10 Programs Going Up, 10 Programs Going Down (The Athletic)

[BoukofJames]

College basketball rankings: 10 teams on the rise, 10 falling

Which men's college basketball programs have to feel good about their future? And which ones are falling?

theathletic.com

Programs on the rise:

UConn. Dan Hurley knew he was taking a good basketball job when he came to UConn in 2018, but the job became a great one this season when UConn moved back to the Big East. The Huskies are taking advantage of their elevated platform — they’ve won five out of six and are in third place in the conference — and Hurley has three top-100 players committed for next season. With Hurley’s strong roots in New Jersey and throughout the Northeast, a healthy flow of players should continue streaming into Storrs.

Nothing we don't already know, but I enjoy the recognition just the same.

Programs on the decline:

Syracuse. It was an odd scenario, to say the least. In the summer of 2015, Jim Boeheim, then 70, announced he would retire at the end of the 2017-18 season and hand the program over to his longtime assistant, Mike Hopkins. In March 2017, however, Hopkins shocked Boeheim by taking the Washington job, prompting Boeheim to decide he wouldn’t retire after all. The Orange, who made the Final Four in 2016 and the Sweet 16 two years later, were probably not going to make the NCAA Tournament last year and are currently struggling to get back onto the bubble. The good news is Boeheim is showing no signs of slowing down and he should be getting most of his roster back next season. He is also adding five-star forward Benny Williams. But Boeheim’s son Buddy will be a senior next season, and when he leaves the speculation about Boeheim’s departure timetable will grow. Jim Boeheim will be difficult to replace, to say the least, so the school’s ability to manage the transition will be critical to preventing further slippage.

Duke. We should be cautious about not overreacting to this season, when the Blue Devils are probably going to miss out on the tourney for just the second time since 1983. Mike Krzyzewski is still great at what he does, and he has two five-star recruits committed for next season and might add another. That said, this program, which has lorded over the sport for three decades, is facing some mighty headwinds in the next five years, chief among them the specter of Krzyzewski’s retirement. He turned 74 in February, and the school’s athletic director since 2008, Kevin White, has announced he is stepping down this summer. The notion of setting up a succession plan or designating a head-coach-in-waiting might ease the transition but Krzyzewski has indicated it’s likely. And it has been been a challenging season, to say the least, for former Duke players and assistants who are currently head coaches. Krzyzewski has always excelled at adapting, and he will have to make another adjustment if he decides that building a roster primarily with one-and-done freshmen is no longer tenable.

 

[Palatine]

Duke is sliding as Dick Vitale becomes less relevant. He was always Duke's biggest recruiting advantage. Without Dick using his national platform as a constant promotion of Duke and Coach K, the drop off is inevitable.

 

[Watchdog]

Duke is sliding as Dick Vitale becomes less relevant. He was always Duke's biggest recruiting advantage. Without Dick using his national platform as a constant promotion of Duke and Coach K, the drop off is inevitable.

Don't get me started on Vitale. He was entertaining his first few years but I haven't been able to listen to him for a decade or more. Two stories, both related to what he hypes about games:
A guard threw a phenomenal outlet pass to a forward on the break who easily dunked it. What did Vitale do? Went ballistic about the dunk by a 6'8" guy and said nothing about the 60 foot outlet pass that was on the money for a no dribble dunk.
A couple weeks ago he's doing a game (probably Kansas or Kentucky or Duke or maybe Michigan State) and going on in great detail about the great guards who've come from that school or conference. Sounded very knowledgeable. Then they went live with the camera in his office and there he sat reading from a prepared script. Sure, you can say that's routine but it almost looked like somebody decided to sabotage his image.

 

[Waquoit]

Seems like Buddy Boeheim's been around longer than Matt Brust.

 

[UConn Esq]

Duke is sliding as Dick Vitale becomes less relevant. He was always Duke's biggest recruiting advantage. Without Dick using his national platform as a constant promotion of Duke and Coach K, the drop off is inevitable.

They have a top 3 and top 15 commit for next year. They had 5 top 35 players last year. How are they slipping in recruiting?

 

[billybud]

So...Duke will miss their first tournament in 37 years....a great streak to have broken.

The article is right about K and a need for a succession plan...I am sure that recruiters are whispering in ears that you might not play for Coach K for your career.

 

[TheChamps990411]

College basketball rankings: 10 teams on the rise, 10 falling

Which men's college basketball programs have to feel good about their future? And which ones are falling?

theathletic.com

Programs on the rise:

UConn. Dan Hurley knew he was taking a good basketball job when he came to UConn in 2018, but the job became a great one this season when UConn moved back to the Big East. The Huskies are taking advantage of their elevated platform — they’ve won five out of six and are in third place in the conference — and Hurley has three top-100 players committed for next season. With Hurley’s strong roots in New Jersey and throughout the Northeast, a healthy flow of players should continue streaming into Storrs.

