SWC75
Bored Historian
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Tuesday 12/3/24 at the Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tenn 7 or 7:30PM Tennessee
TV: ESPN or ESPN 2
Modern college basketball: 2019: An unranked 6-1 recruit named Dalton Knecht from Fargo ND goes to Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado. There he grows to 6-6 and as a sophomore and averages 23.9p/7.5r. He transfers to Northern Colorado and averages 8.9/3.6 in 2021-22. In his second year he scores 20.2/7.2 and is now rated by 247 as the 13th best player in the portal and the #2 small forward. Normally he would have used up his eligibility but this was his Covid year. He transfers to Tennessee where he averages 21.7/4.9, (we held him to 17/4 but got clobbered 56-73 anyway) and is named SEC player of the year and a 1st team All American and 1st round draft choice for the Lakers.
That’s everyone’s dream: get the under-the-radar guy who blossomed at a lower-level school and will keep on blossoming for your school. We’ve got three of them, (Jyare Davis from Delaware, Jaquan Carlos from Hofstra and Lucas Taylor from Georgia State). The chances that any of them becomes the next Dalton Knecht are pretty small but maybe they can play at this level well enough to help us. Lindys: “The Vols got who they wanted out of the transfer portal, including veteran scorers and shooters, [they kinda go together], and finding big men to anchor the interior defense. They’ll also ask program role players for increased production.”
Zakai Zeigler is not a role player. He’s going to start his fourth year with the Vols. He’s a little guy at 5-9 171 but plays big: 11.8p/6.1a. He could probably get posted up but he’ll be hard to keep up with in a man-to-man defense. “The little devil is the Vol’s instigator on each end of the floor”. (He had 9p/3a/1s but also 6to vs. SU). 6-4 175 Chaz Lanier arrived from North Florida, where he hit 44% of his threes, averaging 19.7p/4.8a. Jaquan Carlos’ old teammate at Hofstra and winner of the name-of-the-year competition is Darlinstone Dubar, 6-8 211 (17.8p/6.8r). He started his career with Iowa State, so he’s played at this level before. Igor Milicic (No apparent relation to Darko), 6-10 225, is “a cerebral bruiser”, [a term I’ve never heard before], “built to direct Rick Barnes defense from the back line”. 6-11 235 Felix Opara started 34 game for Ohio State and shot 61% from the field. JP Estrella is listed as “providing depth”.
This is an ACC-SEC challenge game. The Vols were 27-9 last year and went to the Elite 8 so we drew a strong opponent – one that has been better than we have been in recent years. [I thought the idea was to have compaerable teams play eachother.]
Saturday 12/7/24 at the Purcell Pavilion, South Bend, Indiana Noon Notre Dame
TV: The CW
The Irish are our early ACC game. They’ve hit a pothole the last two years, going 24-42 and 10-30 in the conference. But potholes can be driven through in the era of the portal. But Coach Micah Shrewsberry managed to keep his top four scorers and 5 of the top 6, so he may not have to mine the portal as much as others. Developing your own players can take longer than importing established players so the shrewd Shrewsberry brought in three transfers.
Point guard Markus Burton, (5-11 166, 17.5p/4.3a) decided not to go to the NBA and will be one of the best players in the conference. “But he must cut down on his turnovers (3.7) and improve his long-range shooting, (30.0%), to convince NBA scouts of his value in their league.” Princeton transfer Mark Alloco shot 42.7% from three and scored 12.7. “Expect freshman Sir Muhammed, son of former NBA player Nazr Muhammed to make an immediate impact. He’s a combo guard who can score and set up teammates.”
6-9 208 Tae Davis, (9.2p/5.3r) “can impact a game at both ends”. They brought in…get ready for his name: Nikita Konstantynovskyi, (6-10 245) who had 9.3 points and 8.3 rebounds for Monmouth and Lehigh’s Burke Cebuhar (6-8 230) had 7/5/5.0. Kabba Njle (6-10 254), averaged 5.4 rebs, (and 4.3p) in 24 minutes.
We beat Notre Dame 88-85 last year but it was in the Dome.
Tuesday 12/10/24 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY 7PM Albany
TV: ESPN2
The Great Danes went 13-19 and 5-11in the America East Conference, (our old friends at Vermont, UMASS-Lowell, our other old friends at Bryant, Maine, Virginia’s old friends at Maryland-Baltimore County, Binghamton, New Jersey Tech and New Hampshire) last year but “rolled out one of the most exciting AE offenses”. That means they rolled out one of the most exciting defenses, too – for the other team. 6-4 204 Amar Marshall is their star, (16.7p/5.0r). He’s the only returning double figure scorer. 5-10 185 Bryon Joshua transferred in from Alcorn State, where he averaged 11.3p/4.2a but only shot 23% from three. 6-4 220 DeMarr Langford Jr. used to play for BC but spent a season with Central Florida, (where he hardly played). He once averaged 11.3p/4.8r. Then there’s Kacper Klaczek, (really?), 6-8 220 from St. Josephs, who averaged 7.7p/5.4r two years ago but lost playing time last year, starting 1 game instead of 21 games.
