SEC Preview: Can Kentucky Live Up To The Hype?

The long wait will soon be over when the first full slate of NCAA basketball games of the 2013-14 season will tip-off on Nov. 8. Some of our favorite players have moved on the ranks of professional athletes, new recruits have been polishing their games in gyms with recognizable logos on the court, and schools have switched conference allegiances. Through a series of conference previews, the BDD crew will do its best to prepare you for the next 4.5 months of collegiate hoops.

It could be all smiles for Julius Randle (30) and Kentucky as the Wildcats enter the season as the No. 1 team in the country. (kentucky.com)

Favorite: Kentucky
Before playing a game that matters, Kentucky is not only the favorite to win the SEC, but is also the No. 1 team in the country. The Wildcats will have something to prove after last year's experiment ended in a hugely disappointing loss in the NIT to Robert Morris. Like any Kentucky team under John Calipari, the Wildcats will be young, but very talented. This might be the most talented class Cal has assembled. Kentucky brought in five players ranked in the top 11 in Rivals 150 (Julius Randle, No. 2, Andrew Harrison, No. 5, Aaron Harrison, No. 7, Dakari Johnson, No. 9, and James Young, No. 11). Add in returners Willie Cauley-Stein and Alex Poythress and this UK team is stacked. The question will be if these young players can mesh together and mature quickly, and if there are enough shots to go around. Still, inexperienced or not, this Kentucky team should be skilled enough to avoid a scenario like last season.


Dark Horse Team To Watch: Alabama
Alabama is coming off a 23-13 season in which it found itself in a three-way tie for second place in the SEC with Ole Miss and Kentucky. Alabama was picked sixth by the media, but Anthony Grant's squad could make a run similar to last season. The big loss for the Crimson Tide is Trevor Lacy, who transferred to North Carolina State after finishing second on the team in scoring (11.7 ppg) last season. Still, Alabama returns another Trevor in senior Trevor Releford, the point guard who led the team with 15.4 ppg last season and was voted Preseason First-Team All-SEC by the media this year. Add in Rodney Cooper and freshman big man Jimmie Taylor, who was No. 69 on the Rivals 150, and the Crimson Tide could compete in the top half of the conference.


Player of the Year: Julius Randle, Kentucky
Randle was the No.2 player in the 2013 recruiting class, only behind Kansas' Andrew Wiggins. The left-handed, 6-9 forward is dangerous from every part of the floor and figures to be a very high pick in next year's draft. There will be a lot of bright spots on this Kentucky team, but Randle should shine the brightest. He will have some big stages to practice on before conference play as Kentucky plays No. 2 Michigan State, No. 25 Baylor, No. 12 North Carolina and No. 3 Louisville all before the new year.


Coach of the Year: John Calipari, Kentucky
It's difficult to pick anyone else when the leader of Big Blue Nation has the No. 1 recruiting class in the country and the No. 1 team in the preseason rankings. The pressure will be on Cal because of Kentucky's disappointment from a year ago, but that might actually help his chances of winning this award this season. If Cal can get his team to play like the national champion from two years ago and not the NIT team from last year, and win the league, the award will probably be his.


Newcomer of the Year: Julius Randle, Kentucky
Randle clearly has the biggest upside of any player in the SEC this year. Randle is a tough matchup with his ability to drive to the basket and post up. The only reason Randle is not either SEC Newcomer of the Year or SEC Player of the Year is because of all the talent around him getting their shots as well. Florida also has a pair of freshmen, Chris Walker (6-10" center, No. 6 Rivals recruit) and Kasey Hill (6-1" guard, No. 10 Rivals recruit), that could make a run at this award.


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Friday Roundtable: Next to Enter Hall of Fame

Is Tom Izzo the next college coach to be inducted in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame? (thesportspost.com)

BDD's Friday Roundtable is a weekly discussion among a group of our writers on a trending NBA or college basketball topic.

This week's question: Rick Pitino was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame last week. Who is the next active coach(es) most likely to be in the HOF?

Alex:
Compared to his contemporaries, this man may be the most precise college basketball coach in the NCAA landscape. His team is always expected to contend for a title in one of the nation's most competitive conferences and never, under any circumstances, to be discounted when March Madness arrives. Consistency has been his key.

