Other College Basketball Preview Capsules: Abromaitis, Hansbrough lead Irish
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Old guys, as coach Mike Brey likes to call them, will have to rule for Notre Dame this season.
Mainstays Luke Harangody and Tory Jackson are gone, but seniors Ben Hansbrough, Carleton Scott and Tyrone Nash and grad student Tim Abromaitis are back from a 23-win team last year that lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Old Dominion.
Add in Purdue transfer Scott Martin, who hasn't played in two years after knee problems, and the Irish will have an experienced starting lineup.
"We have a nucleus of guys back that have had some success together," Brey said. "We have five guys that are technically seniors that have been around, so it is a great group to build and grow with. Trying to stay old with the guys that are on the floor as much as possible is really important to us."
"We got a taste of the NCAA tournament, we found out what that was about," Hansbrough added. "We found out that it's a cutthroat deal. We got people experienced in that."
Getting back to the tournament will now be the task, and it's never an easy one playing in the Big East.
Harangody's ability to hit the big shot and his 21.8-point, 9.1-rebound averages from last season will be missed, but so will be Jackson's floor leadership and ball handling.
Freshman point guard Eric Atkins is likely the first player off the bench — if he doesn't start — and will be counted on to fill the role that Jackson was so proficient at during his career.
"He is the one true guy that has played that position. I think ball handling as a group is going to be important to help him and not just throw him in there," Brey said. "He is very fast, so playing at a fast pace is a big advantage for him."
And how will the Irish deal with tempo? They showed last season as they adjusted during a stretch in which Harangody was injured that they could slow it down and burn some clock and be effective. With Harangody out, they went 3-2.
"We have a strength in getting out and running, we have players that can get down the floor, pass and catch early," Brey said. "We can spread the floor out because we have guys that can make shots. But to understand how to change gears and be really patient is important."
The 6-foot-8 Abromaitis developed into a scoring threat last season and finished with a 16-point average, often benefiting from Harangody's presence that drew defenses.
And Hansbrough, a hustler who runs into tables and gets floor burns from chasing loose balls, is a proven ball handler who can score after averaging 12 points a year ago. Nash, who started all 35 games last season, Scott and Martin are all 6-foot-8.
"We will be a little more diverse there (scoring), with more guys being able to make plays. Certainly Ben and Abro are the most confident to make plays, especially during our early non-league slate," Brey said. "They have been in the battles a little longer."
Jack Cooley, at 6-foot-9, should be a top reserve, giving the Irish another long body and helping out on the boards to make sure offensive rebounds from opponents are not a problem.
"I think this really helps us especially since we are not the quickest. We have length, size, and bulk there," Brey said. "We want to get into a rhythm of one and done and I think this group should be able to do that. We have guys to protect the paint and rebound no matter if we are zone or man defense."
How quickly Martin — who played one full season with the Boilermakers — gets acclimated after two years without real game competition could determine how successful the Irish are this season. They open Nov. 12 against Georgia Southern.
"One of the great things about our team is how versatile we are. There are several people on the team who are interchangeable and can play anywhere on the court," Martin said. "Ty (Nash), (Tim) Abromaitis and I can switch playing inside or outside at anytime. Our versatility will be something we will definitely use this season."
Purnell tries to turn around DePaul
CHICAGO (AP) — All around him at Big East media day, people were practically giggling about his program and new DePaul coach Oliver Purnell was seething.
It was one rude welcome. He could be in for another this season.
The Blue Demons were picked to finish last in the preseason coaches' poll and given their recent history, it's not hard to see why — whether Purnell likes it or not.
"It was my sense there was a little smirking and snickering going on when our name was mentioned, and that bothers me," he said. "I take offense to it not only for myself personally but for our team. But having said that, we have an opportunity to do something about that on the court. Not anytime soon, but that's certainly something that we're going to remember, and that's there. Those other voices are there. It's up to us to prove them wrong."
The "little school under the El tracks" is looking to push back after getting pushed around the past few years and restore some of the glory that legendary coach Ray Meyer and stars like George Mikan and Mark Aguirre brought to the program.
DePaul can boast 22 NCAA appearances, two Final Fours, an NIT championship. But lately, no one's bragging about the Blue Demons.
