SWC75
Bored Historian
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Saturday 1/4/25 at the Tucker Civic Center Tallahassee FL 6PM Florida State
TV ACC Network
Leonard Hamilton’s Seminoles are famous for two things; playing 10-12 players in rotations and having multiple 7 footers, (Naheem McCloud was one of them until he transferred here). In the last three years, the results have been disappointing: 43-53 and 27-33 in the conference. We think we lost a lot from last year’s roster; the Noles lost 11 scholarship players, including 7 of their top 9 scorers. In today’s basketball, that might not be the disaster it once would have been, as it provides an opportunity, (as Red Autry had), to completely reconstruct the team and FSU may have needed that. (They gave us a bad loss in the Dome last year, 69-85)
Jamir Watkins, (6-7 210 15.6p/6.0r), almost joined the exodus but pulled out of the portal. His shooting hasn’t been bad (34.4% from three), but NBA scouts said he needed work on it and in the offseason, he attempted 500 threes in the morning and 500 more in then evening. [I hope he doesn’t have any Noon games – he didn’t practice for those.] Freshman Daquan Davis (6-1 165), is the likely point guard. “He’s a crafty finisher at the rim and a strong shooter. He is regarded as a solid facilitator but he’s best at scoring and in high school often guarded the other team’s best player.” Junior Guard Chandler Jackson (6-5 220, 4.9p) “worked on slimming down this past summer which improved his speed and bounce, enabling him to get to his mid-range game.” He may need it as he only shot 29.3% from the arc.
Taylor Bol Bowne (6-10 195, 3.1p/2.6r/ in in 10.9) “has been compared to Kevin Durant by some”. [But of course he has.] Malique Ewin (6-10 220) was “a first team All-American in the junior college ranks.” Per SI: “Ewin averaged 14.9 PPG and 9.0 RPG while leading South Plains College to a 32-3 record and had back-to-back games of 30+ points and 10+ rebounds in February.” I don’t see a 7 footer on their Lindy’s roster but ESPN’s site lists a 7-0 218 freshman named Alier Malik. I guess Coach Hamilton, (who is now the longest tenured ACC basketball coach by quite a margin), couldn’t resist.
Tuesday 1/7/25 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY 7PM Georgia Tech
TV: ACC Network
Tech was 14-18 last year, 7-13 in conference. Unfortunately, that included a 60-65 victory over us in Atlanta. Now we get them in the Dome. Damon Stoudemire has 3 of his top 4 scorers back and bagged one of the top portal recruits. That would be Javian McCollum (6-2 190 13.3p/3.4a), who started at Siena, went to Oklahoma and is now a Yellow Jacket. He is “a talented scoring guard who needs to rediscover his 3 point shot” (31.4%). 6-2 180 Lance terry averaged 10.1p and hit 38.8% from three two years ago. He missed last year with an injury. 6-3 180 Nathan George averaged 9.8p/4.7a last year. Kowacie Reeves Jr. (6-7 202) averaged 9.8p/3.9r and is a “key wing scorer who has the ability to take over games”.
6-9 214 Baye Ndongo (12.4p/8.2r) “was a revelation as a freshman, scoring at an efficient rate, rebounding and blocking shots”. Eddie Lampkin’s former Colorado teammate 6-8 222 Luke O’Brien, (6.7p/3.8r, 37.6% from three) is a ‘stretch forward’ and “a sharpshooter with two NCAAA tournament appearances in his career”. Ryan Mutombo, (son of the late Dikembe), is 7-2 259. He transferred in from Georgetown, where he only played 55 minutes for a bad team last year.
Saturday 1/11/25 at the Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, Ma. 3PM Boston College
TV: The CW
The Eagles had had one winning season in 12 years before breaking through at 20-16 last year, although they were only 8-12 in the conference. We split with them last year, winning 69-59 in the Dome but losing 75-80 at the Conte Forum, where this game will be played. Coach Earl Grant has continued to build the program but is missing his top five scorers. Grant accused other programs of tampering with his players but had to bring in 7 new players: four freshmen and three more through that dang portal himself.
