Meh.
That was the popular reaction when N.C. State AD Debbie Yow had to go to Plan Z in her search for a men's basketball coach.
Mark Gottfried wasn't distinguished as a bad coach, but it was hard to picture him as the ideal guy to lock horns with the area rivals in Chapel Hill and Durham.
Well, the hire is looking a lot better now than it did then. The Wolfies, coming off 24 wins and a Sweet 16 trip in Gottfried's first year, were picked to win the ACC this year by the coaches and writers.
Junior forward C.J. Leslie was picked as the preseason player of the year and freshman guard Rodney Purvis the preseason rookie of the year.
“We’ve never accused you guys of being real smart,” Gottfried told the media in this article.
The vote was historic nonetheless. The media has made its annual picks since 1970 and picked the Wolfpack to win the league only twice, in 1974 and ’75.
N.C. State hasn’t won the ACC regular season since 1989 and hasn’t won the ACC title since ’87.
Duke and North Carolina were picked to finish second and third, the fourth time the Triangle teams swept the top three spots (in some order) and first since 2008.
“I’m old enough where I remember when Duke and North Carolina State and North Carolina were all three really, really good teams,” Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said. “And I think that was good for all of us. So to me, we’re getting to the point back where it used to be. And I like that. I really do.”
Speaking of 'ol Roy, he said something really interesting yesterday in Charlotte when he said his outgoing president doesn't know what he's talking about.
University of North Carolina Chancellor Holden Thorp said in an interview with The News & Observer last month that the university would likely raise entrance requirements for athletes ahead of a more stringent NCAA policy that will go into effect in 2016.
But Tar Heels basketball coach Roy Williams said here on Wednesday that he was unaware of any imminent changes to UNC’s admission standards for athletes.
“I’m not so sure that everything that appeared is exactly what Chancellor Thorp meant,” Williams told reporters at the ACC’s annual basketball media day. “I personally don’t think that anybody in the ACC is going to try to do any of those new measures before everybody else does them.”
North Carolina has always considered itself above the fray, has always considered itself a highbrow among petty lowbrows. Yet Williams equates getting a jump on the strengthened NCAA academic requirements to "jumping out of the window and doing something crazy."
The most successful college coaches have more power than ever right now. And with the NCAA taking an axe to its rule book, essentially putting the burden of policing on the universities themselves, that power is only going to intensify. And you're going to see more and more instances of coaches calling out their presidents with little fear of reprisal.
Clemson was picked eighth, and that's not a very favorable indicator of the ACC's lower half. But the following snippet from the Duke Basketball Report had very nice things to say about Brad Brownell's style:
Like Virginia, Clemson is getting down and dirty on D – we’ll never forget Brad Brownell’s first trip to Cameron and watching Duke’s players bounce off of his like a steel marble in a very noisy pinball machine. Great stat to watch for the future: how teams play in the game after they play Clemson. We bet they’re falling off, or at least that they will
In this column, John Swofford said the ACC is ready with open arms when Notre Dame decides it wants to be All-In.
Swofford also made it perfectly clear that the league is working, behind the scenes, just as hard on contingency plans for Notre Dame’s full membership as it did getting the Irish to the communal table in the first place.
“If, at some point, Notre Dame decides to join on a full membership basis in football, we would definitely look at a 16th team to give balance there,” Swofford said Wednesday. “I will say that, and then tell you I don’t anticipate that happening. Do we take a look at that? Yes, but it certainly isn’t something I look at as being imminent. We try to be prepared for anything.”
And then:
The world of college football is going to reach a point where it’s going to take a conference championship trophy to be guaranteed a spot in a playoff, and while Notre Dame has always been able to trade on its tradition to demand at-large priority, it’s never had an SEC this powerful to contend with before.
One day soon, full membership in the ACC and the chance to play for a conference title is going to look a lot more appealing to Notre Dame than its commitment to football independence. That’s been the foundation of the Notre Dame program for decades, but the foundation of college football is shifting.
“If I had a crystal ball, in my opinion, that’s something that will eventually happen,” said Boston College coach Steve Donahue, who works for the ACC’s first Catholic school. “I guess it all depends on NBC, and who knows what’s in that contract.”
Finally, a quick nugget on Jaron Blossomgame: Outlook doesn't look good for him avoiding a redshirt this season. The staff still has some time to play with, and Blossomgame can play in an upcoming scrimmage against Georgia plus an exhibition against Lander before Brownell and Co. make the call. But the kid is still way behind right now. Tough deal.
LW
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