They're coming off their third straight losing season, going 8-23 overall and 1-17 in Big East play after failing to win a regular-season conference game the previous year. They fired coach Jerry Wainwright in January following several blowout losses and replaced him on an interim basis with Tracy Webster.
Ultimately, they turned to Purnell, a coach with a history of rebuilding programs. And this one is no small task.
The Blue Demons' most recent NCAA appearance was under Dave Leitao in 2004, and they've made the NIT just twice since then.
They haven't tapped into the Chicago area's deep pool off recruits, watching high-profile players like Derrick Rose and Jon Scheyer go elsewhere, and several of the top local high school coaches made it clear they weren't happy when DePaul hired Purnell. They saw him as an outsider, a stranger, and they wanted Webster.
"I don't think you can let a few naysayers stop you from doing anything," Purnell said. "My approach has always been you go out and you meet people, you develop relationships and let people judge for themselves. We've had some success in getting some guys committed from the Chicago area, and I think it's mainly because we've gone out and worked hard at it. By and large, I've found that most coaches — the majority, vast majority — have been receptive and welcoming."
Purnell can sell recruits on an up-tempo style, but he can't sell them on an on-campus arena. Athletic director Jean Lenti Ponsetto said it's "not a front-burner project" and the Blue Demons are entering their 31st year at Allstate Arena in suburban Rosemont with a contract that expires in 2016.
"DePaul would never say we wouldn't look at an arena, because you would have to look at us as an institution," Ponsetto said. "As we've grown, we dream big."
A new arena in a lively, densely populated neighborhood would figure to draw big crowds, but Ponsetto remains adamant: "Where we play has not been a hindrance to our success. What's been a hindrance to our success is we need to elevate our recruiting to a whole other level and elevate our style of play."
New arena or not, that's where Purnell comes in.
He spent seven seasons at Clemson, going 138-88 and is 394-279 in 22 years with stops at Radford, Old Dominion and Dayton. The Tigers made the NCAA tournament the past three years, but lost in the first round, making him 0-6 overall in the tournament.
Now, he's part of a line of coaches that left Clemson when it appeared to be on the rise, along with Rick Barnes and Cliff Ellis.
At DePaul, Purnell's trying to reverse a trend, to change a mindset, and squash the snickering.
"It is a big motivation to everybody on the team because we're getting tired of hearing that," swingman Mike Stovall said.
The Blue Demons open the regular season Nov. 14 at home against Chicago State.
-- Andrew Seligman
Marquette has potential, not much experience
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Buzz Williams wasn't shy about expressing his borderline-obsessive love for numbers in his first two years at Marquette, often noting in interviews precisely how many days he had been the school's head coach.
So it seemed strange the other day that when somebody asked him what day he was on, and he said he would have to go look it up.
Dialing back his ability to recite statistics isn't the only change Williams is trying to make this season. Leading a team with plenty of potential but not much experience trying to stay in the top half of the brutal Big East, he knows he will have to work on his patience.
"I think that we've always taught things the right way," Williams said. "But I think the difference this year is going to be when we teach it, and how long it takes them to execute what we're teaching, because we're dealing with so many new guys."
Entering his third season since taking over for Tom Crean, Williams has been able to sustain the Golden Eagles' success, taking them to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances — making it five straight tournaments for the program dating to Crean's tenure.
Now the challenge changes.
Two seasons ago, he had the "Big Three:" Wesley Matthews, Jerel McNeal and Dominic James, at least until James broke his foot. Last season, he had standout forward Lazar Hayward and the conference's best 3-point shooter, Maurice Acker.
He has some promising players to build around this season. But outside of forward Jimmy Butler and guard Darius Johnson-Odom, most of them haven't done it on this level.
"It is hard to predict what it is that we have," Williams said. "I have a good pulse on what we have. So many of the guys that we'll rely upon have never been at this level, and the guys that we'll really count on on a daily basis have never had to produce at the level that they're going to have to produce."
Hayward led the team with 18.1 points and 7.5 rebounds last season, then became a first-round pick in the NBA draft. The Golden Eagles will miss Acker and fellow guard David Cubillan, both of whom could stretch defenses with perimeter shooting.
Outside of Butler and Johnson-Odom, only two other returning players — Dwight Buycks and Joseph Fulce — played more than 10 minutes per game last season.