6-3 185 Dion Brown was 19.0p/7.6r/2.6a and 34.9 from the arc for Maryland-Baltimore County last year. 6-5 205 Roger McFarlane was 14.6p/8.6r/34.1 for SE Louisiana. 6-3 180 Josh Beadle averaged 3.0p for Clemson in 11m per game. 6-10 255 Chad Venning averaged 13.4p/just 4.6r for St. Bonaventure. 6-5 200 Donald Hand Jr. had hands good enough to average 5.0p/1.9r in 14m for BC.
Tuesday 1/14/25 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY 7PM Louisville
TV: ACC Network
Louisville, like Georgetown, is a former college basketball superpower fallen on hard times. Through multiple scandals and coaching changes, they have gone 12-52 overall and 5-35 in conference over the least two seasons. That produced another new coach (Pat Kelsey, 261-122 at Winthrop and College of Charleston, including 58-12 the last two years) and “an entirely new roster”.
He brought in point guards Chucky Hepburn (6-2 195, 9.2p/3.9a 32.2% from three but 40.5% the year before that) from Wisconsin and Koren Johnson (6-2 175, 11.1p/2.7a 37.3%) from Washington. Still another Eddie Lampkin former teammate, J’Vonne Hadley (6-6 205, 11.6p/6.0r, 41.7%) is “a vocal leader”. Terrence Edwards Jr. (6-6 190), is a “former James Madison standout” (17.2p/4.4r/3.4a 34.3%). Kelsey brought two shooters from Charleston with him: 6-3 180 Kobe Rogers (9.7p/4.6r 45.0% on threes!) and 6-2 190 Reyne Smith (12.8p and 39.4%)
Kasean Pryor (6-10 210 13.0/7.9 42.9%), “former South Florida standout, steps in as the perfect stretch forward, offering rebounding volume to his interior scoring and 3 point touch”. 6-11 210 James Scott (5.0p/3.4r in 16m) was another guy who followed Kelsey from Charleston. “Former Georgia and Syracuse center Frank Anselem adds size and experience.” Frank (6-10 215) averaged
2.6p/2.2r in 9m for the Bulldogs last year.
We beat the Cardinals 94-92 in the Dome last year and 82-76 in Louisville, two games too close for comfort when playing an old rival fallen on hard times.
Saturday 1/18/25 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY 4PM Notre Dame
TV: ACC Network
See 12/7/24
Wednesday 1/22/25 at the Littlejohn Coliseum, Clemson 7PM Clemson
TV: ACC Network
Last year we got whipped twice by the Tigers, 68-77 in the Dome and 75-90 at their place, made all the more painful by the fact that former Orangeman Joe Gerard scored a total of 39 points in those games. He’s gone but the Tigers can still roar, (do tigers roar or is it just lions?) after going 24-12 and 12-8 in the conference last year. It’s the same story: 7 guys left, 7 more are coming in.
6-4 205 Chase Hunter (12.9p/2.6a) stayed. He’s joined by BC transfer Jaeden Zachery (6-2 200, 11.3p/4.2a). “Together, they have 190 starts in the ACC, 100 of them by Zachery.” (Players used to play 16 games a year for four years.) Zackery dropped 22 on the Tigers as BC knocked them out of the conference tournament. Jake Heidbreder (6-5 180) averaged 15.1p and shot 39.9% from three two years ago for Air Force, then redshirted last year.
Ian Schieffelin (6-8 225, 10.1p/9.4r) ”should be even more productive this season with increased minutes now that he’s the focal point of the frontcourt….He’s also a big fan favorite and a lightning rod in opposing arenas for his get-after-it style.” Fans in those arenas might chose some different words to describe him. Chauncey Wiggins (6-10 210, 5.4p/2.1r) “is still looking for a breakthrough”. He’ll have to hold off 7-1 245 Christian Reeves from Duke and 6-11 230 Viktor Lakhin from Cincinnati, who are looking for the same thing.
Saturday 1/25/25 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY Noon Pittsburgh
TV: ESPN2/ESPNU
We beat the Panthers, [do they roar?] here 81-73 here and 69-58 there last season. It’s always fun to beat them because they gave us such problems over the years when Ben Howland and Jamie Dixon were coaching there. But they have become formidable again, going 22-11 and 12-8 last year. Our wins over them were feathers in our cap. Jeff Capel is the coach now and he’s doing a good job. We may have knocked them out of the NCAA tournament. They seemed to have solid credentials but were not chosen.
