June 27, 2006
For fun and to spark some discussion during the slowest basketball week of the year, I have put together a power poll for next season. This is not really a projection of the order of finish, as we are still waiting for the conference schedule details, but more of a look if these teams met on the floor today. With recruiting just about finished and the NBA early entry process completed, it is a good time to begin to take a look to see what we have.
There still could be some late additions as recruiting never stops and recruit eligibility remains in question on some instances, so this list is subject to change. Hopefully, readers will add their lists in the comments sections as well.
1) Pittsburgh: Enhanced by the return of 1st team all-Big East Aaron Gray, the Panthers return 78% of their scoring from a 10-6 conference team last year. East Carolina transfer Mike Cook (15 PPG as a soph in C-USA) is expected to cover much of the loss in offense due to the graduation of Carl Krauser and Sam Young could be ready to break out. With eight of their top 9 players returning and the addition of Cook, Pitt should be ready to hit the ground running early.
2) Georgetown: The Hoyas reached the Sweet 16 last year after a 10-6 conference season, losing to eventual champion Florida. Georgetown return 55% of their scoring and will be lead by their excellent front court duo of Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green, two potential 1st team conference players. Steady Jonathan Wallace returns in the backcourt and Indiana transfer Pat Ewing adds athletic ability to the forward position. A pair of talented freshmen forwards, Vernon Macklin and DaJuan Summers, come in and will try to mesh in the Princeton-style offense. Replacing offensive talents on the perimeter like Ashanti Cook, Brandon Bowman and Darrel Owens will fall on soph Jesse Sapp, jr Tyler Crawford and FR Jeremiah Rivers and will dictate how far this team goes.
Read Rest of Power Poll…click below!!
3) Syracuse: The Orange lose their heart and soul in Gerry McNamara, but still return 76% of their scoring from last season and add the recruit most ready to make an impact from day one in Paul Harris. This is the last chance for the highly rated class of Terrence Roberts, Demetris Nichols and Darryl Watkins to make their mark for the Orange and with it their show, maybe that is what they need. Add in the attitude and production of Eric Devenderf and the toughness of Harris, and this is a team that could bounce back from a VERY uncharacteristic sub-.500 conference mark last year. Also, can’t forget lightning quick PG Josh Wright and if Mike Jones is eligible, they add another top-50 talent to the wing.
4) Louisville: In their first year in the Big East the Cardinals were stung by injuries that lingered for weeks to Juan Palacios, David Padgett, Taquan Dean and Brian Johnson. Dean is gone, but 74% of their scoring returns with a talented freshmen class to make this go-round better for the Cards. The frontcourt trio of Terrence Williams, Palacios and Padgett have been through the rigors of the Big East once and should be better for it. The experience of Johnson and Terrence Farley with recruits Earl Clark and Derrick Caracter could make this front court as talented and deep as anyone else. Brandon Jenkins returns to stabalize the back court and SO Andre McGee and frosh Jerry Smith and Edgar Sosa look to give the guard position a little more pop this year.
5) Villanova: Although they return just 27% of their scoring output from last season, you have to also factor in the return of Curtis Sumpter to the equation. Sumpter may have to feel his way back early and get 100% confidence in his knee, so there might be some adjustment period as he shakes off the rust. Dante Cunningham and Shane Clark should be more comfortable offensively this time around and Will Sheridan and Mike Nardi are there to steady the ship. Scottie Reynolds was a big late-period addition to the recruiting class that also looks to get a big contribution from Antonio Pena and Reggie Redding this season.
6) Marquette: Guards rule in college basketball and nobody has a better trio than the three sophomores in Milwaukee: Dominic James, Jerel McNeail and Wesley Mathews. However, the loss of Steve Novak might cause the Golden Eagles to see more zone until a replacement shooter emerges to make teams pay for packing it in to prevent the perimeter players from penetrating to the hoop. Lazar Hayward is expected to add some pop from the outside as a freshmen and their front court by committee will be asked to rebound and defend, but Novak’s surprising senior season will be very tough to replace.
7) Connecticut: By the end of the season they could be significantly higher. AJ Price is expected to be one of th ebetter guards in the league but will have to shake off the rust from not playing for two years. Jeff Adrien should develop into a Big East stalwart with his aggressive and physical play inside and Marcus Johnson returns and could be the next excellent wing player for the Huskies. UConn will count on their 8-man recruiting class heavily to replace 90% of last year’s offense from Rudy Gay, Marcus Williams, Rashard Anderson, Denham Brown, Hilton Armstong and Ed Nelson moving on to bigger and better things. The stars of the class look to be Jerome Dyson, Stanley Robinson, Curtis Kelly and Hasheem Thabeet and they should be playing important minutes early on. How they adapt to the Big East will tell the tale as the conference can be very unforgiving. You know UConn will get a high-profile schedule, so they will need to be ready quickly.
DePaul: The Blue Demons return 94% of their offense from last season and their improvement down the stretch should continue. I had high hopes for this squad last year, but they got off to a rough start before playing better towards the end. Sammy Mejia, Karron Clarke and Wilson Chandler look to take their games to another level and Draelon Burns adds a nice complimentary punch. Freshmen Will Walker could give them another scoring threat in the perimeter and more consistent guard play which haunted them at times last year. They add size in Keith Butler from Temple, but will once again hold out hope that Wesley Green stays healthy, in shape and reaches his potential. That could be the telling tale of their season.