The team doesn't have much experience at point guard. Sophomore Junior Cadougan missed most of last season with an Achilles' tendon injury. Freshman guard Reggie Smith could be called upon to run the offense.
Williams calls point guard play the "swing vote" that will go a long way toward determining the direction of the season.
"I think that's why my personality's going to have to be a little bit more patient," Williams said. "Because they're going to have some ups and downs, and they've got to know that I'm right there with them, even when they're struggling."
The Golden Eagles shouldn't have a problem getting scoring from their backcourt.
There's Johnson-Odom, a junior college transfer who joined the team last season and averaged 13 points per game. He shot 47.4 percent from 3-point range, trailing only Acker among conference leaders.
Buycks could be called upon to play a bigger role. And there's excitement about freshman Vander Blue, a guard from Madison who verbally committed to Wisconsin before changing his mind and going to Marquette in a recruiting coup for Williams.
Butler, who averaged 14.7 points and 6.4 rebounds, will be the leader in the frontcourt.
Among the newcomers is another significant junior college transfer for Williams, 6-6 forward Jae Crowder, last year's junior college player of the year.
"He's a really good player," Williams said. "But every junior college player has an adjustment. The game is played at a much faster pace."
Fulce and Erik Williams will be expected to contribute more. Marquette also added two freshman forwards, Jamail Jones and Davante Gardner. Center Chris Otule has missed most of the past two seasons because of foot injuries and will be counted on to contribute more.
Despite his team's steep learning curve, Williams still expects a strong season.
"Are we going to get beat? Yeah. Are we going to struggle? Yes. Is it going to be a lot of fun and hopefully in the end it works out the right way? I think so," Williams said. "When is it going to work out? I don't know, but I know we'll keep working at it until it works out, and that's kind of the way our team was last year."
-- Chris Jenkins
USF aims to prove successful season wasn't a fluke
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Stan Heath understands the challenge of transforming South Florida into a contender in one of the toughest college basketball leagues in the country.
The former Arkansas and Kent State coach concedes it will be difficult to replace Big East scoring leader Dominique Jones, however Heath and his young team still have expectations of taking another step forward this season.
USF went 20-13 last winter, earning a postseason berth for the first time in eight years. More importantly, the Bulls climbed to the middle of the pack in the Big East standings with a 9-9 record that was easily its best since entering the league in 2005.
Heath isn't making any bold predictions entering his fourth season, but he does believes his team is talented enough to build off what was accomplished last winter.
"We can't be satisfied. We can't just say: 'Hey, we did a good job last year.' We've got to take things to another level. It starts with leadership, and it starts with attitude on the floor," said Heath, who's 41-54 in three seasons at USF, 16-38 in the Big East.
"I'm seeing that with this team. This team is not looking to go backward," Heath added. "This team wants to go forward. It wants to do more than it did last year, and I'm excited about that."
Jones, who gave up his final season of eligibility to enter the NBA draft, averaged 21.4 points per game. The Bulls lost another 19.5 points with the departure of senior guards Chris Howard and Mike Mercer, but return the makings of an impressive frontcourt.
Junior Augustus Gilchrist returned from an early-season injury to average 13.4 points and 5.9 rebounds, and the lone senior on the roster, 6-foot-11 Jarrid Famous, contributed 10.4 points and 7.5 rebounds while making the transition junior college to the talent-laden Big East.
"I don't know where we would have been if we had Gilchrist healthy the whole year. If he stays healthy, he's as good as you're going to find in college basketball," Heath said of the 6-10 forward who transferred from Maryland.
"He really is that good. He's improved in a lot of ways. He's stronger, he has a better grasp of what he needs to do on the court, and I think he's confident knowing he can dominate games. ... Famous is much improved, as well."
What Heath, who led Kent State to the round of eight in the NCAA tournament eight years ago, is less certain about who'll start alongside Gilchrist and Famous or what his backcourt rotation will look like by the time Big East play begins.
Toarlyn Fitzpatrick and Ron Anderson, a 6-8 transfer from Kansas State, figure to play key roles in the frontcourt and juniors Hugh Robertson and Anthony Crater, sophomores Mike Burwell and Shaun Noriega and freshman LaVonte Dority are competing for playing time at guard.
