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The UVa team is a "work in progress". It is extremely young and very inexperienced. Only one starter returned from last year, and only two subs who saw regular action, and they were both frosh last year. There are only four upperclassmen on the squad, two of whom are grad transfers, and the...

I believe that these are the keys to remember: There's talent, but, for the most part, it is inexperienced, and the most experienced players (the two grad transfers) are in their first year playing in Coach Bennett's systems. Beekman is the only returning starter. He is also one of only two...

Since Syracuse joined the conference, four HOF coaches have left. Williams, Krzyzewski, and Boeheim retired and Louisville dismissed Pitino. Even if they had declined a bit when he left, Mike Brey was a pretty decent coach at Notre Dame. Also, Dixon left Pitt for his alma mater, and I don't...

Impressive win. Especially on a neutral court.

He who lives by the jump shot, dies by the jump shot. UVa dodged a bullet!

Easy to say until you've had your third hernia repair! :)

That's not exactly true. At least, the part about the sub 100 ranked players isn't. UVa has talent. FWIW, using the RSCI tables, Beekman was ranked #57, McKneely was #66, Leon Bond III was #78, Elijah Gertrude was #55, and Buchanan was #75. Also, recruiting rankings have to be taken with a...

Yep! That was a low light. On other nights, McKneely and Groves (and, maybe, Rohde) will be hitting from the outside, and Virginia will look like an entirely different team. As I said, it's going to be an up and down year.

FWIW, I don't think I would characterize Virginia as "not good". This edition is both young and/or inexperienced. It's going to be an "up and down" year with a fair share of both highlights and lowlights. Additionally, given the skill sets possessed by the team, the old notion of "live by the...

Playing Virginia early might be to Syracuse's advantage. There are a lot of new bits to UVa's team, and it's going to take a while to gel. Of course, Syracuse is implementing new schemes with a new coach, so I imagine the Orange will experience some growing pains, too. Regardless, I think...

Strictly speaking, that isn't, or wasn't, the case. They always had the opportunity to exploit their NIL, but they had to make a choice. Sell their name, image, or likeness, or maintain their amateur status. No one was forcing them to play basketball in the NCAA. The new rules simply mean...

The greed and avarice of those in charge soured me on NCAA football long ago. Expansion has ruined so much of what I used to enjoy. It's not that I don't like my interaction with Syracuse's fans (for the most part, I find you an exceptional fan base), but I miss the small conference that the...

I think it makes perfect sense for those players to enter the portal. Being in the portal doesn't commit them to anything, and, if the new coach wants some, or all, of them on the squad next year, he can recruit them like anyone else. So, if the players like Temple's new hire, they can remain...

The discussion of travel to away games brought another question to mind. How many of the old Big East teams played their home games in an on-campus facility, and how many used public arenas? Among other things, back when Notre Dame joined the conference, there was a discussion in one of their...

Dave Odom resigned as HC at East Carolina to become an assistant at Virginia. More relevant to Pastnor's situation, Danny Manning is now an assistant at Louisville, and Dino Gaudio was the head coach at Wake Forest before joining the Louisville staff as an assistant (and getting them...

Regardless of what may, or may not, happen in the coming years, Duke and UNC are joined at the hip, and UVa and UNC are likewise. I won't say that it's written in stone, but it is more than merely likely that wherever one of those goes (or stays), the other two will do the same. In all...

I'll pose some other questions for you. After joining the ACC, did Syracuse's recruiting decline or did player retention become more of an issue? How many elite recruits came to Syracuse and left after just one year? My view from afar was that Syracuse was recruiting elite talent, but in the...

I'm not sure of this. A coach needs to recruit players who fit his systems. That means wherever he can find them. Virginia's roster has players from: Louisiana California 2 from North Carolina Indiana 2 from Wisconsin Nebraska Pennsylvania West Virginia Argentina New Zealand Next year's frosh...

I blame it all on the greed and avarice of the SEC. It was the SEC that first took advantage of the rules' loophole (not intended for P5 conferences) which allowed a post-season championship football game for conferences with twelve members. The resulting expansions have been so detrimental...

Regardless of how Syracuse proceeds, it's worth recalling the coaching history of some of these legends. Dean Smith was an internal promotion when Frank McGuire was forced out, and Smith was hanged in effigy early in his reign for not producing. Lots of folks at Duke questioned the Krzyzewski...

The assumption that Tech's players executed the play which which was intended is risky, at best. :)

Would you care to elaborate? I'm not sure of your point. Thanks.

Then, I think it's likely that you have very little grasp of the culture at UVa. Reportedly, after Jeff Jones was dismissed, Terry Holland had selected Mike Jarvis to be his successor. The final step in the process was the interview with UVa president, John Casteen. During the interview...

That's a very unlikely "if". It isn't remotely probable that D J Wagner has the slightest interest in Virginia. For the most part, players who are less than marginal qualifiers, aren't really interested in Virginia. Coach Bennett hasn't been selling the idea that "we can keep you eligible"...

Well, among other things, Duke players often take classes across town at North Carolina Central University which are presumably not quite as demanding. They pick up enough credits to keep themselves eligible. Then, of course, their OADs don't worry about classes or eligibility after the first...

