Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews Stephen F. Austin JR SG Ty Charles

Posted on November 7, 2016 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of the Hoops HD Preseason Articles, Interviews, and Conference Previews

We continue our 2016-17 season preview interview series with Stephen F. Austin JR SG Ty Charles.  As a freshman he appeared in all 34 games and scored a team-high 14 PTS in the NCAA tourney against Utah.  As a sophomore he made 31 starts and helped the Lumberjacks with their 29th straight home game, which remains the longest streak in the nation.  As junior he will do his best to help the team win its 5th straight Southland Conference regular season title.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Ty about upsetting West Virginia in the NCAA tourney last March and getting a new head coach a couple of weeks later.

ty

You grew up in Kennedale, TX: what made you choose the Lumberjacks? It is only a few hours away so it is close to home but not too far away. When I came to visit I loved the place and it felt like home.

You started 21 games as a freshman: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? I had to work my way up until I got a starting spot.

Last January you scored a career-high 25 PTS/11-12 FG in a win over Abilene Christian: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? Before the game I remember our PG telling me to attack and everything just went my way.

Take me through the 2016 NCAA tourney:
You played 12 minutes in a 14-PT upset of #3-seed West Virginia: how were you able to destroy 1 of the best teams in the nation while only shooting 30.9 FG%? We just kept the pressure on them and stayed poised. Our coaches told us not to rush anything.

You scored 9 PTS in a 1-PT loss to Notre Dame: what did you learn from that game that you think can help you this year? I learned that we have to play until the final buzzer goes off!

Your 29-game home-court winning streak is the best in the nation: has it reached a point where your fans just expect you to win every time you step onto the court? Yes, but we just go out there to do what we have to do and take care of business.

Last year your team was top-25 in the nation in both PPG and PPG allowed: how do you balance your offense with your defense? We are in straight attack mode on offense and put the pressure on people when we are on defense.

You have a new coach this year in Kyle Keller: what is he like, and how has the transition been so far? It has been a real good transition so far and he has been very good to us.

Your non-conference schedule includes games against Kentucky/Arkansas/Tulsa: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? None of them: we will treat every game the same and just do our best.

 You only have 1 senior on the roster: how much pressure is there on you to be a leader this year? It is a big change because we had a lot of senior leaders last year so I will just handle it the best way that I can.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? We want to win our conference tourney to get another ring, and then hopefully get to that 2nd weekend in March.

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Conference Preview: Mountain West

Posted on November 7, 2016 by Chad

CLICK HERE for all of the Hoops HD Preseason Articles, Interviews, and Conference Previews

MOUNTAIN WEST

Here at HoopsHD, we generally group conferences into one of two categories.  The first is the “major conferences” which are regular multi-bid leagues, while the second is considered to be “Under the Radar.”  The Under the Radar conferences are ones that, in most years, are probably only going to put their automatic bid winner into the NCAA Tournament.  The Mountain West conference has been part of the former group and should remain so through this season, but after its performance last year, we have seriously questioned which group it actually belongs in.  Only automatic bid winner Fresno State got an invite to the Big Dance, where they were a 14 seed and lost by double-digits to Utah in the Round of 64.  Perhaps the only redeeming grace for the conference came in other postseason events, as San Diego State advanced to the semifinals of the NIT and Nevada cut down the nets as champions of the CBI.

This season, San Diego State again appears poised to be at or near the top of the league, as Steve Fisher’s squad is always one of the toughest teams in the country defensively.  However, the preseason choice is a bit of a surprise, as Nevada, despite losing three of their top scorers from last season, appears to have enough weapons to challenge and even claim the conference title.  The Wolfpack are clearly a team on the rise under head coach Eric Musselman.  We also expect big things from them on the recruiting trail, as Musselman has hired Dave Rice as an assistant coach.  Rice brought in some amazing recruiting classes at UNLV the past few years, though his failure to turn that talent into on-court wins led to his dismissal this past offseason.  Beyond San Diego State and Nevada, New Mexico and Fresno State should both be in the running for postseason bids, although likely not of the NCAA kind.  Finally, keep an eye on dark horse pick Air Force, a team with a ton of veterans that could surprise a lot of people.

