ACC Conference Overview

At the top of the heap as it has been for quite some time are the North Carolina Tar Heels and their venerable coach Dean Smith.  Perhaps the best recruiter ever, this year is no different in Chapel Hill and Smith’s freshman class was the highest rated once again in the land.  This is just one year after they brought in a class that features phenom Michael Jordan, James Worthy, Brad Daugherty, Kenny Smith, JR Reid and Sam Perkins.  Many of those incoming freshmen will have to wait in line as most of this group did last year playing on the vaunted JV program (coached by super assistant and recruiter Roy Williams) as that is the Carolina way.  Only Jordan and Daugherty got any kind of serious minutes and Jordan was the only one who started any games at all!  Jordan is a special kid with incredible athleticism and a work ethic you usually find on a cotton plantation.  His defense is better than his offense right now but he showed his upside with a few highlight reel plays including a couple of dunks that looked like the kid believed he could fly!  After all the primary reason Smith brought this kid to Chapel Hill was to get someone on the roster who could guard the original skywalking wing from just down the road in Winston-Salem.  Jordan might not be on the level of David Thompson yet but he has similar athleticism.  At 6’6 and 202 pounds the kid has a vertical jump of a rumored 48 inches which is 4 inches more than DT’s infamous 44 (he wears that number for a reason) who is only 6’4.  Jordan’s upside is out of this world and Smith promises to utilize him more and most believe this kid is just playing time (and a little more consistent jump shot) away from superstardom.  Daugherty, however, might be more important to this team’s success as he finally gives them the kind of size and body at 7-0 foot 245 pounds the Tar Heels have lacked to compete with the monsters they eventually will face in the national games and especially the BD.  Lenny Rosenbluth, Billy Cunningham and George Glamack are a gifted front line but none go bigger than the ‘Blind Bomber’  six seven 230 with the other two at 6’6” and 6’4” respectively!  Smith needs Daugherty to throw some weight around and he does have some other bigs who will challenge for playing time including senior tough guy Lee Shaffer, junior sixth man extraordinaire Bobby Jones, fellow juniors Mitch Kupchak and Tom LaGarde, Reid, Perkins and a slew of incoming freshmen!  Jones started some games at the five last year but he is better suited coming off the bench for his superb in your face defense.  Smith is so motivated of keeping up with the Jonese’s that he is going outside the ‘system’ and is bringing in a big time JC recruit who goes 6’9 and can flat score.  Bob McAdoo is something to behold on the offensive end but he is still not that aircraft carrier that dominates the paint.  Sure the ACC does not have twin tower approach that has made programs like UCLA, Kansas and Houston the envy of the land but with a couple of 7’4 behemoths blocking out the sun (including one on the hated Wolf Pack) this league and Smith know they have to keep up.   Due to this trend the center role is Daugherty’s spot to lose but Glamack is not going to go away without a fight.  The bespeckled big man is as tough as the city he comes from (Allentown PA) and though they are closing all the factories down up there he has nothing to worry about as like all Tar Heels he will get a shot at the next level.  He was the first superstar in Chapel Hill even before Smith but the game has changed and 6’7 centers are not the norm anymore.  As for Daugherty taking over, the kid can play but is a bit soft and needs more pt to begin to approach his potential.  He might not get it here as Smith is the king of substituting, early and often and Glamack is still here.  The Dean will rotate up to 13 guys and nobody gets over 30 minutes a game in Chapel Hill.  The one player who will push this is Junior point guard Phil Ford.  Smith has given the ball to Ford and trusts him implicitly to lead this high-powered team including running the infamous four corner set which means absolutely nothing with the new 40 second possession clock.  I do not know why he ran this anyway as when you got the best talent on the floor let them play and do not slow down games.  Jordan will probably start next to him with Seniors Charlie Scott, Bob Lewis, York Larese and Larry Miller plus sweet shooting Junior Walter Davis coming off the pine.  Scott has always been more of a combo guard and will get his minutes behind both Ford and his heir apparent Jordan and can do it all and goes 6’5 but nowhere near as athletic as the phenom.  None of these guys are true point guards except Ford so JV stud Kenny Smith has a good shot of making the team unless Williams wants to keep him down on the farm for another year as the Dean goes with Scott being Ford.  Smith is quicker even then Ford and has some range on his jump shot which Ford does not.  Worthy is in competition with Rosenbluth (and Miller) for the starting 3 spot and at six nine with a nice post-game might even push the Kangaroo kid at the four.  Cunningham and Rosenbluth are legends here and will be hard to beat out but Worthy is an incredible talent and his time has come and as stated before the Tar Heels need the size.  The only thing keeping this team from the final four this year will be Smith and his rotations.  The Tar Heels has as good of up-front talent as any team and by far more talent on the bench than anyone.  They are for now and probably forever the team to beat int the ACC! 