Over the past 18 years, head coach Tom Izzo has led the Michigan State Spartans to a combined record of 439-178, earning an eye-popping 71.2 win percentage and fielding some of the toughest squads in the history of college hoops. Although Izzo only owns one national championship, his Spartans are no slouches around tournament time, compiling a 39-15 record in the NCAA Tournament and failing to make the big dance just twice since Izzo took the reins in 1995-96. Other active coaches may have more championships than him, but when looked at on a macro-level, none is more worthy of being enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame than Izzo.

Kyle:
Three names instantly jump out at me: Tom Izzo, Bill Self and John Calipari. I know, I know, many of you think Calipari is a glorified recruiter, but he's a glorified recruiter who has won a national championship and taken multiple schools to the Final Four. Self also has a national championship under his belt, and also wins conference championships like they are written into his contract. He's won nine straight Big 12 titles and 10 of 12 conference titles going back to his time at Illinois. Those other two years? His team finished second. Echoing Alex's statements about Izzo, he really has been one of the most consistent, productive forces in coaching. This stat from Sporting News is all you need to know about Izzo: "every four-year player that has completed his eligibility under the Spartans head coach has been to at least one Final Four." That is a truly astonishing stat. Most coaches are happy to reach a Final Four in their career, and Izzo is offering it to nearly every player he has. Michigan State will have to make the Final Four this year for that to continue the streak, but I won't count him out.

I think Izzo will make it in the hall first (he is the oldest of the three) but all three get in. If you want to put some bigger odds on a younger coach eventually reaching the HOF, Shaka Smart seems to be everyone's top choice. But I'm not going to take the easy way out. I'm giving a legitimate long-shot dark horse. It's probably crazy, but I really like the potential of Fred Hoiberg at Iowa State. He's only 40 years old, and in his first three years of college coaching he has averaged 20.6 wins per season and has reached the NCAA Tournament twice. There's a chance he could take the Brad Stevens route and head for the NBA (he did play in the NBA for 10 years) but ISU is his alma mater and if he stays, Hoiberg has a promising future in college basketball. 

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Will Calipari's System Be Questioned Again After Kentucky's Slow Start?

Is Kentucky's rough start leading to questions about John Calipari's freshman strategy? (yahoo.com)

The system of coaching in college basketball changed after John Calipari and Kentucky won a national title last season. Or at least that's what we thought.

The idea of senior leadership and building players has been exchanged in Lexington for the year's best recruits (and maybe a few old sophomores and juniors). And before last season, the formula had proven to produce positive results, but never the ultimate result, which made it easier for people to dismiss Cal's methods.

Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and the rest of the young Wildcats proved what raw ability can do with a season of preparation. Naturally, the same was expected of this year's group. UK has highly touted freshmen in Nerlens Noel, Alex Poythress, Archie Goodwin and Willie Cauley-Stein, who have even higher expectations and more pressure on them than last year's squad.

Kentucky just lost its second game in a row and third of the season, which is more losses than the 2011-12 team had all season and keeping them barely above .500 at 4-3. The 2011-12 team's first loss was on Dec. 10 to Indiana and then it didn't lose again until the SEC Tournament Championship game against Vanderbilt.

Freshmen are supposed to go through growing pains, and that's exactly what is happening to UK this year. The talent is there, but adjusting to the pace of the college game and facing hostile environments, not to mention building team chemistry, takes time.

This season's start is making last year look more and more like a once-in-a-decade group, rather than the new norm in the college game. Who else has found a team, led by freshmen, that only lost one game in the regular season (on a buzzer-beater 3-pointer in a loud Assembly Hall), go perfect in conference play and win a national title, all while looking like it was the best team in the country? If there were growing pains, they didn't show up in the final score. The starters rarely looked like the stage was too big for them and the chemistry was as good as it could be for players working together for the first year.

It was just assumed that since Cal pulled this feat off last year, of course he could do it again this year. That's what the system entails; come in for one year, be one of the best teams in the country, compete for a title and then go make money in the NBA. The most difficult part is the recruiting, and Cal has succeeded with flying colors.

But now we're seeing why coaches and analysts preach senior leadership and chemistry. Trust me, any coach would take the most talented freshmen if he could get them, and Cal shouldn't be faulted for that. There just also happens to be a down side to the approach, and we're witnessing it as Kentucky will most likely drop out of the top 25 this week.

This doesn't mean Kentucky is going to flop or remain in neutral all season. They'll be a dangerous team to face in the NCAA Tournament because a lot can be learned in four months. This is more about how special last year's team was, and that Cal hasn't discovered a fool-proof secret to the game, he has just crafted another way compete.

