5 Things You Should Know about College Basketball in July

Derek DeNote

Just when you thought we were done, we’re back!! Well, we’re not actually back because that would imply that we’re fully dedicated to bringing this back and, frankly, we’re not. I’m just really bored since at the time of writing I’m in stuck the adventurous town of Freeburg, Illinois, and I thought what’s a better way to pass time than to talk college basketball in July?! And then it dawned on me that hanging out with friends, getting a life, several methods of suicide, and probably most other things would be a better way to pass time. But the whole friends thing is unattainable right now, so I’ll talk college basketball. Here are five things worth talking about.

Not me! Them!

1.     Big 12. Not Bruce Weber. Competing. Everyone is raving that this will be the greatest draft class since 2003, I’d like to watch them play some college basketball before I make this assertion, but with the Sixers recent moves I hope to God it’s all it’s talked up to be. Of course, I’m pumped to see Andrew Wiggins play at Allen Fieldhouse, but don’t forget people… the last number one overall player Kansas got turned out to be Josh Selby. Didn’t exactly pan out. But Wiggins seems to be of much higher character and he’s being compared to LeBron, who’s the best player of my lifetime. (I count my sports lifetime as remembering live events…meaning Jordan is excluded from this cause I don’t think he wants me to remember his Wizards days anyway.) Like always, Kansas is going to be good and Bill Self’s squad should be a favorite to win the Big 12 despite Marcus Smart returning with LeBryan Nash (the one-time top 10 ESPN recruit) and Markel Brown. Give me Self and Wiggins in this one. Though, if the whole suck for Wiggins doesn’t exactly work out for the Sixers, I certainly would not mind Marcus Smart.

2.     Kentucky. John Calipari. Recruiting. Analysts are saying they wanna see this team before they crown them the greatest recruiting class ever, but for Christ’s sake the dude is bringing in 5 of the top 9 players…I don’t care if they’re all busts, to have the ability to convince 5 guys that he’ll be able to get them all touches is unbelievable. Well done, Cal. I’m pumped to see the twins play together, and even more pumped to see if the Sixers two lottery picks turns into them drafting the twins. But, regardless Kentucky will be talked about a lot in the preseason. And I’m also gonna go out on a huge, huge limb and say they’ll be a lot better than last year’s team. I don’t expect another national title, though, mainly because I don’t see a nice blend guy/real team oriented guy like Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was. If someone can emerge as a similar player, though, a title is in sights. Cal always says he’d rather have talent than experience, and he certainly has the talent this year.

 

Since Matt is usually in charge of the captions
and doesn't watch Entourage, he doesn't really
get this reference enough to say anything funny.
I think they spell their first names differently, though.

3.     Florida. Billy Donovan. Winning (even when you’re not hyped). I’ll still never admit those back to back National Championship teams were any good, but that’s probably why I write a shitty blog and not for ESPN, but this is how I want it anyway (unless ESPN is reading this, then I will sell out and join the regime). I’ve been pumped to write about Florida for some quite time and it’s all because of Kasey Hill. I saw him play last year and was blown away by his ability to get to the basket at will and his vision is great. Luckily this Florida native didn’t back out of his commitment to Florida. (Yes, Austin Rivers, I’m staring at you.) Scottie Wilbekin being suspended indefinitely in the offseason (Yeah, I don’t understand that either.) will probably be a blessing in disguise. Wilbekin was known as a defensive stopper last year, but now Donovan will get a lot more offensive efficiency out of his point guard, so I expect big things. Florida will miss E from Entourage (Erik Murphy) and his ability to spread the floor, but with Kasey Hill’s explosiveness at the point, I’d expect Florida to be a different team from last year.

4.     Duke. Coach K. Running. Duke is going to be so much fun to watch this year. There’s a big misconception that Duke doesn’t like to run, but the easiest way to get an open 3 is off a rebound and in transition, so expect a lot of transition. Duke returns Quinn Cook, Tyler Thornton, Rasheed SULAIMON (I haven’t forgotten people and you shouldn’t have either), and bring back sharp shooter Andre Dawkins. In case you guys forgot Kelly Olynyk redshirted midseason and became a POY candidate, so I expect big things from Dawkins. I know Dawkins redshirted for personal reasons, not to improve his game like Olynyk, but I have a slight feeling that he’s going to be really good. Oh yeah, add in Jabari Parker, the second best (first until Wiggins reclassified) recruit in the country and you should be pumped to watch this Duke team. I’m pumped for the emergence of Rodney Hood, the Mississippi State transfer. The lefty can stroke it from deep and adds even more athleticism to the roster. Also, Duke is going to be dependent on some combination of Hairston, Jefferson, and Murphy in the interior. Hairston played really well as role player and his role may diminish this year, but the productivity should/needs to continue. Jefferson, the Philly product, played extremely well in the absence of Ryan Kelly last year. He stepped up big time and I expect even more growth from him. He’ll need to control his foul trouble, so he can stay on the court, but that will come with maturity and experience. Finally, I think Alex Murphy, E’s brother (I’m sure Mr. and Mrs. Murphy are ecstatic that the brothers made it into the same Out of Our League Blog article!!!) is the wildcard. People were hyping him as a Kyle Singler-esque player when he committed and I haven’t seen it. He started to come into his toward of the end of the season, but if has any Kyle Singler in him this would be a great time to show it because if he can play like Singler did in 2010, he may be winning a National Championship like Kyle.

 

There's a chance Brad Stevens
could pull a Rick Pitino and end up
back in the NCAA in a few years.

5.     Butler. Me. Crying. After the shocking news of Brad Stevens leaving to take the Celtics job, I have finally stopped sobbing and am ready to become a normal part of society again. I had high hopes for this Butler team, because Mr. Stevens raved about his incoming class and he returned sharp shooter, Kellen Dunham and the front court of Kam Woods, Roosevelt Jones, and Erik Fromm. Brandon Miller seems highly qualified and God knows Butler has gotten the coaching decisions right in the past, hiring Thad Matta and Brad Stevens. But, let’s talk about Stevens now and his tenure in the NBA. Best case: He does what he did at Butler and takes the Celtics to championships, hopefully winning them this time. Worst case: He collapses like every other college coach that has made the jump in the past 20, gets fired, and takes over for Coach K when he retires. What I fear most and see as the most likely: He suffers from what I like to call Sixers syndrome. Sixers syndrome is when you don’t quite have the talent to do anything too noteworthy in the postseason, but since you have a great coach you still make the playoffs and that ultimately keeps you out of the lottery, preventing you from actually getting the player you need to make a difference. Good news for Stevens is the Boston has more of an allure than Philly.