The Bulls seemingly emerged out of nowhere last winter, winning four straight following an 0-4 conference start to climb out of the Big East cellar. The surge included wins over conference heavyweights Pittsburgh and Georgetown, with Jones averaged 35 points and 7.5 rebounds during the stretch.
USF hasn't appeared in the NCAA tournament, but last season's progress and a spot in the NIT for the first time since 2002 clearly raised expectations for a program that lost 28 of 32 Big East games in its first two seasons in the league.
"We've got to build from there," Famous said. "No excuses. We know we can do it."
-- Fred Goodall
Murray State eager to play giant slayer
MURRAY, Ky. (AP) — Billy Kennedy would love to downplay the high expectations surrounding Murray State.
The Racers are so loaded, however, their head coach can't help but embrace the expectations instead.
Murray State returns eight players from a team that went 31-5, captured the Ohio Valley Conference title and upset Vanderbilt in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. The Racers are the overwhelming pick to repeat as conference champions and even received a healthy 15 votes in the preseason Associated Press poll.
"You'd rather be picked first than last," said Kennedy.
The Racers really didn't give the voters a choice. They ripped through the OVC a year ago and will again have the kind of depth that's a rare commodity in the mid-major conference.
Murray State had six players average at least 9.7 points a game last season. Kennedy doesn't see a reason why the can't spread the scoring load just as evenly this year.
The balance is led by guards B.J. Jenkins, Isacc Miles, Jewuan Long and Isaiah Canaan. Their competitiveness has fueled practice and given practices a decidedly rugged edge.
"They bring it every day," Kennedy said.
They have to if they want to see the floor. Kennedy isn't afraid to go to the bench liberally if things aren't going well, and the ability to attack in waves have made the Racers one of the best defensive teams in the country. Opponents shot just 39 percent from the floor last year and scored just 60.4 points a game.
"We're blue-collar, defensive-minded, physical," Kennedy said. "That's what we do."
And nobody does it better in the OVC. The Racers have won 21 conference championships and gone dancing 14 times.
A 15th trip to the tournament is expected this year. So is a trip to the second weekend.
Murray State narrowly missed making it to the regional semifinals last year, falling to national runner-up Butler 54-52. The Racers had the ball and a chance to tie it with 17 seconds left but couldn't squeeze off a shot. It's a memory that's fueled their offseason program, though one they're anxious to put in the rearview mirror.
"Last year was last year, it doesn't mean anything right now," said senior guard Jeffery McClain.
The Racers will have plenty of chance to make new memories. The nonconference schedule includes a trip to California for the 76 Classic, where the field includes Stanford, Tulsa and UNLV.
A strong start would give an already confident team a major boost heading into OVC play. The Racers went 17-1 in the league last year.
Kennedy anticipates a challenge from Morehead State and star center Kenneth Faried. The rest remains a bit of a mystery.
"There's a lot of unknowns," he said. "We'll see, but the conference will be tough again."
Especially at the top.
Talented center Faried drawing raves at Morehead
MOREHEAD, Ky. (AP) — An NBA scout's trip to Morehead State University isn't the easiest of the year.
Fly into Lexington, Ky., drive around traditional power Kentucky's campus. Head almost 70 miles east Interstate 64, fighting construction-related traffic. Morehead State's Johnson Arena is about three miles from exit 137.
But several NBA scouts have made the trip this fall anyway to see center Kenneth Faried.
Faried, who the preseason Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year, averaged 16.9 points and 13.0 rebounds last season as a junior.
The 6-foot-8, 228-pound center entered his name into NBA draft consideration but after being told he'd likely be selected in the mid- to late-second round, he opted to return to Morehead State for his senior year.
The Eagles finished last season 24-11 and 15-3 in OVC play, runners-up to Murray State in the regular season standings and the conference tournament. The 24 wins were second-most in school history and to match or top that this season, Morehead State coach Donnie Tyndall said the burden will rest on Faried.
Although Faried has been a dominant player throughout his career, Tyndall said this will be his first season without considerable help in the frontcourt. Tyndall plans to start a four-guard lineup, playing similar offense to that of Villanova when the Wildcats went to the Final Four in 2008.