Nothing we don't already know, but I enjoy the recognition just the same.

Programs on the decline:

Syracuse. It was an odd scenario, to say the least. In the summer of 2015, Jim Boeheim, then 70, announced he would retire at the end of the 2017-18 season and hand the program over to his longtime assistant, Mike Hopkins. In March 2017, however, Hopkins shocked Boeheim by taking the Washington job, prompting Boeheim to decide he wouldn’t retire after all. The Orange, who made the Final Four in 2016 and the Sweet 16 two years later, were probably not going to make the NCAA Tournament last year and are currently struggling to get back onto the bubble. The good news is Boeheim is showing no signs of slowing down and he should be getting most of his roster back next season. He is also adding five-star forward Benny Williams. But Boeheim’s son Buddy will be a senior next season, and when he leaves the speculation about Boeheim’s departure timetable will grow. Jim Boeheim will be difficult to replace, to say the least, so the school’s ability to manage the transition will be critical to preventing further slippage.

Duke. We should be cautious about not overreacting to this season, when the Blue Devils are probably going to miss out on the tourney for just the second time since 1983. Mike Krzyzewski is still great at what he does, and he has two five-star recruits committed for next season and might add another. That said, this program, which has lorded over the sport for three decades, is facing some mighty headwinds in the next five years, chief among them the specter of Krzyzewski’s retirement. He turned 74 in February, and the school’s athletic director since 2008, Kevin White, has announced he is stepping down this summer. The notion of setting up a succession plan or designating a head-coach-in-waiting might ease the transition but Krzyzewski has indicated it’s likely. And it has been been a challenging season, to say the least, for former Duke players and assistants who are currently head coaches. Krzyzewski has always excelled at adapting, and he will have to make another adjustment if he decides that building a roster primarily with one-and-done freshmen is no longer tenable.

Although struggling this season i have no doubt Duke will make a serious push for Bobby Hurley when K goes. This is assuming BH has success.

 

[billybud]

Although struggling this season i have no doubt Duke will make a serious push for Bobby Hurley when K goes. This is assuming BH has success.

Duke, like their neighbor eight miles up the road, will hire from within the "family"...it is the UNC/Duke way to hire from within the "brotherhood".

The next hire will be a former Duke guy.

Capel...who left after the 2018 season to be head coach at Pitt might be a choice, or Steve Wojceichowski who left Duke to coach Marquette...Bobby Hurley, who is young and fiery at times....Mike Brey from Notre Dame.

Hurley would be a good one,

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

Don't get me started on Vitale. He was entertaining his first few years but I haven't been able to listen to him for a decade or more. Two stories, both related to what he hypes about games:
A guard threw a phenomenal outlet pass to a forward on the break who easily dunked it. What did Vitale do? Went ballistic about the dunk by a 6'8" guy and said nothing about the 60 foot outlet pass that was on the money for a no dribble dunk.
A couple weeks ago he's doing a game (probably Kansas or Kentucky or Duke or maybe Michigan State) and going on in great detail about the great guards who've come from that school or conference. Sounded very knowledgeable. Then they went live with the camera in his office and there he sat reading from a prepared script. Sure, you can say that's routine but it almost looked like somebody decided to sabotage his image.

You can’t listen to Dicky V because he was reading off notes for the game and because he didn’t acknowledge an outlet pass?
Lol

“He didn’t acknowledge the outlet pass leading to the dunk? That’s it. I can’t listen to this anymore”

 

[businesslawyer]

Duke, like their neighbor eight miles up the road, will hire from within the "family"...it is the UNC/Duke way to hire from within the "brotherhood".

The next hire will be a former Duke guy.

Capel...who left after the 2018 season to be head coach at Pitt might be a choice, or Steve Wojceichowski who left Duke to coach Marquette...Bobby Hurley, who is young and fiery at times....Mike Brey from Notre Dame.

Hurley would be a good one,

WTF? Are you a psychic? Duke hasn’t hired a head coach in 40 years, and that one had no ties to Duke when he was hired. So you can predict that Duke will hire from within the family, but what possible basis is for you to say “it is the Duke way” to hire from within the family?

 

[elmcityboy]

Duke, like their neighbor eight miles up the road, will hire from within the "family"...it is the UNC/Duke way to hire from within the "brotherhood".

The next hire will be a former Duke guy.

Capel...who left after the 2018 season to be head coach at Pitt might be a choice, or Steve Wojceichowski who left Duke to coach Marquette...Bobby Hurley, who is young and fiery at times....Mike Brey from Notre Dame.

Hurley would be a good one,

i am curious if quinn snyder would ever go back to college to coach at his alma mater. duke seems like one of the only college coaching opportunities that is at or near the nba tier.

if so, he would be the best possible option imo.

