension with the Warriors, and his other son Baker was trying to help his Villanova teammates Randy Foye/Kyle Lowry beat the eventual champion Florida Gators in the NCAA tourney. Fast forward to the fall of 2017: Mike Sr. is preparing to begin his 2nd year as head coach at Tulane, Mike Jr. has a 15-year NBA career under his belt, and Baker is bringing his 2016 national championship ring as a Villanova assistant to his new job as head coach at Quinnipiac.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Dunleavy about winning a title in 2016 and getting a new job in 2017.

You played for Coach Jay Wright at Villanova: how good a player were you back in the day, and why did you go work for Merrill Lynch before returning a few years later to work for your old coach? I was a mid-major player who wanted to experience basketball at the highest level. I probably overestimated my own talent but loved everything about Villanova even though I did not play a lot. I did not grow up dreaming of coaching so I used my finance major to work on Wall Street, but coaching has become my dream.

Take me through the magical 2016 NCAA postseason as an assistant at your alma mater:
You had a 2-PT loss to Seton Hall in the Big East tourney title game: did you view the loss as a good thing (to help re-focus your team) or a bad thing (team starts to doubt itself at the most important time of the year)? You think you know at the time but you never know for sure: it depends on your leadership. It sharpened that group and we did not go into the tank. There was a coach (whose name I will not share) who texted Coach Wright after the loss and said that we would go on a big run in March. We were really crushed after the loss but were able to keep on playing.

In the NCAA tourney title game Kris Jenkins scored 14 PTS including a 3-PT shot at the buzzer in a 3-PT win over UNC: did you think the shot was going in, and what did it mean to you to win a title? At first I just felt proud that we could execute that play after North Carolina’s Marcus Paige made his own 3-PT shot in the final seconds. Anytime Kris takes a shot you think that it is going in! It was great but I was way more happy for other people like Coach Wright: I wanted that title for my guy to validate everything that he was doing. Our senior class had never been beyond the Round of 32 before so I also wanted it for them.

In March you were hired as head coach at Quinnipiac: why did you take the job, and how is it going so far? Every coach has certain criteria of what kind of job is attractive, and Quinnipiac presented an opportunity to mirror something very similar to what we had at Villanova. In the MAAC, I think this school should be really competitive considering the resources we have at hand and I am really comfortable recruiting this area. Your roster is kind of in flux for about 6 weeks and then you teach your guys about who we are trying to be and how we work. It is everything I hoped it would be so far.

Your father Mike Sr. played 10 years in the NBA/coached 4 NBA teams/is the current Tulane coach: how much of an influence was he on your own decision to become a coach, and will we see the Green Wave on your schedule anytime soon? He was a huge influence on my love of basketball. I got to go to his practices when I was young and it was like 1 big clinic. I learned the importance of hard work/organization/preparation: my values come from him. We are not going to play them because I personally do not need that family drama(!), but we might end up in the same preseason event next year…and he will probably be right behind our bench coaching over me.

Your wife Chrissi is the sister of Delaware coach Martin Ingelsby: what kind of a relationship do you have with your brother-in-law, and dare I ask who you wife would root for if you ever play the Blue Hens?! That 1 is easy…because she knows who pays the bills! Martin has become 1 of my best friends and a close confidant so I have relied on him for advice.

Your non-conference schedule includes games against Colorado/Wake Forest: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? Those 2 are high-major teams but I am more focused on our guys at the moment. Coach Tad Boyle is someone who I have watched from afar and I think that he is 1 of the most underrated coaches in the country.

Your team only returns 1 of its top-6 scorers from last season (Chaise Daniels): how will you try to replace all of that offense? Chaise was not really a go-to guy last year but we will rely on him to play inside-out. We need to let our guys play to their individual strengths while also playing together as a team. It starts with defense/rebounding and hopefully we will get better and better on offense.

The Bobcats allowed 83.3 PPG last year (bottom-10 in the nation) while your Wildcats only allowed 62.7 PPG (top-20 in the nation): how do you teach a bad defensive team to play great defense? If you go by numbers they were not an elite defensive team. They were very young last year so I think it starts with your mentality: not a lot of great defensive teams have success via young guards. We will teach them fundamentals and make sure they buy into what we are teaching, and then we will just keep working at it every day. We cannot be a great defense right away but the theme is to see how good we can be by the end of the year.

Your brother Mike Jr. won an NCAA title at Duke in 2001 and has spent the past 15 years in the NBA: who is the best athlete in the family? Based on accomplishments my dad might have a gripe but it is clearly Mike. I think that I am a better golfer but Mike was a good athlete in many different sports growing up and I am really proud of what he has been able to do.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? At the risk of sounding really cliched, the goal is slow/incremental progress and hoping that we can have some breakthroughs by the end of the year. We need a positive mindset to go through some growing pains and just see where we are in February. At Villanova when you are the 3-time Big East champs you can set a goal of winning a conference title, but we want to just be the best Quinnipiac team we can be.