The State representative and rivals from Raleigh are picked second per usual behind the Tar Heels.  The North Carolina State Wolfpack do have the most dynamic player in the conference in skywalking David Thompson.  Thompson has taken college basketball by storm with his high flying antics and is the main reason it decided to reverse their decision on outlawing dunking.  Good choice!  Thompson can flat dunk from anywhere and seriously outleaps much bigger men for boards (or tips) on a regular basis.  He has a great mid-range game and in the open court is spectacular.  His defense is almost as good as his offense and the Wolfpack might have a chance of overtaking the hated Tar Heels if he can get a bit more support around him.  The Goliath to David in Raleigh is fellow junior Tom Burleson.  This seven four gawky looking big man is almost unstoppable in the post with his baby hooks and soft touch.  He is their rim protector and allows his teammates to take chances and trap often.  He is a bit skinny though and does get pushed around some but his presence in the middle is almost as important as Thompson’s.  Not really but it sounded good!  Coach Storming Norman Sloan has got many options to suit up next to these two studs including a plethora of point guards led by Junior Monte Towe.  Senior Ronnie Shavlik and Junior Kenny Carr will battle for minutes at the four while flexible sophomore Thurl Bailey (who is really a flex four) can play anywhere off the bench.  Thompson will play both the two and the three (Lawrence Welk anyone) and Sloan will slide in his sidekicks accordingly with the likely starter at least for the fist part of the year being Senior Sam Ranzino who was the offensive stud before Thompson arrived.  The Wolfpack might not be as loaded overall as the Tar Heels but they do without question have the best player in this league (and perhaps any league for that matter) and if Sloan can figure out the best options next to him this team can go far! 

Speaking of dominant players the Virginia Cavaliers won a huge recruiting battle last year for the services of home grown big man Ralph Sampson and reeled in the benefits in his first year in Charlottesville.  An also ran for years Coach Terry Holland has got this team thinking defense first and when you have a 7’ 4” Aircraft carrier guarding the rim it makes pressure man defense all the better.  Sampson is as gifted as they come in the middle with an almost equal amount of dexterity and touch to go with that size.  He can score but is not going to average 20 points a game as he easily could as the Cavs play a much slower tempo than the other teams in this league.  The rest of the talent around the great big man are solid, role type players who all are that much better with Sampson around.  Senior Buzzy Wilkinson was one a star in Charlottesville but now will be part of a rotating group of players in the backcourt as he is not exactly defensive specialist.  Buzzy can score though and will be counted on for offense either starting or off the bench.  Juniors Wally Walker at the three and Barry Parkhill at the point should start and both bring solid all-around games to the fray.  The key might be if anyone can help Sampson out down below in the war in the trenches.  There are a few guys coming back with some size but junior Scott McCandlish is way too thin at 6’10 and only 210 pounds.  Fellow junior Marc Iavaroni and Sophomore Olden Polynice have some girth but not much experience but will be in the mix.  Senior Herbery Bush might be the best bet as he goes 6’7 and a thick 240 and is not immune to contact.  He might not be an ‘enforcer’ but Bush knows how to throw his body around.  Sampson is slight of build to say the least and these guys are here for muscle and their ability to defend and board though Polynice will probably get a few more minutes as he showed he can help out offensively a little bit though most of his work last year was done on the JV team.  The bench is suspect and Holland knows he has to get better than seniors Bob McCarty and the two ‘Chips’ (Connor and Case) on the wings, at least athletically, to hang with Thompson and Jordan.  Enigmatic Junior Gus Gerard is a 6’8 stud from Allentown PA who is the best athlete on the team and can help but Holland has not yet determined where to use this high flyer.  He might get the nod at the four but he is thin (200 pounds) and might be better suited on the wing.  Sophomore Jeff Lamp has some size at 6’6 and can shoot but is still nowhere the athleticism this program needs but will get his chance to shine for Cavs unless Holland has another all-time recruit up his sleeve and there is at least one wing coming in the freshman class (Bryant Stith) who will help.  The Cavs are ranked in the top 25 preseason but this team will come and go on how far the big carrier can take them!