 

[Peacefrog]

"The good news is Boeheim is showing no signs of slowing down". Wait, what?

 

[tcf15]

In the summer of 2015, Jim Boeheim, then 70, announced he would retire at the end of the 2017-18 season and hand the program over to his longtime assistant, Mike Hopkins. In March 2017, however, Hopkins shocked Boeheim by taking the Washington job, prompting Boeheim to decide he wouldn’t retire after all.

Curious about this timeline. Wouldn’t surprise me if the opposite were true - Boeheim reversed his decision, planned to keep coaching, and Hopkins bounced.

The good news is Boeheim is showing no signs of slowing down and he should be getting most of his roster back next season.

That is great news. Never retire JB.

 

[billybud]

? Are you a psychic? Duke hasn’t hired a head coach in 40 years, and that one had no ties to Duke when he was hired. So you can predict that Duke will hire from within the family, but what possible basis is for you to say “it is the Duke way” to hire from within the family?

No psychic is needed...

It is Coach K who has created the "brotherhood"...it has now become a Duke recruiting hallmark...once a dookie always a dookie.

Teams develop a culture...Coach K has developed Duke culture over the decades by staying in touch with former dookies...emphasizing the "brotherhood" aspect. Recruits are sold that.

We'll soon see who follows K...I'd take a small bet that it will be a "brother". Especially if Coach K is consulted.

 

[elmcityboy]

Curious about this timeline. Wouldn’t surprise me if the opposite were true - Boeheim reversed his decision, planned to keep coaching, and Hopkins bounced.

speaking of washington, why isn't that team on this list?? seems like they have a lottery pick every year and yet they are following up a disappointing season with an absolutely abysmal one.

 

[Jbirdp5]

Not for nothing but hurley hasn’t exactly crushed it at Arizona state, would his resume on the coaching side really get him the Duke job?

 

[billybud]

It is interesting that it has been 15 years since a Coach K assistant was one who did not play for him at Duke.

 

[BoukofJames]

Curious about this timeline. Wouldn’t surprise me if the opposite were true - Boeheim reversed his decision, planned to keep coaching, and Hopkins bounced.

I think you might be right - that is an exceedingly more logical cause/effect

 

[billybud]

If Duke does go outside the dookie contingent...maybe Brad Stevens (Butler and now Celtics)...

Stevens reportedly told Boston that he was there to stay, unless Duke came calling.

 

[dennismenace]

Duke is sliding as Dick Vitale becomes less relevant. He was always Duke's biggest recruiting advantage. Without Dick using his national platform as a constant promotion of Duke and Coach K, the drop off is inevitable.

That is an interesting take from the recruitment angle. I never would have connected a recruit being influenced by Dickie V. But maybe that has more to do with my disdain for him as an announcer.

 

[dennismenace]

? Are you a psychic? Duke hasn’t hired a head coach in 40 years, and that one had no ties to Duke when he was hired. So you can predict that Duke will hire from within the family, but what possible basis is for you to say “it is the Duke way” to hire from within the family?

Coach K was Bobby Knight's assistant at Army. Good story here about those two and Bill Parcells who also at Army and his protégé Bill Belichik (who also had a military academy connection).

How the Belichick-Parcells relationship mirrors Coach K and Knight’s - National Football Post

Coaching legends share distinct connection.

www.nationalfootballpost.com

 

[billybud]

Williams was in a dream job at Kansas...took them to the Final Four 4 times...including his last two seasons.

With a 329-82 record, Williams had won more games in his first 12 seasons than any other coach in NCAA history.

And still, when UNC called....

 

[rollskies]

Not for nothing but hurley hasn’t exactly crushed it at Arizona state, would his resume on the coaching side really get him the Duke job?

I think Bobby Hurley would be a better candidate for that job than Wojo, but what do I know. Who knows if Hurley even wants to stay at ASU or come back to the northeast. Definitely not a great year for either candidate

 

[Jbirdp5]

I think Bobby Hurley would be a better candidate for that job than Wojo, but what do I know. Who knows if Hurley even wants to stay at ASU or come back to the northeast. Definitely not a great year for either candidate

Wojo has never quite reached his ceiling at Marquette either, he’s got an even longer track record of mediocrity than hurley. The K tree has not exactly become a hotbed for coaches

 

[Kolumbo]

I think Bobby Hurley would be a better candidate for that job than Wojo, but what do I know. Who knows if Hurley even wants to stay at ASU or come back to the northeast. Definitely not a great year for either candidate

Det. Wojo was a coach with K for about 15 years? and no one will bother to learn how to spell is name either. He's also a head coach in the Big East which is much better recruiting territory than the southwest. Hurley is the bigger name of course so who knows. If the ACC added a couple more northern basketball programs I think you could expect to see both puke and unc finishing more middle of the pack.