Saturday 12/14/24 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY 2:30PM Georgetown
TV: ACC Network
Our greatest rivals have been scrapping bottom in recent years. We’ve been mired in mediocrity, but they’ve been in quicksand going 22-73 and an incredible 4-55, (I’ll say it again, 4-55!) in the Big East. Big John Thompson must be spinning in his grave. Maybe he’s crawling out! Former Providence Coach Ed Cooley is trying to pull the Hoyas out of the muck.
6-2 187 Jayden Epps was third in the conference in scoring with 18.5p/4.2a and the two guys ahead of him are in the pros. A guy we wanted, Malik Mack from Harvard, (6-1 170, 17.2p/4.8a/4.0r) will join him in the backcourt. Micah Peavy, 6-8 215, went from Texas Tech to TCU to Georgetown. Last year he averaged 10.9p/4.9r. 6-10 255 freshman Thomas Sorber was ranked the #45 recruit in the country and the 10th best center. The Hoyas could be on the way back.
We beat the Hoyas 80-68 in DC last season.
Saturday 12/21/24 at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn NY Noon Maryland
TV: ESPN 2
We play the Terps as part of something called the ‘Gotham Classic’. Whatever. The non-conference schedule seems well-balanced between challenging games and walk-overs, and everything in between. Maryland was kind of in-between last year, going 12-17 and 7-13 in the Big 10. The problem was something basic: shooting. They had the worst three point shooting percentage in D1: 28.9% and lost 9 games by 3 points or less.
Five players left through the portal and 5 came in, so this could be a very different teams with different strengths and weaknesses. Selton Miguel (6-4 210, 14.7p 39.0% from three) started out with Kansas State, then South Florida and now Maryland. Ja’Kobi Gillespie (6-1 180, 17.2p/3.8r/4.2a, 38.7%), arrived from Belmont. 6-4 195 Rodney Rice, (sounds like a soap opera character) averaged 7.4p/3.3r in 20 minutes per game for Virginia Tech two years ago. He was injured last year. 6-5 215 DeShawn Harris-Smith “showed he could distribute and defend” but only scored 7.3 and shot 20% from the arc. 6-3 185 Chance Stephens hit 7 threes for Loyola Marymount against Wake Forest. Two starters return up front: 6-9 230 Julian Reese (12.7p/9.5r) and 6-6 225 Jordan Geronimo (5.4p/3.9r), who won’t let Maryland fall any further.
Saturday 12/28/24 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY 2PM Bucknell
TV: The CW
Bucknell is one of those Patriot League teams who are sick of looking up at Colgate. Last year, they were 10-8 in the league but only 4-11 out of it. They have four starters back, the best of them big Noah Williamson (7-0 244, 12.3p/6.4r) and 6-2 201 Elvin Edmonds (10.8p/4.4a). It’s all ACC after this.
Tuesday 12/31/24 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY 2PM Wake Forest
TV: ESPN 2
The Demon Deacons, (a strange name), are making a comeback from a long bad stretch. They had nine losing records in 11 years from 2011-2021 but since they’ve gone 65-38 and 34-26 in the conference. Last year they were 21-14 and 11-9 in the conference and clobbered us 70-99 in their place. They won 17 home games, the second most in school history. The bad news for them is that it means they won only 4 games away from their home arena and this year we’ve got ‘em in the Dome.
Their star is 6-5 185 Hunter Sallis (18.0p/4.1rm 40.5% from three). “Sallis had a big year, scoring from all over, hitting the long ball, rebounding well from the guard spot and playing strong defense. He enters the season as one of the league’s top returnees.” 6-4 Cameron Hildreth (13.8p/4.7r) “is a complete guard on the wing who can shoot well enough, pass and defend”. 6-5 205 Alabama transfer Davin Cosby is said to be a good shooter even though he only averaged 3.0 points and hit 34.4% from three. Elton Reid III, (7-0 250), averaged 9.6p/7.9r. 6-7 205 Tre’Von Spillers averaged 12.8p/8.9r for App State. 6-9 240 Churchill Abass, (another wonderful name: 3.9p/3.5r in 16m/game) came in from DePaul and 6-8 225 Omaha Biliew (2.4p/1.3r in 7.4m) arrived from Iowa State, (shouldn’t a guy named Omaha have gone to Nebraska?).
