Syracuse’s Michael Carter-Williams Stock Falling

Posted on by acaffrey

Few questioned the decision by Syracuse’s Michael Carter-Williams to forego his last two years of college basketball and enter the NBA draft.  After all, NBA draftniks had been drooling and fawning over MCW for the entire season.  The phrase “certain lottery pick” is enough to convince the Confidential that any player should turn pro.  But this one is getting ugly.

The good news for MCW is that Chad Ford has stated to Syracuse.com that scouts either “love” or “hate” MCW.  So some scouts still love him.  But others hate him?  That seems harsh… presumably they just dislike his game.  But that is bad news.

Even worse is this quote from Ford:

“I know his agent thinks that I’m insane to have him, I think right now, I have him projected outside the lottery,” Ford said. “I think Dallas is a very good possibility for him at 13 and Sacramento is a good possibility for him if Anthony Bennett is off the board. Other than that, I just haven’t identified the other teams where I think he is a fit and they’re high on him.”

The good news for MCW is that he is still likely to be a first-round pick and get guaranteed money.  If so, the decision to go pro was unquestionably a sound move.  If the flaws in his game were not corrected next year, that extra year of college would be wasted.

But it is still a shame to see someone leave school when the “potential” outweighs the “actual.”  If only the NBA and college basketball could work together to allow kids a chance to continue to develop their game in college, without making that a risky proposition from a business sense.

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Billboard Demands Removal of Wake Forest Coach, AD

Posted on by MBenjAdams

We all have a pet project that consumes our time and money.  Some of us take it too far and wind up ignoring our significant others or forgetting meaningful moments in our lives.  However, some us take it a little further.

Yahoo! Sports is reporting that a new roadside sight along U.S. 52 near Winston-Salem is showing just how far some fans will go to vent their frustrations about college athletics.  According to The Dagger’s Jeff Eisenberg, a group of Wake Forest University fans have spent a load of money to erect a billboard blasting men’s basketball head coach Jeff Bzdelik and athletic director Ron Wellman’s performance at the school.

(Credits: WXII12.com)

(Credits: WXII12.com)

Wow.  Talk about not holding back.  Tell me what you really think, Wake fans.

WXII12.com is reporting the group of fans raised over $4,500 to fulfill their wish of bringing more public attention to the disaster the basketball program has become under Bzdelik and Wellman’s watch.  But the billboard is only the next chapter of their group’s efforts – they’ve also taken out newspaper ads and created websites like firebz.com.

Among other notables, the website keeps a rolling tally of the basketball team’s ventures – the Demon Deacons are 34-60 overall and 11-42 against ACC opponents under Bzdelik.

One Wake Forest fan who hasn’t disguised his displeasure with the basketball program is Fire Jeff Bzdelik Group fan Brian Stratton.  Stratton is on record as saying the billboard was a necessary step to take because the fanbase has been alienated by the athletic director’s actions.  He also took to Facebook to further explain the erection of the billboard.

“All would have been forgiven had [Wellman] done the right thing and fired Bzdelik at the end of the year,” Stratton wrote via the popular social media site.  “However, he boxed us into a corner and we had to take the next step.  Ron Wellman has clearly brought this on himself and needs to be relieved of his duties.”

Although this recent news is fascinating, fans weren’t too keen on Bzdelik’s hire even in 2010.  He was chosen by Wellman after going 36-58 at Colorado after three seasons and never ended a Big 12 season ranked higher than eighth in the conference standings.

As a Louisville graduate, I can certainly identify with fan malcontent over a sports coach who hasn’t performed.  The Steve Kragthorpe Era at UofL really tested the Cardinal fanbase.  Of course, our athletic director realized the error in his ways and put into motion the process of replacing him with up-and-coming star Charlie Strong.

No one wants a cloud of negativity to surround an athletic program for too long.  Wake’s brass leadership may wake up one day soon and realize that Bzdelik and perhaps Wellman have to go, if not for the athletic program, for the university image and relationship with fans and alumni.

Demon Deacon fans, you simply have to believe that better things will come.  The one thing Wellman can do to revive your trust is to make a stellar choice as the next head coach to lead Wake back to relevance.

And we wait.