Other teams still have a fighting chance and the college basketball apocalypse can be put on hold until the next super-frosh team makes all of us rethink our team's strategy.


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The SEC: Boynton's Back, but can Kentucky be Stopped?

The long wait will soon be over when the first official NCAA basketball game of the 2012-13 season will tip-off on Nov. 15. Some of our favorite players have moved on the ranks of professional athletes, new recruits have been polishing their games in gyms with recognizable logos on the court, and schools have switched conference allegiances. Through a series of conference previews, the BDD crew will do its best to prepare you for the next 4.5 months of collegiate hoops.

Kentucky freshman Nerlens Noel's potential is higher than his flattop. (Chet White/UK Athletics)

Favorite: Kentucky Wildcats

Coming off a national title, the Wildcats are primed and ready to make another run in the SEC. Even though Kentucky lost all five of its starters to the NBA draft, it did bring in the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation. Head coach John Calipari has shown he can bring a young group of talented individuals together and turn them into an unselfish team. Young players like Nerlens Noel, Alex Poythress, Archie Goodwin and Willie Cauley will do their best to replace the likes of Anthony Davis, Michael-Kidd Gilchrist, Terrance Jones and Marquis Teague. With Calipari at the helm, the Widcats should run away with the SEC, even with the additions of a strong Missouri team and Texas A&M to the conference.

Dark Horse: Florida Gators

Despite losing stud shooting guard Bradley Beal to the NBA, the Florida Gators are returning a solid nucleus. The Gators are bringing back three of their top five scorers this year, all of whom averaged double digits. The team’s leading scorer, Kenny Boynton, is returning to the team as a senior, so leadership should not be an issue. Add in a solid recruiting class, and the Gators are poised to take a run at the Kentucky Wildcats for the top spot in the conference.

POY: Kenny Boynton, Florida

Boynton averaged 16 points per game last season as a junior to lead the Gators — including Beal — in scoring. In each of his first three seasons, Boynton has seen his statistics get progressively better across the board. His 3-point shot is lethal, as he drained 40 percent from downtown in 2011-12. If his track record is to be believed, Boynton should take another step forward this season, which should put him at the head of the player of the year race in the SEC.

Coach of the Year: John Calipari, Kentucky

Coach Cal has shown he has the ability to reload his team with talent, ready to win despite the number of players he sends to the NBA each season. Calipari will again have the best recruiting class in the NCAA coming to Kentucky, and will have yet another opportunity to push for a title. If he can even come close to replicating his success from last season, Calipari will be a shoe in for coach of the year.

Newcomer of the Year: Nerlens Noel, Kentucky

At 6'10", Noel is a long, lean forward, with the ability to throw back a lot of shots. Wildcat fans will take little time in beginning the comparisons to former Kentucky big man Anthony Davis. Noel has some polish to apply to his game, but his raw talent is undeniable. If he reaches his potential, the Wildcats will have yet another one-and-done on their hands.


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Kentucky Wins Harrison Twins Sweepstakes With Ultimate Recruiting Tool

Aaron (left) and Andrew Harrison talk Thursday before announcing they will attend Kentucky next year. (sportsillustrated.cnn.com)

University of Maryland basketball fans collectively held their breath as they awaited word from Fort Bend, Texas. The announcement at 4:30 p.m. central time yesterday could bring Maryland basketball back to the top, a journey that is already well underway.

Andrew and Aaron Harrison, twin guards who are both ranked in the top-5 of the Rivals class of 2013, had decided what school name they would wear across their chests next year. Two schools remained in the race; one would celebrate that night with two guards who will be an immediate impact, and the other would keep searching high school gyms for big talent.

The fact that Maryland made the list of the final two schools on the Harrison twins' minds says a lot about the job head coach Mark Turgeon is doing to resurrect the program. But the other school waiting on the announcement was Kentucky and coach John Calipari, and this was a battle he usually wins. This time was no different.

There's not much else Turgeon could have done. He's recruited the twins since they were in seventh grade and has had a relationship with the family ever since. The Harrisons have family in Baltimore - as well as their father originally being from Baltimore - and Aaron and Andrew had the opportunity to carry Maryland back to the top. Maryland sometimes had three coaches at the twins' summer games and Turgeon often recruited the twins himself, including devoting the first and final day of the July recruiting period to them.

None of that mattered, because Kentucky had something to offer that Maryland just couldn't; a system that funnels freshmen in, makes them first-round draft picks, and sends them off to fame and the NBA, but not before possibly getting a national championship ring.

