Social media gives every moron–including the moron writing this post–an opportunity to have a public voice. It is up to everyone else to sift the wheat from the chaff and figure out what to believe or not believe. At the same time, even a broken clock is right twice a day, while that blind squirrel occasionally finds an acorn. Long story short… when a rumor is spotted, it can be passed along under the “FWIW” tagline. So here it goes.
Looking like ESPN is going to invest their B10 $$ into ACC and B12 to keep those brands strong.
If you are an ACC fan, the trinity of accomplishments would be (a) Notre Dame; (b) an ACC Network; and (c) 16-team stability. So… it is hard NOT to WANT these rumors to have a bit of truth to them. Are they true? Who knows? Time will tell…
Yesterday, the Confidential recapped Round 1. There was an error–there were only 31 picks because New England lost its first round pick to whatever latest scandal they were embroiled in. For whatever reason, having 6 of 31 picks just looks a lot better than 6/32. Still, it was hard to call Round 1 spectacular with so much Notre Dame influence. Day 2 did not do much to improve the analysis. But, upon further review, there is nothing for the ACC to hang its head about.
Here is a list of the ACC players taken in Round 2:
Roberto Aguayo, K Florida State (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Adam Gotsis, DL Georgia Tech (Denver Broncos)
After 2 rounds, the ACC had 14/63 picks. That is 22%. With 5 major conferences, right about where the ACC should be to maintain par. However, with 4 of those being Notre Dame, and the fair perception that Notre Dame is not really an ACC football school, that drops things to 10/63, or 16%. Still, that is not horrible given that 8 of those 63 draftees were not from P5 schools. 10 out of the 55 P5 players drafted works out to 18%, maybe 1 draftee short of where the ACC “should be.” Certainly not worthy of concern.
Here is a list of the ACC players taken in Round 3:
Keivarae Russell, CB, Notre Dame (Kansas City Chiefs)
Joe Thuney, OG, NC State (New England Patriots)
Kendall Fuller, CB, Virginia Tech (Washington Redskins)
C.J. Prosise, RB, Notre Dame (Seattle Seahawks)
Jacoby Brissett, QB, NC State (New England Patriots)
Justin Simmons, S, Boston College (Denver Broncos)
Of the 98 players drafted in the first three rounds, 20 were from the ACC (including Notre Dame). That works out to 20.4%. If you exclude Notre Dame’s impressive six draftees, that drops things down to 14.3%, roughly 1 in 7 draftees being from ACC schools.
The Confidential is of the opinion that the ACC should strive to supply approximately 17% of the draftees each year. That corresponds to 1/6th of the draftees, with 1/6th also apportioned for the SEC, Big 10, Pac 12, Big 12, and “other.” As for the “other,” the NFL certainly does not shy away from taking players with potential from outside the P5. In fact, 15 of the 98 players drafted through 3 rounds were from schools outside the P5.
Here are the “by conference” totals:
Big 10: 22
SEC: 22
ACC: 20 (including Notre Dame)
Other: 15
ACC: 14 (excluding Notre Dame)
Pac 12: 10
Big XII: 9
If you do not include Notre Dame as an ACC school, even an unspectular first three round still has the ACC well ahead of the Pac 12 and Big XII for producing players. Even adjusted for fewer teams, the Pac 12 and Big XII still fall short of meeting the 1 draftee per school ratio that the ACC meets. If you include Notre Dame, then the ACC bumps right up behind the Big 10 and the SEC.
The best way to sum up the first three rounds from an ACC perspective is to state that it has been an “OK” draft. The draft has done nothing to suggest that the ACC is not worthy of every respect as a football conference. Regardless of whether you count Notre Dame as an ACC school, the ACC is still a solid “third” in producing NFL talent.
With Round 1 of the NFL Draft complete, here is a look at which ACC schools had players drafted and where they went:
With the 5th overall pick, the Jacksonville Jaguars selected FSU cornerback, Jalen Ramsey.
With the 6th overall pick, the Baltimore Ravens selected Notre Dame tackle, Ronnie Stanley.
With the 12th overall pick, the New Orleans Saints selected Louisville defensive tackle, Sheldon Rankins.