ESPN’s Most-Talented Football Teams for 2013

Posted on by acaffrey

The other day, the Confidential ran through the most successful ACC football teams for the past decade.  Today, ESPN’s Travis Haney has a list of the 10 most talented football teams for 2013.  Three of the top 10 teams in talent are in our very own ACC.  Moreover, Clemson is in the next five.

The top 10 is, itself, a whos-who of college football elite.  Obviously, one can find Alabama, Texas, and Ohio State on the list.  But where does the ACC stack up?

Well, Florida State is #4 on the list.  Here is some of the blurb on the Seminoles from the article:

Schlabach’s ranking: 14
Kiper’s top 50 prospects: 3
Kiper’s positional prospects: 14
Four-year recruiting class average rank: 4.5

Considering the above numbers/rankings, there is no reason for Florida State to lose games the way it did to NC State in 2012 or Virginia in 2011. Injuries and inexperience played a part in those losses and others, but the Seminoles are better on paper than any team in the ACC. At least FSU managed a BCS berth — and win — last season, but it should have been a bigger year.

Pretty fair, actually.  FSU has to stop losing to inferior opponents.

In a bit of a surprise, Miami is #8.  Here is some of Haney’s explanation:

Schlabach’s ranking: NR
Kiper’s top 50 prospects: 0
Kiper’s positional prospects: 11
Four-year recruiting class average rank: 16.5

Am I reaching here? Maybe, but there isn’t a whole lot to differentiate among programs such as Miami, Michigan, Clemson or the ones listed below. I just find the Hurricanes interesting because of how many players return, including the entire offense. They’re kind of easy to forget about, because of the self-imposed bowl ban, but they did win five of their seven games in the ACC — and no team has a hold on the league, not even the Seminoles.

And Notre Dame finished #10.  Haney listed Clemson at #12, meaning 25% of the top 12 is in the ACC, while 33% of the top 12 is ACC or ACC-affiliated.  Niot bad!

Here is the full list:

  1. Alabama
  2. Texas
  3. LSU
  4. Florida State
  5. Georgia
  6. Oregon
  7. Ohio State
  8. Miami
  9. Stanford
  10. Notre Dame
  11. Michigan
  12. Clemson
  13. Florida
  14. Auburn
  15. Texas A&M

So… that’s 6 SEC schools, 3/4 ACC schools, 2 SEC schools, 2 Pac-12 schools, and 1 Big XII school.

An argument could be made for Nebraska, Wisconsin, USC, Virginia Tech, and Louisville to be on this list.  But, alas, such is not the case.

What do you think… is ESPN stretching for the ACC now that they have a long-term partnership or is this a legit ranking?

ACC Football: Decade in Review

Posted on by acaffrey

Most sports fans are willing to make fun of a school based on its perceived on-field or on-court performance.  Sometimes it is accurate; other times it is not.  So, what we set out to do was look at the records of ACC schools in football over the past decade.  Who do YOU think had the best record in conference games between 2003 and 2012?   Worst?  Courtesy of stassen.com, we were able to easily make the calculations.

  1. Virginia Tech had the best record in ACC conference games this past decade, going 64-20.
  2. Florida State was #2, albeit significantly behind the Hokies in win total, going 54-29.
  3. Clemson narrowly edged Georgia Tech for the #3 spot, with a 51-31 record.
  4. Georgia Tech misses out because of that ACC-CG appearance last year to finish #4 at 51-32.
  5. Miami comes in at #5 with a 44-35 overall record.
  6. Boston College has to be a surprise at #6, making it 3 out of the top 6 as former Big East schools, with a 41-38 record.
  7. North Carolina & Virginia tie at 35-45.
  8. see above.
  9. Wake Forest went 35-46.
  10. North Carolina State went 34-46.
  11. Maryland went 33-47.
  12. Duke was 12-68.

So, Big 10 fans, you are getting a Maryland team that was 11th in conference wins the past decade.  While Maryland has had financial troubles, they were operating under the same system as the rest of its ACC peers.  So, good luck with that.

What do you think the rankings would be for hoops?  Would it be Duke, North Carolina, or someone else at the top?  Who would be at the bottom?