In the end, that's the most important recruiting tool to high school athletes. And as long as Kentucky continues to win with Calipari's system, the Wildcats will have their choice of high school phenoms.

Elite high school basketball players look at the superstars of the NBA and that is where they want to be. The reasoning is not about getting a good education. School pride, tradition and pageantry probably play a role in a decision, but not as much as "can this coach and school get me to the NBA?"

You can't blame the Harrison twins for picking Kentucky. They will play under the bright lights of one of the most tradition-rich programs and win. A lot. They will play college basketball for a year or two and most likely be drafted in the first round of the NBA draft. Many would and will do the same.

It would have been a great storyline to see these two players welcome in a new era of Maryland basketball. If successful, they would be forever remembered and loved by the Terp faithful.

Instead, the Harrison twins will be two more players in the assembly line that is Kentucky basketball. And as long as Calipari's system continues to work, it doesn't matter what Turgeon or any other rebuilding coach does, Kentucky will win the recruiting war.


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Five College Basketball Coaches Worth Following On Twitter

Fans love their college basketball teams' coaches. It makes perfect sense. The success of the team, which is a fan's No. 1 priority, rests on the shoulder of the coach, and coaches who find that success are kings of their campuses. Fan bases feel that connection with their coach. They defend him, criticize him and praise him, all because they want the best for their team.

Twitter has become the newest way for fans to connect with their coaches. Following a coach on Twitter gets you insight into their daily activities, news and thoughts on their team and, if you're lucky, a chance for them to answer your questions.

Many elite college basketball coaches have avoided the social media site, but many of the coaches on Twitter have used it to their advantage as a chance to see the coach's personality and, in many cases,  fans like them more.

Regardless of if you are fan of their team, here are five coaches (in no particular order) that are great to follow, for a variety of reasons.

Tim Miles (huskers.com)

Tim Miles - @CoachMiles - Nebraska
The former Colorado State head coach was a visionary in terms of his use of Twitter. While many coaches hesitate to share too much about their teams, especially in the hours surrounding games, Miles was tweeting his thoughts on his team's performance during halftime. It would be worth following him just to see his reaction in the heat of battle. But Miles shows more than that. Miles has found the perfect combination of talking about his team, exciting the fan base, interacting with followers and showing his sense of humor in non-basketball related tweets. If he can earn some wins at Nebraska, look for his followers to jump from the more than 21,000 he currently has.

Tom Crean (sports.yahoo.com)

Tom Crean - @TomCrean - Indiana
Crean's Twitter profile reflects a few of the traits that make him a successful coach. His motivation, knowledge of the game and passion toward the players he coaches is all evident in his profile. Crean's love of the university is prominent — he even breaks down some stats for the number junkies. The Indiana coach doesn't neglect the site either, as he has more than 4,300 tweets, showing his Twitter maintenance is not a half-hearted and forced responsibility. Indiana fans recognize this as Crean is one of the more popular coaches on Twitter with more than 83,000 followers.

Chris Mack (mensbasketballhoopscoop)

Chris Mack - @CoachChrisMack - Xavier
You don't have to be a Xavier fan, or even a basketball fan, to enjoy following Chris Mack. The coach has proven to be one of the funniest in the sport, with many of his entertaining tweets not pertaining to basketball. Mack talks about his family life, pop culture, asks questions and interacts with fans, as well as basketball writers. Mack shows a side that is down to earth and someone you would want to hang out with, which can be difficult for higher-profile figures.

Frank Martin (latimes.com)

Frank Martin - @FrankMartin_SC - South Carolina
Anyone who has watched Martin roam the sidelines or do an in-game interview knows why he is on this list. He is a passionate, energetic coach and makes great soundbites. What you will find from his Twitter profile is he really enjoys what he does, he takes great pride in educating and coaching, and he tries to raise awareness for his university. Like Crean, Martin shares words of motivation, mixed with the entertainment value you see in interviews.

John Calipari (nationofblue.com)

John Calipari - @UKCoachCalipari - Kentucky
With Kentucky's recent national title and the buzz about Calipari's method of turning freshmen into phenoms, it's no surprise coach Cal has more than 1.2 million followers. Everyone wants to know what goes on in Big Blue Nation, and Calipari takes his followers on that ride with more than 6,000 tweets. The majority of Cal's tweets are about his team or what he is up to that day, although with that job, those subjects are enough to keep his followers entertained.


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