Predicted Order of Finish

1. Nevada – Despite losing three of their top scorers, the Wolf Pack do bring back Cameron Oliver, who should be on the short list of conference Player of the Year candidates after averaging close to a double-double last season (13.4 ppg, 9.1 rpg).  D.J. Fenner also averaged over 13 points per game last year and the coaching staff has brought in a group of talented transfers and freshmen that should help immediately.  For all the criticism that Dave Rice received as head coach in Vegas, he absolutely is able to recruit and his addition to the Eric Musselman’s coaching staff should pay dividends this year and in the future.

2. San Diego State – The Aztecs should be suffocating on defense once again, but they will need to find a way to put the ball through the hoop.  Guards Trey Kell and Jeremy Hemsley will need to lead the way in backcourt scoring, while Malik Pope could be poised for a breakout year down low.

3. New Mexico – The inside-outside combination of Elijah Brown and Tim Williams will make the Lobos tough to beat and keep them in contention, but the team needs to show vast improvements defensively if they want to seriously contend for an NCAA bid.

4. Air Force – This may be a bit of a wild pick this high in the standings, but the Falcons return a veteran and experienced lineup led by Hayden Graham and a healthy Trevor Lyons.  A lack of size will be their biggest challenge, but in a conference that only put one team in the NCAA Tournament and three teams in the postseason last year, there is a chance for the team from Colorado Springs to make some noise.

5. Fresno State – The Bulldogs have some strong pieces, led by forwards Karachi Edo and Cullen Russo, plus Colorado transfer Jaron Hopkins at guard.  Unfortunately, this probably won’t be enough to make up for the offseason losses, most notably conference Player of the Year Marvelle Harris.

6. Utah State – Jalen Moore will be a standout again at the swing position, but the Aggies probably don’t have enough other pieces around him to be a serious threat for the top of the league.

7. Wyoming – Josh Adams and his 24.2 points per game are gone, but the majority of the remaining players return and Jason McManamen has a chance to be the Cowboys’ next star.

8. Boise State – This looks like a rebuilding year in Boise, with James Webb III, Anthony Drmic and Mikey Thompson all gone.  However, Nick Duncan is a great shooter and the Broncos have a ton of size down low, so we won’t be too surprised if they finish higher than this.

9. Colorado State – The Rams lost a lot of scoring talent from a middle-of-the-pack team.  Gian Clavell is healthy and big man Emmanuel Omogbo should help, but don’t expect any serious improvement from last season’s 18-16 record.

10. UNLV – Only three scholarship players return from last season, so new head coach Marvin Menzies will need to cobble together a rotation filled with freshman, junior college transfers and graduate transfers.

11. San Jose State – Head coach Dave Wojcik has things slowly moving in the right direction here, but there is still a long way to go for the Spartans whose four conference wins last season was their most in five years.

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Bracketology – Preseason Media Bracket (Updated)

Posted on November 7, 2016 by John Stalica

For Jon Teitel’s interview with new SFA head coach Kyle Keller – Click Here

For Chad Sherwood’s Big 12 Preview – Click Here

For all written and podcast previews – Click Here

The bracket below represents a combination of the preseason AP and USA Today Top 25 polls and other under-the-radar conferences that have announced their preseason picks to win their respective conferences.  For ranking all of the under-the-radar teams (along with any tiebreakers among at-large caliber teams), we took the highest rated team from the comprehensive 1-351 list from CBSSports.com (click here).  If you’re also wondering why the Midwest Region says 32 and the South Region says 36, that is a sampling of the total composite score of the top 4 seeds of each region (a variance of up to 5 is permitted).