 

 

With Kansas, Andrew Wiggins Isn’t Maple Jordan

Posted on by Mr. Tar Heel

So decision day came and went and Andrew Wiggins will not be playing in the ACC next year. Both Florida State and North Carolina lost out this afternoon when the nation’s consensus #1 recruit picked the Kansas Jayhawks. Am I upset? I’m not sure yet. After reading up on Wiggins, I’m just not sure he’s the type of guy I want on my team. You’ll probably think I’m just bitter. Didn’t I write a glowing article about him yesterday? Stay with me. His decision, and the way he went about it, told me a lot that I didn’t think about before.

Throughout Wiggins’ recruitment I kept hearing that the reason he didn’t speak to the media was because he was “shy.” But if that was the case, why did he drag out his recruitment so long? Why did his coach and brother issue statements about him almost daily? And why did he have such a “low-profile” announcement? Certainly, he realized that by doing it all that way, he would get even MORE attention in the long run?

I totally understand that some things are out of his control. Maybe he didn’t ask for all of this, but his ability commands it. He’s a truly gifted player, perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime find for Bill Self. So the circus surrounding him is just the reality of the situation. But in waiting until the second-to-last day of the signing period, I really lost a lot of respect for him. I’m just going to be honest. Maybe he WAS truly on the fence. I apologize to him for being quick to judge. But that’s just not my impression. From what I’ve read, he’s been down to Kansas and Florida State for a while. So why drag it out? It just doesn’t seem fair to the other coaches, having them make visits and calls when he’s made up his mind. Spending good money, real money, on an effort that wouldn’t change anything. Yes, I even feel for John Calipari, who I’m sure you know that I do not have a lot of respect for.

I do realize that this was an important decision for Wiggins. I remember being in his shoes, at least somewhat, in deciding what to do with the rest of my life. But isn’t this just a pit-stop on the way to the NBA? A colleague of mine at work pointed me to a story today where Wiggins said that he didn’t want to enroll in summer school. That pretty much ruled out North Carolina before the announcement since that’s a requirement for incoming players. But I just don’t understand why Wiggins would think this, or even worse, say it. Doesn’t he want to be with his teammates? So I wasn’t too optimistic to begin with. But, why wouldn’t Wiggins want to enjoy the extremely shortened college experience that he’s going to have? That just doesn’t make sense. I do get this- his actions and words portray a player who is driven. A guy who’s extremely focused and motivated. Yet, a guy who’s is almost TOO inwardly motivated. TOO focused. Through his actions, he’s made a lot of people wait. In waiting, he’s made everything about himself. That doesn’t sound like a team player to me.

But most commentators will be quick to mention how much he will improve Kansas’ team. There’s no doubt they’re right. After all, the Jayhawks are losing the majority of their minutes from last year, including another superstar freshman, Ben McLemore. But most polls have them going from a borderline top-25 team to a top-5 team! I just don’t see it. There’s just not enough experience on that team to make a deep run. I’m be happy to be proven wrong, though. For all my skepticism surrounding Andrew Wiggins’ motivation, I absolutely respect him as a player. He’s certainly a sight to see and would have made an impact wherever he went. But his actions just don’t feel right to me. A good teammate is someone who doesn’t just want to make himself better, he wants to make everyone around him better; even at his own expense. Maybe Kansas will find this out. Think of some of the great point guards- Jason Kidd, Steve Nash…even Kendall Marshall from North Carolina. They have a pass-first mentality. A team mentality. They would want to be there for their teammates the very first second they could. And they would do everything in their power to make sure that the spotlight was on anyone but them.

I’m absolutely certain that Andrew Wiggins will have a great college career. He’ll use his brief time at Kansas to resume his rightful position as the #1 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft and go on to be an All-Star for years to come. But after some reflection on the latest “Decision,”  I can only hope that I’m wrong about him. I want to believe that Andrew Wiggins is the shy kid that everyone else talks about. Young men certainly need more role models that embody the trait of humility. But like everyone else, I’ll just have to wait and see. As I said yesterday, I hope that Wiggins is happy with his decision. Surprisingly, I am too.

Seminole Territory: ACC Meetings and Andrew Wiggins

Posted on by wtnoleacc

The ACC ‘s annual meetings began in earnest yesterday and there are several topics of interest for Florida State fans:

1.  Bowl tie-ins for football:  We should learn the bowl lineup for the post BCS era this week.  Here’s hoping the addition of Notre Dame results in an appealing slate.  After the first day of meetings ESPN’s Brett Murphy has mentioned the potential for the Russell Athletic Bowl to host the #2 ACC team.  Most FSU fans would be disappointed with this result.