I don't wish to intrude on this discussion, but I think I have something to contribute here. First, there really are enough good players who can qualify. (I think much of this can be attributed to the increasing number of prep schools focusing on sports. They are doing a better job of...

I'm not concerned, at the moment. It's early in the year. This is especially true of the JMU game as Beekman missed the last 36 minutes of the game. Virginia is very fortunate that the eleven day exam break followed that game. If you want an indicator of how things are progressing, keep an...

Hello!

I would never presume to comment on Coach Boeheim's coaching, but, realistically, last year was the rebuilding year at Virginia. Not this year. After the 2021 season, there was a massive exodus from UVa. Graduations and premature attrition, coupled with the fact that the covid years had...

Louisville has had five head coaches in seven years. Two were interim. There is no continuity or player development. Add in the threat of NCAA sanctions, excessive premature attrition, an assistant coach attempting to extort the school, and an athletic department in flux, and this is what...

If it is a bunch of undergraduates giving the opposing coach(es) a hard time, that is one thing. If it's a middle age season ticket holder, it is quite another. The latter is a bit embarrassing, IMO. I am fine with students being students, and all the peculiar behaviors that go along with...

Yep. She was two rows in front of me, and about three seats to the side.

I sort of agree with Rice. I'm a bit embarrassed that there are Virginia fans who do that. Back in the 70s and 80s, my seats were on the floor of U Hall, and the only heckling done by those around me was directed at the refs!

Look for the Virginia-Northern Iowa game to be cancelled tonight. There was a shooting on the Grounds last night. Three dead. Several wounded. Early, unconfirmed reports, say the victims were all members of the football team. The University is locked down, as well as much of the town. It's...

Isn't FSU missing a slew of rotation players? I was under the impression that they have injuries galore.

I'm a bit conflicted by these sanctions. I'm annoyed because, on the surface, it appears as though the NCAA has lightly slapped Louisville on the wrist and delivered a mild scolding. On the other hand, by dragging this whole thing out for years, they have effectively destroyed the Cardinal...

In UNC's case, it's worth remembering that their run of wins began when Love was moved off the ball, and Davis became their primary ball handler. Whether they continue with their success is an unknown (the loss of Brady Manek has to be considered), but it is not an unreasonable expectation.

Isn't such a list a tad premature? Aside from the fact that ESPN has dismissed most of its competent recruiting people, based on the 247Sports list, nearly a third of the top fifty prospects remain uncommitted. Of course, a cynical person might say they are simply mining for hits with little...

A couple of thoughts: There will always be OADs. There will always be a set of players who believe, if they cannot get drafted directly out of high school, denied either by fiat or evaluation, then all that they do need is one year of college competition. OADs are here to stay. There will...

Last year, I tried switching from Sling TV Orange + Sports to YouTube TV. I really missed ACCNX which I had had in previous years. ACCNX provides a lot more content including previously shown games. In as much as I only subscribe to these services during basketball season, I can't recall all...

I can't say about your area, but in Virginia Sling TV Orange + Sports is a better option for ACC basketball. Among other things, it has ACCNX which YouTube TV does not. Also, a VPN service which allows you to select a variety of servers around the country is helpful when the games are only...

I am unsure if anything is going to happen with the ACC membership in the near future. The GoR clause in the contracts would mean that the effective cost of leaving the conference would be north of $500 mil. Or, so I've been told. I don't doubt it. And, that's with the current media...

I was curious about that, also. While I didn't look into it, I just presumed that Illinois was in OOC season events with other ACC teams (I know Illinois and UVa are in tournament together), and that the home/road game rotation came into play.

I think Childress is a rising star. That said, I'm a bit of a contrarian when it comes to color announcers. Among other things, I really liked the Dan Dakich/Jon Sciambi combo. I also think Jay Bilas is excellent, and I don't believe that Bill Raftery is as good as some say. He employs a lot...

In addition, Virginia has New Zealander Taine Murray arriving this summer. He's another 6'5" guard with good athleticism and outstanding range. While it means nothing, 24/7 gives both McKneely and Murray higher ratings than Taylor. Recruiting is always something of a crapshoot, so who's to...

Of course, the next question is, "Which players will take advantage of an additional year of eligibility?" I am unsure of football, but it seems to me that few basketball players will stay that extra year. The reality is that most programs are having trouble keeping major contributors for four...

I think this is the best approach. Give the player an option of playing or not without losing a year of eligibility. The only tricky part will come if the season is cancelled, for whatever reasons, in January or February. I imagine most programs can make it through December without too many...

If people imagine this would make the regular season "inconsequential", then, logically, the NCAA should return to the days when only conference champions and independents received bids. And, as has been noted elsewhere on this thread, much of the season in the current format, WRT P6 teams, is...

While many of you may be too young to remember, the last time a successful Syracuse basketball coach retired, the school promoted from within its own ranks. :)

Backyard? St. Anne's-Belfield School is practically in Virginia's living room. It is less than a mile from the JPJ, which means it is closer to that facility than are the dorms. Also, the children of some of the staff members attend STAB. I believe Coach Williford's son plays on their team...