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Conference Preview: Mid-American

Posted on October 25, 2017 by Chad

MID-AMERICAN

The MAC is a bit of a throwback conference, a rare league these days that features teams within fairly close geographic proximity to one another.  In fact, six of the conference’s schools are in the State of Ohio and three more are in Michigan.  The closeness and history that these programs have built with one another has led to some of the best Under the Radar rivalries in college basketball, and always makes MAC basketball fun to watch.  It also routinely means that anything can happen in the conference tournament and the regular season champion seems to come up short there more often than not.

This year, the MAC appears to have a prohibitive favorite, but the Western Michigan Broncos should not book their tickets to the Big Dance until after the automatic bid is won.  Ball State could challenge for the West Division crown, and the East is so wide open that almost any team in it could prove a tough out on any given night.  In short, expect another fun season in the MAC, and expect a conference representative in the NCAA Tournament that will put a real scare into whoever they draw in the first round.

EAST DIVISION

  1. Buffalo – Despite losing a pair of double-digit scorers, the Bulls return two others in CJ Massinburg and Nick Perkins, along with a talented group of newcomers led by Missouri transfer Wes Clark (eligible after the first semester).
  2. Ohio – Most teams would be rebuilding this year after losing Antonio Campbell to a career-ending injury midseason and then watching point guard Jaaron Simmons transfer to Michigan.  Head coach Saul Phillips, however, is merely reloading, especially with players like Jordan Dartis, Jason Carter and Gavin Block back.
  3. Kent State – Last season’s NCAA Tournament entrant from the MAC returns a deep backcourt, led by Jaylin Walker, but has a lot of questions up front as the Golden Flashes have to find a replacement for Jimmy Hall’s 19 points and over 10 rebounds per game.
  4. Bowling Green – The Falcons have not been to the NCAA Tournament since 1968.  While that streak may not be snapped this year, things are certainly trending in the right direction with three returning starters, a five-man freshman class, and only one senior on the entire roster.
  5. Akron – Keith Dambrot won a ton of games as head coach in Akron, but this season he is at Duquesne.  The Zips brought in a name coach in John Groce, but he is going to have to rebuild with only one starter (Jimond Ivey) back from last year’s MAC regular season championship team.
  6. Miami (Ohio) – The good news for new head coach Jack Owens is that four starters return from last season.  The bad news is that their best player, Michael Weathers, is gone — and even with him this team still lost 21 games last year.

WEST DIVISION

  1. Western Michigan – The Broncos appear to have all the pieces needed to win a conference title, from a star player (Thomas Wilder) to experience (four returning starters) to a 7 footer down low (Seth Dugan).  The game is played on the court, but if it was played on paper, Western Michigan would already be dancing this year.
  2. Ball State – With Tayler Persons in the backcourt and Trey Moses down low, the Cardinals will definitely be making noise this year and be ready to step up should Western Michigan falter.
  3. Eastern Michigan – The Eagles have a ton of new players on their roster with only four scholarship returnees.  If head coach Rob Murphy can get them to gel quickly, the Eagles could be a contender — especially with double-double machine James Thompson IV dominating down low.
  4. Toledo – The Rockets lost three starters from last season, two of whom averaged double figures.  It is hard to see them making a run at the upper levels of the conference, though Jaelan Sanford and Nate Navigato can both score.
  5. Northern Illinois – This could be a long season for head coach Mark Montgomery’s team with only two starters back and star center Marin Maric having chosen to transfer to DePaul.
  6. Central Michigan – When two players that combined to average over 51 points per game leave a team, it is hard to figure out how they can possibly succeed.  That is exactly what happened this offseason to the Chippewas, who now need players like Cecil Williams to step up as they begin life after Marcus Keene and Braylon Rayson.
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Hoops HD Report: Big East Conference Preview

Posted on October 24, 2017 by David Griggs

Chad is joined by a six man panel for our Big East Conference Preview.  Villanova isn’t just our unanimous pick to win the league, some feel that they’re so good that they can win it all this year.  Xavier, who struggled during most of the season last year but advanced all the way to the Elite Eight after sneaking into the tournament, returns all their key players and adds a few more.  They’re a team to watch as well.  Seton Hall is another team that we think will be much improved and could contend for a protected seed.  Providence and Butler will probably be dancing as well.  We talk about them, and all the other teams in the Big East.

 

And for all you radio lovers, below is an mp3 version of the show….

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Conference Preview: Metro Atlantic

Posted on October 24, 2017 by Chad

METRO ATLANTIC

The MAAC has given us a ton of fun and excitement the past few years, from Monmouth with their bench antics, to Jimmy Patsos giving the opposing team “air handshakes”, to Tim Cluess finding a way to get his Iona Gaels into back-to-back NCAA Tournaments.  The conference has a chance to be exciting again this year, though with the top teams from last season all losing a majority of their key players, the excitement may come more from league parity than anything else.

Since we do have to pick someone to win the conference, the call will be Sydney Johnson’s Fairfield Stags, one of the only teams with a significant returning cast.  Iona and Monmouth, perhaps based more on their head coaches than anything else, are picked to contend, along with a St. Peter’s team that is coming off the CIT championship.  Also, keep an eye on both Niagara and Manhattan.  Both teams lost a ton of games last season, but are among the very few teams in the league with returning experience that could help them win games.