 Another DC area team ready to move up the totem pole are the Maryland Terrapins.  The Terps have as much talent as anyone outside of the Tar Heel State in this league but did take a step back during the offseason when Coach Lefty Driesell was let go due to some recruiting issues (he is a heck of a recruiter).  Maryland has replaced them with one of their own as alumnus Gary Williams takes over this talented squad.  With players like Senior Gene Shue, Juniors John Lucas (one of the best point guards in the country), Tom McMillen and Len Elmore and Sophomore studs Albert King and Len Bias the cupboard is far from empty in College Park.  With a difficult national schedule (Ohio State, Georgetown and Notre Dame are preseason top 25) the team Driesell once deemed the ‘UCLA of the East Coast’ will be tested and the key to whether this team gets to the BD will be how well Williams acclimated this team to his style.  Picked fourth in the league, the Terps are moving forward in more ways than one but to be considered on the same level as the programs from Carolina this team must be able to perform better in the postseason and win some of those games they seemingly always lose to bigger programs.

The rest of the ACC will be battling for the leftovers of this big four but of course in this conference a 5th (or 6th) place finish can almost guarantee a BD appearance.  So there is much at stake.  For instance the third part of the NC Research Triangle has gone through some recent changes in an attempt to compete with their brethren Tar Heels and Wolfpack.  Second year Coach Mike Kryzezwski went through some growing pains after being hired away from Army where he was coached by one Bobby Knight.  The Blue Devils finished dead last in the ACC and their rabid fans will not be patient especially since it was not too long ago the Dukies were competing for national titles.  There is some talent in Durham for sure as Senior studs Dick Groat and Art Heyman have had great careers here and will once again lead the Blue Devils into action.  Kryzewzski recruits Sophomore Johnny Dawkins and Danny Ferry had big first years and are looking to be a huge part of the return to glory in Durham.  But as good as these guys are (Groat is also a super shortstop on the baseball team) they are not on the same athletic level as the guys Dean Smith is bringing into Chapel Hill and Kryzezwski knows it.  He has supposedly brought in a new breed of Duke player starting with the son of a famous football player who some are saying is the best athlete Duke has ever had.  In any sport!  The Blue Devils will for sure be able to showcase their old and new talent with a terrific schedule that features games with top 10 teams Kentucky (their nemesis in the BD), Indiana (a favor from Knight), Syracuse, Temple, Michigan State and a tourney that has Arizona, Illinois and Kansas as participants!  There is also games against three or four schools looking to make a splash on the national scene much as the Dukes are!  The jury is out on the Dukies and especially Coach K as this is a make or break season for a program that has always lived in the shadow of the mighty Tar Heels and their fans want nothing more than payback in one of the best rivalries in all of college basketball!  The other NC school in the ACC is in almost the same place as Duke. 