Ishmael Leggett (6-3 185, 12.3p/5.5r) was he conference’s 6th man of the year. “He will get his chance to step forward this season and should be the Panther’s leading scorer.” Jaland Love (6-3 175,(9.6p/3.3a) “is a strong distributor who can take care of the ball and hit the long shot”. Damian Dunn (6-5 205) from Houston “is a winner who can defend’ (they all defend at Houston), who “showed he could put up big numbers two years ago at Temple”, (15.3p/3.7r/3.0a, 34.8 from three).
6-10 235 Cameron Corhen (9.4p/3.9r in 21m) came in from Florida State. He scored 25 on Pitt last year and Capel wanted him on his team. 7-0 225 Guillermo Diaz Graham (6.7p/3.9r in 18m) and 6-10 235 freshman Papa Amadou Kante (will challenge him for playing time. 6-7 210 Zack Austin (6.6p/4.2r) is “a solid board man and excellent shot blocker.
Wednesday 1/29/25 at the Maples Pavilion, Stanford Ca 11PM Stanford
TV: ESPN2/ESPNU
The young men of the orange go west for a pair of games against the new Bay Area members of what should now be called the “Coast Conference”. Stanford has a strong history in basketball but they’ve bene mediocre in recent years, (much like Syracuse). They were 14-18 and 8-12 in the late, great Pac12. They have a new coach, Kyle Smith, who’s coached at Columbia, San Francisco and Washington State. He has an “analytics-heavy coaching brad and an efficient offensive scheme”.
The battle in the backcourt is between UC Irvine transfer Derin Saran (6-4 190, 10.1p/3.4a, 34.9%), USC transfer Oziyah Sellers (6-5 185, 5.2p in 14.3m, 42.9%), Duke transfer Jaylen Blakes, (6-2 205, 1.8p/0.7s in 9,) and Benny Gealer (6-1 175, 4.2p/2.3a). Analyze that!
7-1 250 Frenchman (Maxine Raynaud (15.5p/9.6r) “is an all-ACC caliber player”. He can “space the floor, work inside and out and draw multiple defenders”. 6-8 225 Chisom Okpara (16.5p/5.0r) from Harvard “should significantly help loadbearing”. He, Saran and Sellers are the first undergraduate transfers to come to Stanford since 2009.
TV ACC Network
Leonard Hamilton’s Seminoles are famous for two things; playing 10-12 players in rotations and having multiple 7 footers, (Naheem McCloud was one of them until he transferred here). In the last three years, the results have been disappointing: 43-53 and 27-33 in the conference. We think we lost a lot from last year’s roster; the Noles lost 11 scholarship players, including 7 of their top 9 scorers. In today’s basketball, that might not be the disaster it once would have been, as it provides an opportunity, (as Red Autry had), to completely reconstruct the team and FSU may have needed that. (They gave us a bad loss in the Dome last year, 69-85)
Jamir Watkins, (6-7 210 15.6p/6.0r), almost joined the exodus but pulled out of the portal. His shooting hasn’t been bad (34.4% from three), but NBA scouts said he needed work on it and in the offseason, he attempted 500 threes in the morning and 500 more in then evening. [I hope he doesn’t have any Noon games – he didn’t practice for those.] Freshman Daquan Davis (6-1 165), is the likely point guard. “He’s a crafty finisher at the rim and a strong shooter. He is regarded as a solid facilitator but he’s best at scoring and in high school often guarded the other team’s best player.” Junior Guard Chandler Jackson (6-5 220, 4.9p) “worked on slimming down this past summer which improved his speed and bounce, enabling him to get to his mid-range game.” He may need it as he only shot 29.3% from the arc.
Taylor Bol Bowne (6-10 195, 3.1p/2.6r/ in in 10.9) “has been compared to Kevin Durant by some”. [But of course he has.] Malique Ewin (6-10 220) was “a first team All-American in the junior college ranks.” Per SI: “Ewin averaged 14.9 PPG and 9.0 RPG while leading South Plains College to a 32-3 record and had back-to-back games of 30+ points and 10+ rebounds in February.” I don’t see a 7 footer on their Lindy’s roster but ESPN’s site lists a 7-0 218 freshman named Alier Malik. I guess Coach Hamilton, (who is now the longest tenured ACC basketball coach by quite a margin), couldn’t resist.