With the 19th overall pick, the Buffalo Bills selected Clemson defensive end, Shaq Lawson.
With the 21st overall pick, the Houston Texans selected Notre Dame wide receiver, Will Fuller
With the 25th overall pick, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Miami cornerback, Artie Burns
Thus, 4/32 picks are from ACC schools… 6/32 if you include Notre Dame (as we do). By comparison, the SEC had 8 players drafted, while Ohio State alone had five players drafted in the first round. Not a great first day, but there are six more rounds for the ACC to show itself as a top conference for producing NFL talent.
Among the key ACC Players still left to be drafted are:
QBs: Jacoby Brissett, NC State
RBs: CJ Prosise, Notre Dame; Shaquille Powell, Duke; Shad Thornton, NC State
WRs/TEs: Tyler Boyd, Pitt
Offensive Line: Nick Martin, Notre Dame; Joe Thuney, NC State; Landon Turner, North Carolina
Defensive Line: Kevin Dodd, Clemson; Sheldon Day, Notre Dame; Ron Thompson, Syracuse
Linebackers: BJ Goodson, Clemson;
Secondary: Mackensie Alexander, Clemson; TJ Green, Clemson; Kendall Fuller, Virginia Tech, Jeremy Cash, Duke
Special Teams/Other: Roberto Aguayo (K), FSU;
It will be interesting to see if and when each of these players gets drafted.
Sadly, Dwayne “Pearl” Washington has passed away. As a Syracuse Orange fan from birth and one who remembers the early days of Louie and Bouie, there is no doubt that The Pearl was the most important player in converting Syracuse from an interesting regional team to a national power. Hey, just ask Jim Boeheim. Although he was from New York City, only several hours from campus, Pearl was a major recruit and promised to bring great things to Syracuse before leaving.
Indeed, he was interviewed during halftime of a Syracuse game and indicated as much. It did not take long to fulfill that promise:
Yes, one of the greatest moments in Syracuse basketball history. Unreal at the time. Unreal today.
In today’s world, words can be meaningless. It can be said that Pearl had an amazing crossover. But you have seen a few other ridiculous ball-handlers since Pearl too. It can be said that Pearl was one of the few players in college basketball who could take on Georgetown and Patrick Ewing–and you would be right. But, for many, Ewing is a distant memory too–a good to great NBA player, but forgetting how dominant he was in college.
If only his skill could be described. For any generation, and certainly today’s generation, it would be better to just give you a video. And ask yourself if you can find players doing these Pearl things BEFORE did them. Good luck with that. Anyway, enjoy the video:
As you can see, amazing things with the basketball. And that does not do justice to his skill set and demonstration of it game after game. There were few games where Pearl was not dominant–if not scoring, then by dishing the ball. He certainly made his teammates better– a great compliment.
Pearl will always be remembered by Syracuse fans that were old enough to see him live. He will be remembered as a “one of a kind.” He will also be remembered as a great ambassador for the program after his career ended. Really, it is hard to come up with too many negatives about Pearl. He was a legend, more than worthy of being called “The Pearl.”
Nationally, he was a player that fueled the Syracuse-Georgetown rivalry that helped popularize the Big East and even ESPN. We might not have ESPN2, much less ESPN3, without those early catalysts from the Big East. Not a bad legacy. Although his NBA career was surprisingly underwhelming, Pearl is… sadly, was… one of those great college legends that simply never made it professionally (just like most Heisman Trophy winning quarterbacks, in fact).
As you get older, you will find that the age where you say “that man was too young to die” gets increasingly older. But perhaps there is little dispute that 52 is too young to die. And it certainly is. But Pearl used but a few of those 52 years to create eons worth of memories.
On behalf of all college basketball fans, and certainly Syracuse fans, the passing of Dwayne “Pearl” Washington is a reason to mourn. And remember.
After a dominating March (other than the final game), the A.C.C. was one heck of a basketball conference in 2015-2016. That is the good news. The bad news is that so much talent inevitably leads to a departure of such high-skilled talent. For a few, it is graduation. For the underclassmen, however, it is the temptation of the NBA. Here is the latest update on what ACC players are leaving:
Abdul Malik Abu 6-8 240 PF NC State So.