Potential 2nd-round matchups like Michigan-Purdue and Arizona-Colorado are also permissible as long as they do not play each other in their respective conference tournaments. The only “soft” bracketing rule that I did not consider were rematches from the past two NCAA Tournaments; I will leave it to our rules expert Chad to note any potential conflicts.

Tonight, be on the lookout as we announce Chad Sherwood’s preseason bracket based on all of his conference previews.

11-7-16-show-bracket-1

11-7-16-show-bracket-2

*Also note that the bracketing rules dictate that the Clemson/Pittsburgh and Michigan/Mississippi State play-in games had to be flipped with each other.

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews new Stephen F. Austin head coach Kyle Keller

Posted on November 6, 2016 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of the Hoops HD Preseason Articles, Interviews, and Conference Previews

We continue our 2016-17 season preview interview series with new Stephen F. Austin head coach Kyle Keller. Every new head coach has big shoes to fill when stepping into his next job but Coach Keller might need some size 20 hightops, as Brad Underwood went 53-1 in 54 conference games over the past 3 years with the Lumberjacks before leaving for Oklahoma State last March.  However, if there is anyone who can handle that kind of pressure, it is a guy who worked for Eddie Sutton/Bill Self/Billy Kennedy.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Keller about winning 1 of the wildest NCAA tourney games ever and taking over a program that has only 1 senior.

keller

You were a student assistant as an undergraduate at Oklahoma State when Eddie Sutton was head coach and Bill Self was 1 of his assistants: what kind of basketball education did you receive from this pair of Hall of Fame coaches? Truth be told I really worked for Leonard Hamilton. I tried to get hired on by Coach Sutton when he replaced Coach Hamilton but it took me 9 years before he finally hired me! I think Leonard has proven that he is 1 of the great people/coaches/recruiters/mentors in the business. Coach Self was pretty young back then but he was wiser than his age and treated me very well. Bill taught me to treat everyone as equals, just as he does today. He had a great feel for the players and he challenged them, which is why his teams win so often.

In the 2004 Final 4 as director of basketball operations at Oklahoma State, Will Bynum made a layup in the final seconds of a 2-PT win by Georgia Tech: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? It was painful: we had actually recruited Will after he transferred so it was a double-edged sword. We had a tragedy with the plane crash a couple of years earlier in 2001 so that Final 4 run gave everyone a little bit of closure. Every loss hurts…but as a coach when you lose 10 people who you are close to, losing a basketball game does not “devastate” you so you cannot compare the 2 things. Every day I dream of getting back to the Final 4 and I hope we get the opportunity because we should have won that game. There are 100 things we could have done differently but you cannot change the past.

In the 2010 Elite 8 as an assistant to Self at Kansas you had a 10-PT loss to VCU: now that you are a head coach in the same state as the former VCU coach, are we going to see Shaka Smart and the Longhorns on your schedule anytime soon? We would be blessed to play anybody in-state who wants to plays us but our schedule is hard enough as it is. I spent some time this summer asking him about what it is like to be a 1st-year head coach and he was very helpful. I admire him and I hope we can compete as well as his teams do.

As an assistant to Billy Kennedy at Texas A&M you did a great job of recruiting the best in-state players but your current roster only has 2 players from Texas: what kind of recruiting philosophy will you have at SFA? We are going to recruit this state because there are too many good players here. You have more pride in where you come from and kids want to come here because of what Danny Kaspar/Brad Underwood have done before me to build a winning culture with a legacy of championships. It is easy to sell the product because our guys want to play with other good players.

In the 2016 NCAA tourney the Aggies had a 4-PT 2-OT win over Northern Iowa: how on earth were you able to overcome a 12-PT deficit with 44 seconds left in regulation? I actually scouted Texas that week but I remember playing Northern Iowa in the same building when I was with Kansas. I told our team about the shot that Ali Farokmanesh made and I said that they believed they could win. I thought that our team last year was good enough to make the Final 4…but in the final minute while sitting on our bench I honestly thought that we had no chance to beat the Panthers. I was just wondering who would join me for breakfast the following morning with a recruit from Spain, especially after getting home at 2AM and feeling distraught. It was the craziest game and most dramatic comeback that I have every been a part of. The most amazing part is that Northern Iowa never quit: instead of just hanging their heads they actually took the lead back in OT. Coach Kennedy told us in a huddle with 15 seconds left that we were going to win.