"We've got some young big guys that I think will come along as the year progresses and maybe we could go back to our traditional style of play for parts of games, but we're going to start our best five players," Tyndall said. "If you're going to be a smart coach, in my opinion, you have to get your best players on the floor and this style of play will allow us to do that."
The Eagles were picked to finish second to Murray State in the conference's preseason media poll. Catching the Racers won't be easy, Tyndall said, because they return eight of 10 main-rotation players from last season's team that upset Vanderbilt in the first round of the NCAA tournament before losing to eventual runner-up Butler, 58-56.
But Murray State's only conference loss last season was to Morehead State, so Tyndall knows the Racers can be beaten. Although the four-guard lineup will be new to Morehead, it will continue to run a hard press on defense — maybe even harder — after finishing 12th in Division I last season with 9.0 steals per game.
"When you have a great player like Kenneth inside and you give him more room to operate around the rim, and you know he can change a lot of shots defensively, you can get away with playing smaller," Tyndall said.
In August, Morehead State was placed on NCAA probation for two seasons for recruiting violations involving illegal booster activity.
The probation includes the loss of one scholarship and cutbacks in recruiting days, visits and calls.
"I don't think one scholarship down will affect us a whole bunch," Tyndall said. "I just think we'll continue to grow our program. We went from 12 wins my first year (at Morehead) to 15, to 20 and now 24 last year. The biggest thing is just to improve on that each and every year, even if we're down a scholarship."
Tyndall said another strong season and a 2011 draft class perceived to be weaker could put Faried in the NBA draft's mid- to late- first round.
And if the Eagles have another strong season in the OVC, NBA scouts will continue to find their way to Morehead.
"Kenneth Faried is a once-in-a-lifetime player at this level," Tyndall said. "We've got to have a great year to send him out the right way. A lot of the burden is on his shoulders to have a great year but he's embraced that."
Eastern Kentucky trying to rebuild on the fly
RICHMOND, Ky. (AP) — When Eastern Kentucky signed nine newcomers for this season, coach Jeff Neubauer knew October headaches came along, too.
Only five players return from last year's Colonels, which finished 20-13 overall and 11-7 in the Ohio Valley Conference, tied for third. Five of Neubauer's class of 2010 came from high school, two from junior colleges and two are Division I transfers.
Neubauer, formerly an assistant coach under John Beilein at West Virginia, has modeled his teams similarly to Beilein. Last season the Colonels finished second in Division I by making 9.9 3-pointers a game.
The sixth-year head coach thinks his team can be as good shooting this year. It's hard to tell, though, because of all of the mess brought on by nine players new to the system.
Neubauer said if his team wants to finish better in the OVC and challenge favorite Murray State, the difference must be made on defense. Out of 334 Division I teams in 2009-10, Eastern Kentucky finished 331st in 3-point defense and 315th in field-goal percent defense.
"It's so hard for a young man who may be 18 coming from high school (to play tough defense)," Neubauer said. "It's just so much harder, so much quicker, so much more athletic at this level. It takes a lot of hard work to really defend."
It will be up to freshmen Jeff Johnson and Deverin Muff to replace Josh Taylor, last year's starting power forward. Taylor played inside and out on offense and offered big presence inside, Neubauer said.
Neubauer said replacing Taylor is perhaps the most obvious example of how newcomers will have to mature quickly across the roster.
"As we go into this season, to imagine us becoming a good team by March without those two guys developing, that's very hard to envision," Neubauer said. "We really need at least one of those guys to make huge strides. Really, we need both of them to make huge strides as this season opens up here to really change how our team looks and give us some size inside."
Even with so much roster turnover, Neubauer managed to return three starters, including Justin Stommes. Stommes led the Colonels last year with 14.2 points per game and was selected this year to the preseason all-conference first team. He and others - Neubauer pointed to guard Willie Cruz, a backup last season - will have to provide stability while others catch up around them.
In the preseason, Neubauer said he's had to keep his thinking day-to-day - what the Colonels' defense will look like that day and not what Murray State's will look like in March in the newly revamped OVC tournament.
In years past, maybe the Colonels could have thought about that. But with nine newcomers, that's another part of dealing with the October headaches.
"We have good days and we have some bad ones, too," Neubauer said. "Our guys have certainly learned quite a bit. We're getting some of our new guys up to college speed but it certainly is a learning process and we do need to be patient."