TV: ESPN or ESPN 2
Modern college basketball: 2019: An unranked 6-1 recruit named Dalton Knecht from Fargo ND goes to Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado. There he grows to 6-6 and as a sophomore and averages 23.9p/7.5r. He transfers to Northern Colorado and averages 8.9/3.6 in 2021-22. In his second year he scores 20.2/7.2 and is now rated by 247 as the 13th best player in the portal and the #2 small forward. Normally he would have used up his eligibility but this was his Covid year. He transfers to Tennessee where he averages 21.7/4.9, (we held him to 17/4 but got clobbered 56-73 anyway) and is named SEC player of the year and a 1st team All American and 1st round draft choice for the Lakers.
That’s everyone’s dream: get the under-the-radar guy who blossomed at a lower-level school and will keep on blossoming for your school. We’ve got three of them, (Jyare Davis from Delaware, Jaquan Carlos from Hofstra and Lucas Taylor from Georgia State). The chances that any of them becomes the next Dalton Knecht are pretty small but maybe they can play at this level well enough to help us. Lindys: “The Vols got who they wanted out of the transfer portal, including veteran scorers and shooters, [they kinda go together], and finding big men to anchor the interior defense. They’ll also ask program role players for increased production.”
Zakai Zeigler is not a role player. He’s going to start his fourth year with the Vols. He’s a little guy at 5-9 171 but plays big: 11.8p/6.1a. He could probably get posted up but he’ll be hard to keep up with in a man-to-man defense. “The little devil is the Vol’s instigator on each end of the floor”. (He had 9p/3a/1s but also 6to vs. SU). 6-4 175 Chaz Lanier arrived from North Florida, where he hit 44% of his threes, averaging 19.7p/4.8a. Jaquan Carlos’ old teammate at Hofstra and winner of the name-of-the-year competition is Darlinstone Dubar, 6-8 211 (17.8p/6.8r). He started his career with Iowa State, so he’s played at this level before. Igor Milicic (No apparent relation to Darko), 6-10 225, is “a cerebral bruiser”, [a term I’ve never heard before], “built to direct Rick Barnes defense from the back line”. 6-11 235 Felix Opara started 34 game for Ohio State and shot 61% from the field. JP Estrella is listed as “providing depth”.
This is an ACC-SEC challenge game. The Vols were 27-9 last year and went to the Elite 8 so we drew a strong opponent – one that has been better than we have been in recent years. [I thought the idea was to have compaerable teams play eachother.]
Saturday 12/7/24 at the Purcell Pavilion, South Bend, Indiana Noon Notre Dame
TV: The CW
The Irish are our early ACC game. They’ve hit a pothole the last two years, going 24-42 and 10-30 in the conference. But potholes can be driven through in the era of the portal. But Coach Micah Shrewsberry managed to keep his top four scorers and 5 of the top 6, so he may not have to mine the portal as much as others. Developing your own players can take longer than importing established players so the shrewd Shrewsberry brought in three transfers.
Point guard Markus Burton, (5-11 166, 17.5p/4.3a) decided not to go to the NBA and will be one of the best players in the conference. “But he must cut down on his turnovers (3.7) and improve his long-range shooting, (30.0%), to convince NBA scouts of his value in their league.” Princeton transfer Mark Alloco shot 42.7% from three and scored 12.7. “Expect freshman Sir Muhammed, son of former NBA player Nazr Muhammed to make an immediate impact. He’s a combo guard who can score and set up teammates.”
6-9 208 Tae Davis, (9.2p/5.3r) “can impact a game at both ends”. They brought in…get ready for his name: Nikita Konstantynovskyi, (6-10 245) who had 9.3 points and 8.3 rebounds for Monmouth and Lehigh’s Burke Cebuhar (6-8 230) had 7/5/5.0. Kabba Njle (6-10 254), averaged 5.4 rebs, (and 4.3p) in 24 minutes.
We beat Notre Dame 88-85 last year but it was in the Dome.
Tuesday 12/10/24 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY 7PM Albany
TV: ESPN2
The Great Danes went 13-19 and 5-11in the America East Conference, (our old friends at Vermont, UMASS-Lowell, our other old friends at Bryant, Maine, Virginia’s old friends at Maryland-Baltimore County, Binghamton, New Jersey Tech and New Hampshire) last year but “rolled out one of the most exciting AE offenses”. That means they rolled out one of the most exciting defenses, too – for the other team. 6-4 204 Amar Marshall is their star, (16.7p/5.0r). He’s the only returning double figure scorer. 5-10 185 Bryon Joshua transferred in from Alcorn State, where he averaged 11.3p/4.2a but only shot 23% from three. 6-4 220 DeMarr Langford Jr. used to play for BC but spent a season with Central Florida, (where he hardly played). He once averaged 11.3p/4.8r. Then there’s Kacper Klaczek, (really?), 6-8 220 from St. Josephs, who averaged 7.7p/5.4r two years ago but lost playing time last year, starting 1 game instead of 21 games.