You were hired in April: why did you take the job, and how is it going so far? I told my wife before last season started that it would be our last year in College Station. I am so blessed to be here: football is king in the South and there are not many jobs at schools where the campus is hot for basketball. If I could have picked 1 school and 1 region to be in, this would be the 1.  SFA is the perfect place for me and my wife to raise our 2 kids: the people here are great.

Your non-conference schedule includes games against Kentucky/Arkansas/Tulsa: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? They are all going to be hard. It is not fair what I did to our team: there are no baby steps when you start the season by going to Rupp Arena. We only return 18% of our offense and our staff is new so it will not be easy. We are 1 of the youngest teams in college basketball as we only have 2 players who made a meaningful basket last year. We will play the same aggressive man-to-man defense as Coaches Sutton/Self.

Last year the Lumberjacks were top-25 in the nation in both PPG and PPG allowed: which end of the court are you most comfortable at as a coach? We have spent as much time on defense as anything else. The jump shot does not always get off the bus so we have concentrated on defense/rebounding. My lineage is from coaches who win by guarding, and if we can win a title it will be because we are the best defensive team we can be. We will play fast as well.

You only have 1 senior on the roster: do you think this team is built to win now or is it going to be a work in progress? If I did not think that we could win every game we play then I would be doing our guys a disservice. I expect our guys to compete and be right there in March. The character of our kids will hopefully give us a chance when it matters. I like what they are going to become so I will not judge them on where they are now. We will be battle-tested by the time we enter league play.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? I expect our team to grow closer because we are all new. If they learn to try hard then I think we can expect the same thing that the teams who came before us had: success. I know there are some really good coaches/talented players in the league but I have not faced them yet.

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The Hoops HD Report: AAC, A10, MWC, and WCC Conference Previews

Posted on November 6, 2016 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for all of the Hoops HD Preseason Articles, Interviews, and Conference Previews

We complete our conference preview video podcasts with four short individual shows the last four remaining regular multi-bid leagues.  In the American, the group feels that Cincinnati and Connecticut are the teams to watch, and agree that Houston is a program on the rise, but still has a way to go.  In the Atlantic Ten, Dayton and Rhode Island are the favorites with VCU getting some love, as well as Fordham not so much because they’re to the level of being NCAA or NIT caliber yet, but because of the progress they’ve made.  In the Mountain West, they fell the league will once again have a down year, but they do like Nevada and San Diego State and feel that both have good NCAA Tournament Chances.  In the West Coast both Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s are in the preseason rankings, and we like both of those teams as well, along with BYU.  We also discuss what we feel are some very good coaching hires in this league.

 

And for all you radio lovers, there are mp3 versions for all four shows available below, including a bonus WCC preview where the video was lost!!

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Conference Preview: Big 12

Posted on November 6, 2016 by Chad

CLICK HERE for all of the Hoops HD Preseason Articles, Interviews, and Conference Previews

BIG TWELVE

Although the ACC came close to dominating the NCAA tournament last year, the regular season clearly belonged to the Big 12.  The Big 12 placed seven of its ten members into the NCAA Tournament, and all 7 of them wore white in their first round games.  In fact, the conference had a team seeded on each of the first eight seed lines other than 7, as Kansas was a 1, Oklahoma 2, West Virginia 3, Iowa State 4, Baylor 5, Texas 6 and Texas Tech grabbed an 8.  Four of those teams (West Virginia, Baylor, Texas and Texas Tech) all suffered first round upset losses, while Kansas fell in the Regional Final and Oklahoma in the national semifinal, both to national champion Villanova.  Only Iowa State, losing to Virginia, was wearing the road jerseys of the underdog when they were eliminated.  In all, despite a great regular season and Oklahoma’s Final Four appearance, the postseason was somewhat disappointing for a league whose conference tournament semifinals looked stronger than most NCAA Tournament regionals.