2. ACC Network:  Can the ACC really generate enough interest at ESPN to support another college oriented network?  If the answer is yes, then how much money will it bring to the conference?  FSU fans are anxious to fill the conference money gap as soon as possible.

3. Basketball Tournament Sites:  Will the ACC  consider a geographic rotation of sites for the ACC basketball tournament to better represent the geographic foot print of the conference?  Can the new ACC programs influence the other non Carolina schools to become less Carolina centric?  The selection of future sites for the ACC tournament could shed some light on the future direction of the conference.

Other potential topics of interest:

4. Geographic Division Alignment:  it’s time to make North and South divisions to create meaningful geographic rivalries.  Surely, FSU was able to work a deal “under the table” to enhance their ACC slate by adding Georgia Tech to their division in exchange for the Grant of Rights.  I can’t imagine the Seminoles signing themselves over for a 15 year commitment to the conference without some assurance of immediate benefit for the football program.

FSU fans are mostly tired of hearing about Swofford’s endless amount of promises for an improved revenue and an enhanced league.  It would be nice if the ACC could start to flex it’s muscle regarding the topics above so we can all sleep better at night.

Andrew Wiggins

The most disappointing part of Andrew Wiggins’ recruitment is also the most endearing.  He does not like the spotlight.  Unfortunately, there is no “inside information” available for fans to debate and dispute.  FSU fans are hoping for the best.  This could become the biggest day in the modern era of Florida State basketball.

I’m Andrew Wiggins, and I’m a __________

Posted on by Mr. Tar Heel

At North Carolina, we have an awesome set of videos at the Dean Smith Center. During men’s basketball games, former Tar Heel greats appear on the video board in a montage where they take turns saying- I’m __________, and I’m a Tar Heel. Michael Jordan. Rasheed Wallace. Jerry Stackhouse. Antawn Jamison. Vince Carter. Tyler Hansbrough. It’s incredible. But there’s one guy that I want to see up there that isn’t there yet- Andrew Wiggins.

By now, you know who he is. The consensus #1 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. The best high school prospect since Lebron James. A guy they call “Maple Jordan.” Tomorrow is possibly the biggest day of the entire offseason for college basketball fans. At 12:15pm in a “low-key” ceremony, Wiggins will announce his decision between North Carolina, Florida State, Kentucky and Kansas. But where will he go?

I’m not sure. His coach says he’s not sure. Maybe even Wiggins himself doesn’t know….yet. But the official signing day window closes on Wednesday, so Wiggins is doing his due diligence and announcing at the last minute. In my opinion, there’s only one real option, and that’s to go to North Carolina. Stay with me, I know what you’re thinking. This guy’s name is “Mr. Tar Heel.” He’s a Carolina grad. He lives near Chapel Hill. OF COURSE he wants Wiggins to go to North Carolina. But no, really. It’s his best option.

Think about it. North Carolina is returning a suddenly veteran team with Marcus Paige, PJ Hairston and James Michael McAdoo. They’re receiving big-man help in top prospects Isaiah Hicks and Kennedy Meeks. They have an opening in the starting lineup that just happens to be at Wiggins’ position. And not only that, but the spot was vacated by a player from Kinston, NC- Wiggin’s father’s hometown. Wiggins’ North Carolina roots run deep. His father was raised here. He almost went to prep school here. And his father grew up wanting to play for North Carolina, only to be turned down by the legendary Dean Smith. So maybe the Wiggins’ family has a chip on their shoulder, I don’t know. Maybe his father still hates North Carolina? Or maybe he wants his son to realize the dream that he always had; to play on the biggest stage, with the best players, against the top teams. North Carolina is the only place he can do this.