Saturday 12/14/24 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY 2:30PM Georgetown
TV: ACC Network
Our greatest rivals have been scrapping bottom in recent years. We’ve been mired in mediocrity, but they’ve been in quicksand going 22-73 and an incredible 4-55, (I’ll say it again, 4-55!) in the Big East. Big John Thompson must be spinning in his grave. Maybe he’s crawling out! Former Providence Coach Ed Cooley is trying to pull the Hoyas out of the muck.
6-2 187 Jayden Epps was third in the conference in scoring with 18.5p/4.2a and the two guys ahead of him are in the pros. A guy we wanted, Malik Mack from Harvard, (6-1 170, 17.2p/4.8a/4.0r) will join him in the backcourt. Micah Peavy, 6-8 215, went from Texas Tech to TCU to Georgetown. Last year he averaged 10.9p/4.9r. 6-10 255 freshman Thomas Sorber was ranked the #45 recruit in the country and the 10th best center. The Hoyas could be on the way back.
We beat the Hoyas 80-68 in DC last season.
Saturday 12/21/24 at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn NY Noon Maryland
TV: ESPN 2
We play the Terps as part of something called the ‘Gotham Classic’. Whatever. The non-conference schedule seems well-balanced between challenging games and walk-overs, and everything in between. Maryland was kind of in-between last year, going 12-17 and 7-13 in the Big 10. The problem was something basic: shooting. They had the worst three point shooting percentage in D1: 28.9% and lost 9 games by 3 points or less.
Five players left through the portal and 5 came in, so this could be a very different teams with different strengths and weaknesses. Selton Miguel (6-4 210, 14.7p 39.0% from three) started out with Kansas State, then South Florida and now Maryland. Ja’Kobi Gillespie (6-1 180, 17.2p/3.8r/4.2a, 38.7%), arrived from Belmont. 6-4 195 Rodney Rice, (sounds like a soap opera character) averaged 7.4p/3.3r in 20 minutes per game for Virginia Tech two years ago. He was injured last year. 6-5 215 DeShawn Harris-Smith “showed he could distribute and defend” but only scored 7.3 and shot 20% from the arc. 6-3 185 Chance Stephens hit 7 threes for Loyola Marymount against Wake Forest. Two starters return up front: 6-9 230 Julian Reese (12.7p/9.5r) and 6-6 225 Jordan Geronimo (5.4p/3.9r), who won’t let Maryland fall any further.
Saturday 12/28/24 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY 2PM Bucknell
TV: The CW
Bucknell is one of those Patriot League teams who are sick of looking up at Colgate. Last year, they were 10-8 in the league but only 4-11 out of it. They have four starters back, the best of them big Noah Williamson (7-0 244, 12.3p/6.4r) and 6-2 201 Elvin Edmonds (10.8p/4.4a). It’s all ACC after this.
Tuesday 12/31/24 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY 2PM Wake Forest
TV: ESPN 2
The Demon Deacons, (a strange name), are making a comeback from a long bad stretch. They had nine losing records in 11 years from 2011-2021 but since they’ve gone 65-38 and 34-26 in the conference. Last year they were 21-14 and 11-9 in the conference and clobbered us 70-99 in their place. They won 17 home games, the second most in school history. The bad news for them is that it means they won only 4 games away from their home arena and this year we’ve got ‘em in the Dome.
Their star is 6-5 185 Hunter Sallis (18.0p/4.1rm 40.5% from three). “Sallis had a big year, scoring from all over, hitting the long ball, rebounding well from the guard spot and playing strong defense. He enters the season as one of the league’s top returnees.” 6-4 Cameron Hildreth (13.8p/4.7r) “is a complete guard on the wing who can shoot well enough, pass and defend”. 6-5 205 Alabama transfer Davin Cosby is said to be a good shooter even though he only averaged 3.0 points and hit 34.4% from three. Elton Reid III, (7-0 250), averaged 9.6p/7.9r. 6-7 205 Tre’Von Spillers averaged 12.8p/8.9r for App State. 6-9 240 Churchill Abass, (another wonderful name: 3.9p/3.5r in 16m/game) came in from DePaul and 6-8 225 Omaha Biliew (2.4p/1.3r in 7.4m) arrived from Iowa State, (shouldn’t a guy named Omaha have gone to Nebraska?).