This season should only feature one thing that is the same in the Big 12 and that is the team that will finish on top.  Kansas can and should tie UCLA’s record from 1967-79 by winning their 13th straight conference regular season title.  Beyond the Jayhawks, however, most of the conference’s top teams will be taking a step back as every team was hit hard by offseason player losses.  Iowa State and West Virginia appear to be the top challengers to Kansas, while teams like Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech may struggle just to be in contention for a postseason bid.  It will also be interesting watching how three new coaches affect the bottom half of the league, with Jamie Dixon taking over at TCU, Chris Beard at Texas Tech and Brad Underwood coming in at Oklahoma State.  Although the Big 12 may not have the power at the top (beyond Kansas) that it did last year, there looks to be a ton of parity in the league which should make things very exciting during conference play.

Predicted Order of Finish

1. Kansas – The Jayhawks are loaded again with Frank Mason III, Devonte’ Graham and the nation’s #1 recruit Josh Jackson in the backcourt.  Down low they have Carlton Bragg, Jr. and Landen Lucas back, plus add in Ole Miss transfer Dwight Coleby and freshman big man Udoka Azubuike.  This team may have lost a few of its best players (Perry Ellis and Wayne Selden, Jr. notably), but Bill Self’s squad should win the league again and will be a serious contender for the Final Four.

2. West Virginia – The Mountaineers will be tough to beat again with guards Jevon Carter, Daxter Miles, Jr., and Tarik Phillip all returning.  The questions marks will be in their frontcourt with scoring production and rebounding.

3. Iowa State – Even with three double-digit scorers gone, the Cyclones still have a ton of solid pieces, especially in the backcourt, where they are led by point guard Monte Morris, along with Naz Mitrou-Long, Matt Thomas and Deonte Burton.

4. Texas – All five starters are gone, but Shaka Smart has brought in a Top 10 recruiting class led by big men Jarrett Allen and James Banks, plus guard Andrew Jones.  The Longhorns may struggle early, but could be very dangerous by March.

5. Baylor – Even with Taurean Prince and Rico Gathers gone, the Bears have a lot of talent led by forward Jonathan Motley.  Scott Drew’s team will rely on Ishmail Wainwright, Al Freeman and Miami transfer Manu Lecomte to lead the backcourt.

6. Oklahoma – A step back is expected with Buddy Hield, Isaiah Cousins and Ryan Spangler all gone.  The Sooners will need Jordan Woodward, Khadeem Lattin and their newcomers to step up just to challenge for an NCAA Tournament bid this year.

7. Texas Tech – New head coach Chris Beard will rely heavily on transfers this year.  Junior college transfers Niem Stevenson and Shadell Millinghaus, Quinnipiac transfer Giovanni McLean, and Arkansas State transfer Anthony Livingston will all need to be key contributors if the Red Raiders want to succeed.  Even then, a serious lack of size down low could be the team’s undoing.

8. Oklahoma State – The Cowboys have a strong backcourt led by last year’s Big 12 Freshman of the Year, Jawun Evans, and the now-healthy Phil Forte III.  They are undersized down low, but new head coach Brad Underwood had a ton of success without a lot of size during his time at Stephen F. Austin.

9. Kansas State – Most of last year’s team is back, but the Wildcats struggles against Big 12 foes.  The team needs to improve vastly on the 226th nationally-ranked shooting percentage and 332nd nationally-ranked 3-point percentage if they want to move up in the standings.

10. TCU – It will take Jamie Dixon a little bit of time to grow this program, but there are enough pieces this year for the Horned Frogs to steal a few games, led by juniors Malique Trent and Vladimir Brodzlansky.

 

For the Big 12 Conference Preview Video Podcast – CLICK HERE

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