If you ask anyone who’s not from the United States to name a college basketball player, they’ll almost always go back to Michael Jordan. Why? Because not only was he greatest ever, but he was the most visible ever. He made himself a brand. THE brand of college basketball. North Carolina is one of the most recognizable, if not THE most recognizable brands in all of college sports. Lebron James is on record stating that he wanted to go there. So is Kobe Bryant. And Dwight Howard. It’s not hard to see that Wiggins might like to be a part of that legend. So why not? Without Wiggins, the team’s ceiling is high for next year. With Wiggins, it’s immeasurable. Where else can he have this kind of schedule?-

Conference                        Non-Conference

Duke (twice)                      Kentucky

NC State (twice)               Michigan State

Syracuse                              Louisville (possible Hall of Fame Tip-off matchup)

Notre Dame (twice)

Virginia

Maryland

Pittsburgh

The answer? Nowhere. That’s basically a who’s who of NCAA tournament success past and present. And as any North Carolina fan knows, you can go ahead and add Kansas to that list too because the NCAA will continue to match us up with them in the Tournament until they disband. To be a star on the biggest stage, Wiggins has to be on the biggest stage.

He can’t do that at Kentucky. Sure, there’s a lot of hype surrounding John Calipari’s program right now. But did anyone watch last year’s NIT flame-out fiasco? It’s not like those players weren’t the top recruiting class either! Having great players doesn’t guarantee success. You have to have a great TEAM. Kentucky just hasn’t shown that, there’s too much ego. After all, Calipari just isn’t the kind of coach that people give him credit for. The reason he gets so many players to the NBA isn’t because he develops prospects into NBA stars. It’s not his own doing. These guys are ALREADY NBA-ready players. He just babysits them for one semester. If they didn’t have to go to college, they wouldn’t. The one reason they probably stay? Money. Yes, I said it! Think about it. What other coach has gotten so many Final Fours vacated? Right, Calipari stands alone. There has to be something going on. Of course he wasn’t “implicated” in any of the charges, but that’s a weak excuse. Neither was Butch Davis, or Cam Newton, but don’t tell me those guys didn’t do anything wrong. There was money exchanged. And the sin of omission is just as bad as the sin of commission. You can’t claim ignorance if it’s your job to know. If anything, John Calipari is guilty as charged with the utmost gross negligence. It’s his program. He should know what’s going on. Is he a bad coach? Absolutely not. It takes talent to get to the level that he’s on. Is he a nice guy? Maybe, I’m not sure, I’ve never met him. But he isn’t the Midas of the NBA draft. Kentucky isn’t guaranteed a title next year. Williams and Self are the better coaches in this bunch anyway.

But Kansas just doesn’t seem like a great fit for Wiggins either. The Big 12 is weak, and no, Marcus Smart’s return doesn’t change that. It only makes it a two-horse race. Kansas will probably walk through the conference again like they always do, because there’s really no competition outside of a few teams. The Jayhawks also lost a lot from last year’s squad. They just don’t have the veteran presence of some of the other teams on Wiggin’s list. Not to mention that there’s an ongoing scandal surrounding last year’s top player Ben McLemore now. Does Wiggins really want to be associated with that? What if the NCAA comes down hard on the Jayhawks in his only season? Don’t get me wrong, Bill Self IS a great coach. I’ve seen that enough times by watching his team beat my team in the NCAA tournament. But why go to a place that he really has no connection to? No family, no history, and really, a weaker roster than some of his other choices. It just doesn’t make sense.

Which brings me to Florida State. If he was going to go there because of his family connection, why didn’t he just decide that a long time ago? That would have saved a lot of people a lot of time, and a lot of money. It makes you wonder. One thing the Noles have going for them is a very similar schedule to North Carolina. In fact, they get to play North Carolina while the Tar Heels have to play an FSU team that looks weak with the loss of sharpshooter Michael Snaer. But if that wasn’t enough, Wiggins’ best friend Xavier Rathan-Mayes has already signed on to move to Tallahassee. So maybe that is enough for Wiggins. I’m a family guy, so I can totally respect that. I’d even cheer for him when he wasn’t playing North Carolina. But even with Wiggins, the Noles aren’t a Final Four contender. Sure, they’d be better. A LOT better. But they just don’t have the firepower, or experience needed to go all the way.

So what will he do? We’ll find out tomorrow afternoon. I hope that whatever he chooses, he’s happy. Certainly, everyone hopes for that. As a North Carolina fan and graduate, I’d love for him to come to my school. But if he didn’t, I wouldn’t regret it. I just hope he wouldn’t either.