9) St. John’s: DePaul and St. John’s are the two teams I really would keep an eye on this season as they have the experience and talent with a favorable schedule to make runs at the top 5 in the conference if things fall in their favor. This is the season the Redstorm have to begin to make their run. After missing the conference tournament last season, SJU returns 76% of their scoring and a offensively talented incoming class. The eladers will be seniors Daryl Hill and Lamont Hamilton, one of the better inside/out combos in the conference and Anthony Mason looks to improve on a stellar freshmen season. Eugene Lawrence and Aaron Spears return as starters as well. Derwin Kitchen and Avery Patterson look to add some scoring punch on the perimeter and Rob Thomas and Qa’rron Calhoun are a pair of promising combo forwards that immediately upgrade the talent on the team. Larry Wright is an athletic guard that is a nice compliment to Ricky Torres off the bench.
10) Notre Dame: The Irish barely made it into the conference tournament last year and lose their best player (Chris Quinn) and best interior player (Torin Francis). They add a pair of athletic players on the perimeter in Tory Jackson and Jonathan Peoples and a banger down low in Luke Harangody, but they are still very unathletic along the front line. Their top returning scorers are the one-dimensional Colin Falls and the inconsistent Russell Carter, they will have to take more of the reigns this season and hope their sophomore class, led by Luke Zeller and Kyle McAlarney, takes a major step forward.
11) Providence: The Friars are an interesting study for this season. They missed out on the conference tournament last year but return 80% of their offense and hope that their sophomore class can build on a promising 1st season. Geoff McDermott, Weyinmi Efejuku and Sharaud Curry gave the Frar fans some hope and Jonathan Kale could become a solid interior player in this league with more experience. Will Randall Hanke learn to bang in the post for rebounds and add defense? They add some size with recruit Ray Hall, but they are still thin upfront. Herbert Hill also returns to split time with Hanke and they add a couple shooting guards in Jamal Barney and Brian McKenzie, but their infusion of talent still comes up short when compared to the rest of the conference.
12) Seton Hall: The Pirates say good-bye to 50% of their offense, mostly in the form of seniors Kelly Whitney and Donald Copeland. The pair carried SHU on their back at times last year. Jamar Nutter returns with some offensive pop and hopes are high for incoming point guard Eugene Harvey to run the show. Also, guard Larry Davis enters the picture with a chance to play a lot and the Pirates will look for Stan Gaines and Brian Laing to give some pop at the forward spots. Soph Paul Gause will come off the bench in hopes of instant offense as well. In the post, Grant Billmeier will see most of the time adding some defense and working the boards and John Garcia will be looked at as a player to step forward and show his promise.
13) West Virginia: The Mountaineers said good-bye to Kevin Pittsnogle, Mike Gansey, Joe Herber, Patrick Beilein and JD Collins. They almost said good-bye to head coach John Beilein as well, too. With that senior class, 83% of their offense from last year is gone, too. Returning from their rotation last season is Frank Young and Darris Nichols. Butler-transfer Jamie Smalligan will be asked to fill much of the role of Kevin Pittsnogle as a 7-footer that can shoot from the perimeter. Joe Alexander and Alex Ruoff will hope to make more contributions as sophomores and their 7-player recruiting class will get a crash course on the Beilein system. It took the previous 5-player class a couple years to master, I expect this group to get it under control a little quicker, but they are at least a year away. However, Devan Bawinkel, Wellington Smith and Desean Butler are definitely going to be players and Jacob Green has some very promising upside, but needs to get stronger.
14) Rutgers: Well, a couple months ago, it wasn’t inconceivable that the Scarlet Knights could be an NCAA bubble team. However, seeing Quincy Douby take his league leading 25 PPG to the NBA and a couple recruiting disappointments send stock in the Scarlet Knights tumbling. They have a solid group of sophomores in JR Inman, Anthone Farmer, Jaron Griffin and Richmond transfer Courtney Nelson. Marquis Webb returns as a senior and he, along with Byron Joynes, are going to have to find the offensive touch in a hurry. The disappearance of Ollie Bailey last seaosn was a disappointment and they will have to hope Adrian Hill can stay healthy. Fred Hill was able to do something Gary Waters was painfully unable to do, recruit a Big East quality big man when he landed Hamady N’Diaye, so they have a young nucleus that should improve, but they still have a ways to go.
15) Cincinnati: Well, the Cincinnati administration pretty much wiped clean the Bob Huggins era by letting Andy Kennedy go to Ole Miss, but they hired a former Huggins assistant in Mick Cronin. The new coach hit the recruiting trail hard as he only returned three experienced players and 14% of last year’s offense from a NIT team. Not a whole lot is known about this team as they added five JUCO recruits, a prep school PG and will get Abdul Herrera back after he sat out with qualifying issues. There is some talent, but the step up from JUCO-land to the Big East is a big one. John Williamson and Jamaul Warren look to be the most promising and Marcus Sikes played previously at Georgia, but they will be looked upon to lead this team from day one.
16) South Florida: Last season was a tough one. Injuries, suspensions, and a 1-15 record made that clear. This year, they will have depth, but much like UC, how good will they be? Zaronn Cann and Chris Howard return from injuries and they add transfers Kentrell Gransberry (JUCO/LSU), Aris Williams (Valpo) and Jesus Verdejo (Arizona) along with a promising recruit in dante Curry to a productive duo in Melvin Buckley and McHugh Mattis. With at least 12 players available, the Bulls will definitely improve over last season and should come up with a few more wins, especially in Tampa. However, a few more than one still does not equal very many.