Tuesday 1/7/25 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY 7PM Georgia Tech
TV: ACC Network
Tech was 14-18 last year, 7-13 in conference. Unfortunately, that included a 60-65 victory over us in Atlanta. Now we get them in the Dome. Damon Stoudemire has 3 of his top 4 scorers back and bagged one of the top portal recruits. That would be Javian McCollum (6-2 190 13.3p/3.4a), who started at Siena, went to Oklahoma and is now a Yellow Jacket. He is “a talented scoring guard who needs to rediscover his 3 point shot” (31.4%). 6-2 180 Lance terry averaged 10.1p and hit 38.8% from three two years ago. He missed last year with an injury. 6-3 180 Nathan George averaged 9.8p/4.7a last year. Kowacie Reeves Jr. (6-7 202) averaged 9.8p/3.9r and is a “key wing scorer who has the ability to take over games”.
6-9 214 Baye Ndongo (12.4p/8.2r) “was a revelation as a freshman, scoring at an efficient rate, rebounding and blocking shots”. Eddie Lampkin’s former Colorado teammate 6-8 222 Luke O’Brien, (6.7p/3.8r, 37.6% from three) is a ‘stretch forward’ and “a sharpshooter with two NCAAA tournament appearances in his career”. Ryan Mutombo, (son of the late Dikembe), is 7-2 259. He transferred in from Georgetown, where he only played 55 minutes for a bad team last year.
Saturday 1/11/25 at the Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, Ma. 3PM Boston College
TV: The CW
The Eagles had had one winning season in 12 years before breaking through at 20-16 last year, although they were only 8-12 in the conference. We split with them last year, winning 69-59 in the Dome but losing 75-80 at the Conte Forum, where this game will be played. Coach Earl Grant has continued to build the program but is missing his top five scorers. Grant accused other programs of tampering with his players but had to bring in 7 new players: four freshmen and three more through that dang portal himself.
6-3 185 Dion Brown was 19.0p/7.6r/2.6a and 34.9 from the arc for Maryland-Baltimore County last year. 6-5 205 Roger McFarlane was 14.6p/8.6r/34.1 for SE Louisiana. 6-3 180 Josh Beadle averaged 3.0p for Clemson in 11m per game. 6-10 255 Chad Venning averaged 13.4p/just 4.6r for St. Bonaventure. 6-5 200 Donald Hand Jr. had hands good enough to average 5.0p/1.9r in 14m for BC.
Tuesday 1/14/25 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY 7PM Louisville
TV: ACC Network
Louisville, like Georgetown, is a former college basketball superpower fallen on hard times. Through multiple scandals and coaching changes, they have gone 12-52 overall and 5-35 in conference over the least two seasons. That produced another new coach (Pat Kelsey, 261-122 at Winthrop and College of Charleston, including 58-12 the last two years) and “an entirely new roster”.
He brought in point guards Chucky Hepburn (6-2 195, 9.2p/3.9a 32.2% from three but 40.5% the year before that) from Wisconsin and Koren Johnson (6-2 175, 11.1p/2.7a 37.3%) from Washington. Still another Eddie Lampkin former teammate, J’Vonne Hadley (6-6 205, 11.6p/6.0r, 41.7%) is “a vocal leader”. Terrence Edwards Jr. (6-6 190), is a “former James Madison standout” (17.2p/4.4r/3.4a 34.3%). Kelsey brought two shooters from Charleston with him: 6-3 180 Kobe Rogers (9.7p/4.6r 45.0% on threes!) and 6-2 190 Reyne Smith (12.8p and 39.4%)
Kasean Pryor (6-10 210 13.0/7.9 42.9%), “former South Florida standout, steps in as the perfect stretch forward, offering rebounding volume to his interior scoring and 3 point touch”. 6-11 210 James Scott (5.0p/3.4r in 16m) was another guy who followed Kelsey from Charleston. “Former Georgia and Syracuse center Frank Anselem adds size and experience.” Frank (6-10 215) averaged
2.6p/2.2r in 9m for the Bulldogs last year.
We beat the Cardinals 94-92 in the Dome last year and 82-76 in Louisville, two games too close for comfort when playing an old rival fallen on hard times.