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons have been an afterthought in this conference for years but Coach Carl Tacy has a nice nucleus and supposedly a great recruiting class to make a push to finally get into the upper echelon with their NC brethren.  Seniors Len Chappell and Dickie Hemric have been the anchors for this program with their solid post play for the last three years.  Both can score on the blocks and are great board men specifically the undersized Hemric.  Hemric plays much bigger than his six foot six but will be tested with all of these athletic and much longer big men in the league now!  Chappell (weird how he didn’t end up with the Tar Heels with that name isn’t it) is the man here but at six nine is better suited for the four than the five but he does get it done either way.  Fellow Senior Billy Packer has been running the team for three years but will be tested this year as Odom has some cat quick guys challenging for PT.  Sophomores Frank Johnson and Tyrone ‘Mugsy’ Bogues should really push for time after solid first years but speaking of first years they the Demon Deacons supposedly have prototype point guard coming to Winston-Salem.  There is a plethora of guys battling for minutes on the wing with junior Charlie Davis the leader in the clubhouse.  He is by far the most athletic of the bunch battling for time but only goes 6’2 and Tacy has some nice shooters coming back including seniors Bob Leonard and Paul Long and junior combo guard Skip Brown.  The Double D’s are relying on a highly touted freshman class including some swimmer from the Virgin Islands who goes 6’11 and can guard the rim which this team needs to help this senior class finally get to the glory of being BD participants. In this league that is a hard row to hoe but the home of Brian Piccolo and Arnold Palmer has some hope.   

The Clemson Tigers are the lone South Carolina representative in the ACC and obviously a bit more known for their gridiron success and beauty queens (Shawn Weatherly anyone).  Having floundered in the second division most of their time here in this league the Tigers are looking for second year Coach Cliff Ellis to turn around their misfortunes.  Ellis has an intimidating front line at his disposal with Junior shot blocker Wayne ‘Tree’ Rollins leading the way.  An incredible sophomore class Ellis brought in including high flying Larry Nance, Horace Grant and Elden Campbell make the Tigers as good as anyone down low.  The problem is the back court and unless Junior Skip Wise regains some of his freshman magic the Tigers will have a hard time handling the other team’s pressure let alone making enough perimeter shots to compete at this level. 

On the other end of the paradigm are the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.  The team from Atlanta who are recent additions to the ACC after years in the SEC (good get ACC) have some extremely talented back court players.  Senior Roger Kaiser and Sophomores Mark Price and Dennis Scott can flat shoot and might be the best symmetrical back court in the entire ACC.  Coach Bobby Cremins is from New York and has an incredible connection up there and the rumor is there are even better players coming down south this year including high school legend Kenny Anderson.  Now for the down side as Cremins only has one proven big man in Junior Rich Yunkus and unless he gets some help in the paint the Yellow Jackets will be bulldozed in the ACC.  This team will score and they will get attention (MSG tourney will be fun) but can they stop anyone and can they rebound and defend in the paint enough to compete in this tough conference?

The Last of the Mohicans are the newest member of the ACC as newbies Florida State try to crash this party!  The Seminoles were brought in for their football dominance but they will compete in hoops as well and surprisingly have a few rare appearances in the BD in the past where they did fairly well.  New Coach Leonard Hamilton knows where the bread is buttered in Tallahassee and understands the success of the football program has given the once almost community college the resources to go find some talent and Hamilton is known for recruiting.  There is one stud who this program will be built around as Senior center Dave Cowens comes back for one more season with his nifty left hooks and mid-range game.  Cowens is not quite Alcindor or Chamberlain but he is damn good and maybe playing in this prestigious league will get him the recognition he deserves to get drafted higher in the pro draft.  The Seminoles are not expecting much from their hoopsters and most fans usually don’t realize they even have a basketball program until mid-January when football season is over.  Those were in the Indy days, however, and now that they are a part of the best basketball conference in the country perhaps these Seminoles will be known for something more then Bobby Bowden’s boy of Autumn.  Heck, one of Bowden’s boys is supposedly coming over to compete for the open point guard job and he hits the guys down low as well as he hits open receivers perhaps these Seminole winds will blow in Hamilton’s direction.  As long as Aaron Burr does not get the scent!