Anthony Barber 6-2 185 PG NC State Jr.
VJ Beachem 6-8 200 SF Notre Dame Jr.
Malik Beasley 6-5 195 SG Florida St. Fr.
Jaron Blossomgame 6-7 220 SF Clemson Jr.
Brandon Ingram 6-9 195 SF Duke Fr.
Demetrius Jackson 6-1 194 PG Notre Dame Jr.
Chinanu Onuaku 6-10 245 C Louisville So.
Xavier Rathan Meyes 6-2 190 PG Florida St. So.
The sad part, of course, is that several of the players on this list are not even likely to be drafted at all. One can only hope that it is worth it ultimately. It is easy to criticize, but being able to get paid a living wage to play basketball is not the worst thing in the world either.
There are still a few players to keep an eye on. Syracuse’s Malachi Richardson and North Carolina’s Justin Jackson had deep March runs and could be drafted in the first round (albeit the latter half). If you are fans of those schools, you might want to hold off on expectations for 2016-2017 that include them.
If you hear any news before we do, please do not hesitate to share here or on Twitter.
Some folks hate North Carolina enough to be glad to see them lose last night, but other ACC fans would have preferred to see another notch in the conference belt. Either way, congratulations to Villanova for winning it all. As for the Confidential Bracket Contest, Lenville was able to hold off the competition and squeak to a 150-149 win. As such, he wins the final prize! Congrats!
Here is a link to the final standings. Thanks to all that entered… please come back in the fall for fantasy college football! And here is the final Top 10:
With North Carolina defending its #1 seed against Syracuse, who went from bubble to Houston, it is yet another season with the ACC being well-represented in the Final Four. How often has the ACC had a representative? Well, here is your answer (champions in bold, current members that were not in the ACC at the time in italics, former members that were in the ACC at that time in strikethrough):
2016: North Carolina, Syracuse
2015: Duke
2013: Syracuse, Louisville
2012: Louisville
2010: Duke
2009: North Carolina
2008: North Carolina
2005: North Carolina, Louisville
2004: Duke, Georgia Tech
2003: Syracuse
2002: Maryland
2001: Duke, Maryland
2000: North Carolina
1999: Duke
1998: North Carolina
1997: North Carolina
1996: Syracuse
1995: North Carolina
1994: Duke
1993: North Carolina
1992: Duke
1991: Duke, North Carolina
1990: Duke, Georgia Tech
1989: Duke
1988: Duke
1987: Syracuse
1986: Louisville, Duke
1984: Virginia
1983: North Carolina State
1982: North Carolina, Louisville
1981: North Carolina, Virginia
1980: Louisville
1978: Duke, Notre Dame
1977: North Carolina
1975: Syracuse, Louisville
1974: North Carolina State
1972: North Carolina, Florida State, Louisville
1969: North Carolina
1968: North Carolina
1967: North Carolina
1966: Duke
1964: Duke
1963: Duke
1962: Wake Forest
1959: Louisville
1957: North Carolina
ACC was formed in 1953
1950: North Carolina State
1946: North Carolina
1941: Pittsburgh
As you can see, the ACC and Final Four go together quite nicely. Even limiting it to conference affiliation at the time of the Final Four, that is 33 ACC schools in 35 Final Fours from 1981 to 2016. Pretty. Darn. Impressive.
The ACC will have one team playing for it all next Monday. As a fan of an ACC school (presumably), did you have two ACC schools in the Final Four? If you did, Syracuse probably was not one of them. But that is what it is this year. And with such unexpected results, the standings are as follows:
The big news is that six–count them…. six–ACC schools are in the Sweet Sixteen. Whatever label is put on the SEC for football, the ACC’s basketball dominance is even greater. This makes sense in a league with outstanding coaching from top to bottom (well, Boston College… sigh). Congrats to the league for making itself into a true hoops powerhouse. In any event, here is the top 25 in the Confidential’s Bracket Contest:
Round 1 is now complete. If you want to check the complete standings… here is the link. Otherwise, Allen’s Astonishing Bracket has now slid ahead of Clemson McBrackets by one point.
The Confidential 