Saturday 1/18/25 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY 4PM Notre Dame
TV: ACC Network
See 12/7/24
Wednesday 1/22/25 at the Littlejohn Coliseum, Clemson 7PM Clemson
TV: ACC Network
Last year we got whipped twice by the Tigers, 68-77 in the Dome and 75-90 at their place, made all the more painful by the fact that former Orangeman Joe Gerard scored a total of 39 points in those games. He’s gone but the Tigers can still roar, (do tigers roar or is it just lions?) after going 24-12 and 12-8 in the conference last year. It’s the same story: 7 guys left, 7 more are coming in.
6-4 205 Chase Hunter (12.9p/2.6a) stayed. He’s joined by BC transfer Jaeden Zachery (6-2 200, 11.3p/4.2a). “Together, they have 190 starts in the ACC, 100 of them by Zachery.” (Players used to play 16 games a year for four years.) Zackery dropped 22 on the Tigers as BC knocked them out of the conference tournament. Jake Heidbreder (6-5 180) averaged 15.1p and shot 39.9% from three two years ago for Air Force, then redshirted last year.
Ian Schieffelin (6-8 225, 10.1p/9.4r) ”should be even more productive this season with increased minutes now that he’s the focal point of the frontcourt….He’s also a big fan favorite and a lightning rod in opposing arenas for his get-after-it style.” Fans in those arenas might chose some different words to describe him. Chauncey Wiggins (6-10 210, 5.4p/2.1r) “is still looking for a breakthrough”. He’ll have to hold off 7-1 245 Christian Reeves from Duke and 6-11 230 Viktor Lakhin from Cincinnati, who are looking for the same thing.
Saturday 1/25/25 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY Noon Pittsburgh
TV: ESPN2/ESPNU
We beat the Panthers, [do they roar?] here 81-73 here and 69-58 there last season. It’s always fun to beat them because they gave us such problems over the years when Ben Howland and Jamie Dixon were coaching there. But they have become formidable again, going 22-11 and 12-8 last year. Our wins over them were feathers in our cap. Jeff Capel is the coach now and he’s doing a good job. We may have knocked them out of the NCAA tournament. They seemed to have solid credentials but were not chosen.
Ishmael Leggett (6-3 185, 12.3p/5.5r) was he conference’s 6th man of the year. “He will get his chance to step forward this season and should be the Panther’s leading scorer.” Jaland Love (6-3 175,(9.6p/3.3a) “is a strong distributor who can take care of the ball and hit the long shot”. Damian Dunn (6-5 205) from Houston “is a winner who can defend’ (they all defend at Houston), who “showed he could put up big numbers two years ago at Temple”, (15.3p/3.7r/3.0a, 34.8 from three).
6-10 235 Cameron Corhen (9.4p/3.9r in 21m) came in from Florida State. He scored 25 on Pitt last year and Capel wanted him on his team. 7-0 225 Guillermo Diaz Graham (6.7p/3.9r in 18m) and 6-10 235 freshman Papa Amadou Kante (will challenge him for playing time. 6-7 210 Zack Austin (6.6p/4.2r) is “a solid board man and excellent shot blocker.
Wednesday 1/29/25 at the Maples Pavilion, Stanford Ca 11PM Stanford
TV: ESPN2/ESPNU
The young men of the orange go west for a pair of games against the new Bay Area members of what should now be called the “Coast Conference”. Stanford has a strong history in basketball but they’ve bene mediocre in recent years, (much like Syracuse). They were 14-18 and 8-12 in the late, great Pac12. They have a new coach, Kyle Smith, who’s coached at Columbia, San Francisco and Washington State. He has an “analytics-heavy coaching brad and an efficient offensive scheme”.
The battle in the backcourt is between UC Irvine transfer Derin Saran (6-4 190, 10.1p/3.4a, 34.9%), USC transfer Oziyah Sellers (6-5 185, 5.2p in 14.3m, 42.9%), Duke transfer Jaylen Blakes, (6-2 205, 1.8p/0.7s in 9,) and Benny Gealer (6-1 175, 4.2p/2.3a). Analyze that!
7-1 250 Frenchman (Maxine Raynaud (15.5p/9.6r) “is an all-ACC caliber player”. He can “space the floor, work inside and out and draw multiple defenders”. 6-8 225 Chisom Okpara (16.5p/5.0r) from Harvard “should significantly help loadbearing”. He, Saran and Sellers are the first undergraduate transfers to come to Stanford since 2009.
