Archive for July, 2014

Duke Basketball: Recruiting Pitches for 2015 Targets

Posted by Glynn Williams on July 24 2014 Add Comments
When deciding on a college to attend, high school recruits find they have plenty of factors at work inside their heads. Playing on television, competing for championships and vying for playing time are just a few of the many things weighing on the minds of most recruits who have yet to pick a college. While most athletes consider many of the same factors, they often weigh the importance of those factors differently. The challenge for college ...

Fordham Basketball: 3 Most Encouraging Developments This Summer

Posted by Charles Costello on July 24 2014 Add Comments
Don't tell the Fordham Rams that the college basketball season is still months away. When you're coming off seven straight losing seasons and have undergone a major overhaul of your roster, you treat every day like it's a game day. The result has been an offseason of transition and pleasant surprises at Fordham. Since late May, players have been on campus taking classes, working out and getting to know each other on and off the court. Meanwhile, coaches ...

UNC Basketball: What Kennedy Meeks Must Do to Be 2015 ACC Most Improved Player

Posted by Doug Brodess on July 23 2014 Add Comments
North Carolina's Kennedy Meeks had a solid first year playing center for Roy Williams' Tar Heels. He started half of UNC's 34 games, averaging 7.6 PPG and 6.1 RPG while logging only 16.3 minutes per game.  The 6'9" center was selected for the All-ACC Freshmen Team. However, Meeks' best basketball is still ahead of him in Chapel Hill. In fact, he is an excellent candidate for another award this coming season: ACC Most Improved Player.  If Meeks earns that ...

Predicting the Most Improved College Basketball Teams in the 2014-15 Season

Posted by Brian Pedersen on July 23 2014 Add Comments
There's no real downtime in the world of college basketball, not for the players and coaches and certainly not for those of us who cover the sport as media or follow as fans. The "offseason" isn't so much about relaxing and taking a break between the end of one grind and the start of the other as it is a time to start looking ahead to what's coming next. It's also the time to make predictions—lots ...

Duke Basketball: What Will Quinn Cook’s Role Be for Blue Devils in 2014-15?

Posted by Scott Polacek on July 23 2014 Add Comments
Quinn Cook will be the only scholarship senior on the Duke basketball team entering the 2014-15 season and has played 104 games throughout his career. Logic would suggest that he will play a major role as a team leader and critical piece to an ACC championship run. Right? Not so fast. The Blue Devils are loaded, which means playing time is going to be more difficult to come by for Cook than many would expect. Freshman Tyus Jones ...

Syracuse Basketball Recruiting: Sales Pitches for Top 2015 Targets

Posted by Justin Neuman on July 23 2014 Add Comments
The Syracuse basketball team may only have two recruits in the 2014 class, but head coach Jim Boeheim is building a powerful 2015 group. Syracuse already has four commits in the 2015 class. Boeheim has, per ESPN's ratings, one 5-star recruit and three 4-star prospects. Malachi Richardson is the prize of the class, and he is joined by Moustapha Diagne, Tyler Lydon and Franklin Howard. Even though those four players plus the underclassmen currently on the roster ...

Ranking the 10 Craziest College Basketball Stats from the Past Decade

Posted by Kerry Miller on July 23 2014 Add Comments
College basketball may not have baseball's granular statistics about leading the league in on-base percentage in the month of June in afternoon games played at home against left-handed pitchers, but there have still been some staggeringly impressive statistics posted over the past decade. The young man in the above picture is J.J. Barea from his days at Northeastern. During his senior year, Barea averaged 21.0 points and 8.4 assists per game while posting the highest single-season ...

Which CBB Powerhouse Has Better Incoming Freshmen: Michigan or Michigan State?

Posted by adam biggers on July 23 2014 Add Comments
Neither has an overwhelming class of scholarship freshmen to boast about, but Michigan and Michigan State each have sturdy and respectable 2014 crops capable of delivering hearty yields.  Head-to-head, the classes aren't all that comparable, either: Tom Izzo's next group of Spartans is comprised of just three while John Beilein has five (minus Austin Hatch) new Wolverines to prep in 2014-15. However, when addressing needs and fits, they can be measured against one another.  Beilein may have the ...

College of Charleston Coach Doug Wojcik Faces 2nd Investigation for Player Abuse

Posted by Mike Chiari on July 23 2014 Add Comments
College of Charleston head basketball coach Doug Wojcik already faced an uphill climb after a report alleging abuse against players was released earlier this month. Now, a second investigation is putting his tenure in further jeopardy.    According to Andrew Miller of The Post and Courier, College of Charleston president Glenn McConnell has ordered a second investigation into Wojcik's conduct just weeks after the first became public. Per Miller, the initial report was 50 pages in length and included ...

10 Freshmen Who Will Take the College Basketball World by Storm in 2014

Posted by Ari Kramer on July 23 2014 Add Comments
The 2014 freshman class features dozens of players who will start immediately for high-major programs. But which diaper dandies will shock the college basketball world in 2014-15? Jahlil Okafor is one name on everyone's short list of impact freshmen because of his size and developed offensive game. He'll be a focal point in Duke's offense even in November, and he has the skills to take the Blue Devils deep into the NCAA tournament.  He doesn't just meet three ...