Predicted Order of Finish

  1. Fairfield – The Stags enter this season not having made an NCAA Tournament appearance since 1997.  With star guard Tyler Nelson leading four returning starters, plus a deep bench, they have a real chance to break that streak this year.
  2. Iona – The Gaels lost three double-digit scorers from last year’s team, and only returnee Rickey McGill averaged more than 10 points per game.  However, one can never underestimate head coach Tim Cluess’ ability to find a way to win games and get his team into the Big Dance.
  3. Monmouth – The Hawks must begin life without Justin Robinson, their diminutive star guard who is among four starters gone from last season.  However, the cupboard is not bare for head coach King Rice as he does bring back Micah Seaborn and should get more production from guys like Austin Tilghman and Diago Quinn.
  4. St. Peter’s – The Peacocks won the championship last season.  The CIT Championship that is, but a championship is a championship (and we do love the CIT here at HoopsHD).  Only two starters return, but this team still has a good chance to finish in the upper division, especially if redshirt sophomore Cameron Jones is as good a player as he was projected to be.
  5. Niagara – Senior guards Matt Scott and Kahlil Dukes combined to average over 32 points per game last season.  They lead a team that returns its entire starting lineup, but this same group lost 23 games last year.
  6. Manhattan – The Jaspers should be vastly improved from last year’s 10-22 record as they return their top six scorers and have Rich Williams back healthy.  It may be too much to expect them to contend for the league title, but an upper division finish could certainly be within their reach.
  7. Siena – Jimmy “Air Handshake” Patsos is one of our favorite head coaches.  He will have his work cut out this season as the Saints only return one starter, though sixth man Nico Clareth did average almost 14 points per game and has a chance to shine in Albany this year.
  8. Marist – The Red Foxes lost 24 games last season and then lost one of the best scorers in program history, Khallid Hart.  The good news is that pretty much everyone else is back, and the roster is filled with underclassmen.  Marist should be competitive this season and could be even better next.
  9. Canisius – Having senior Jermaine Crumpton, who averaged almost 16 points per game last season, will certainly help the Golden Griffins remain competitive.  However, he is the only one of their top four scorers back and matching last season’s .500 conference record may be tough.
  10. Rider – The Broncs lost four starters in the offseason, all of whom averaged in double figures.  That is probably too much to make up for, meaning it looks like a step backwards this year for Kevin Baggett’s team.
  11. Quinnipiac – The Bobcats lost 21 games last season and only return one double-digit scorer (senior Chaise Daniels).  This could be a long first season for new head coach Baker Dunleavy, who is the son of Tulane head coach Mike Dunleavy, Jr.
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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews Norfolk State G Zaynah Robinson

Posted on October 24, 2017 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of Jon’s interviews, and the rest of our extensive and continuous preseason coverage

We like to cover the entire country from A-Z…and thanks to players like Zaynah Robinson we can actually do the whole alphabet!  After playing in 33 games as a freshman, he was #4 in the conference with 39.5 3P% as a sophomore, and made the MEAC All-Tournament Team last spring after leading the Spartans to the championship game.  If you like PGs who lead their conference in SPG (1.6) and AST-TO ratio (2.7), then this is your man.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Zaynah about being 5’11” and the key to winning in the postseason.

You are 5’11”: do you view your size as an advantage or disadvantage on the court? I am a positive thinker so of course I see it as an advantage. What I lack in height I make up for in speed/quickness.

You play for Coach Robert Jones: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him? I have learned about attention to detail: it is vital not only in basketball but in life. I like that he puts us in positions to win.

You played in 33 games as a freshman: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? I just understood my role and did whatever the team needed me to do. I had to raise my mental capacity to a new level and my teammates helped me do that.

Last year you started 4-13 before winning 10 in a row: what happened in January that allowed your team to turn things completely around? Our focus changed. We had a relatively new team with a lot of guys who did not know what it took to win but after getting punched in the mouth a few times the switch finally clicked.

You finished the year by leading the MEAC in STL and AST-TO ratio: what is the key to being a good PG? You have to understand your role as a leader.  You cannot take even 1 single play off and have to be the most alert player on the floor.

Your scoring increased from 6.2 PPG as a sophomore to 13.5 as a junior, but your 3-PT/FT% decreased a little bit from the previous year: do you think that is due to playing more minutes, or having defenses focused more on stopping you, or other? I think fatigue had a little to do with it, as well as adjusting to a new role and carrying a bigger load.

You have won at least 1 conference tourney game in each of the past 3 years and then lost in the 1st round of the CIT on the road every single time: what is the key to winning games in the postseason? The key is to compete to your full potential. I think that not being in the NCAA tourney stopped us from giving a full effort, which is what it takes to be successful.

1 of your biggest non-conference games this year is a trip to Auburn: how will you prepare to face a team from the SEC like the Tigers? I do not get into all of that: it is just another conference so we will prepare to give our best effort.

You are 1 of several seniors on the roster: how crucial will all of that experience be to your team’s success this year? It will be very crucial. In college basketball a lot of teams base their success on having talented freshmen, but I think talent mixed with experience is usually better.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? Championship: everything else will come from that.

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