The weather outside is getting chilly, leaves are off the
tree, and Duke is undefeated. Yes, it’s
that great time of the year again where Dicky V’s voice isn’t yet annoying,
where college students are preparing for finals week and tropical islands such
as Hawaii and Bahamas and even Carrier Ships are hosting basketball
tournaments! If you’re a fan of college
basketball, like me, you are one happy person…and glued to the ESPN when you
get home at night. Here are my teams to
watch for this NCAA college basketball season:
1.)
Duke- Yes, I’m a Blue Devil fan. I have been
ever since I hit my growth spurt in the 6th grade, became a foot
taller than any other kid in school and realized that basketball will become a
love of mine. Duke is a team that you
either love or hate. If they hate, let
them hate, because it won’t bother me, and it sure-as-heck won’t bother Coach K. What has drawn me to Duke starts at the
top. Coach Mike Krzyzewski. He is more than a coach, he’s one of the most
positive, influential leaders I may have seen in my lifetime. He takes boys and turns them into gentlemen
in the NBA or in any endeavor that life takes those players. Any coach that can take All-Star NBA
basketball players, put them on a USA Olympic team and make them respect the his philosophies of team defense, has my
upmost respect. Duke is not a school who
recruits “one and done” players (with the exception of Austin Rivers). They are about team basketball; they
are about passion and represent everything that I believe college basketball
should be about. And this year Coach K
has a team of players that buy into his system and have plenty of talent to take
them all the way. If you are an
inspiring post player, do me a favor and watch how hard Mason Plumlee posts
up. While guards, Quinn Cook and Rasheed
Sulaimon are young and have a lot to prove, they also have one of the best
shooters in college basketball on the wing licking his chops to get a shot
off. The Blue Devils have scheduled
themselves quite a tough schedule already playing Kentucky, Louisville, VCU and
Ohio State. Oh, did I already mention,
they’re undefeated? This team will make a deep run in the tournament, whether
you hate it or love it.
2.)
Indiana University- It’s about time the state of
Indiana has a basketball team to rally around! Oh wait, there was Butler too
huh? Well, regardless it’s nice to
finally see a once-powerhouse basketball program reign as #1 in the polls once
again. Not since ol’ Bob Knight have we
seen a team as dangerous as we’ve seen have this year. Cody Zeller, like Mason Plumlee is a true
post man and plays like it. But these
Hoosiers are not a one man team. William
Sheehey is a will change your whole perspective if you think white boys can’t jump
(just check his YouTube clips)! Jordan
Hulls is another solid guard that will help keeps this team on top of the
college basketball spectrum.
3.)
University of Kentucky- Coach Calipari is the
kind of coach who lives and dies off of one and done players. Tyreke Evans, Derrick Rose, John Wall, the
list goes on. These guys come and play
in college for one year, may or may not go to a few classes and ball-so-hard
that they always find themselves as a threat in the tournament. With athletic
freaks like the freshman Nerlens Noel and Willie Cauley-Stein, the Wildcats
will follow suit to any other Calipari team; start off slow, figure out how to
play together and make a run at it towards the end of the year. While, this method may not be the respectable
theory, there’s one thing you can’t deny and that is their winning record. Calipari has taken a once-dominant team in
college basketball that fell hard, and driven them to a winning program
again. Players must LOVE playing for
Calipari, because even when he was at a small program like Memphis, Coach was
getting the best players in the nation (wink).
Now, with the UK name on his chest, his recruiting is only going to get
crazier.
4.)
University of Missouri- You thought last year Mizzou
was good? Just wait until this
year! Returning a pre-season
All-American Phil Pressey and 6th Man of the Year, Mike Dixon
(fingers crossed), the Tigers are bringing in nothing but talent! Having big man Laurence Bowers injured on the
sidelines really hurt Mizzou last year, but he’s back and he’s playing better
than ever! These four beastly transfers
are going to take the team to another level: Keion Bell from Pepperdine, Jordan
Clarkson from Tulsa, Earnest Ross from Auburn and a guy who really make an
impact, Alex Oriakhi from UCONN. At
semester, the Tigers will also have a stand out from Oregon Jabari Brown
rocking the gold and black. These
transfers sat out last season but were still taking classes at Mizzou, which
means they’ve had a chance to work out and bond with the returning
teammates. My player to watch is
freshman Negus Webster-Chan as he is the future of Missouri basketball. This should be a fun group of guys to watch
this year. Coach Frank Haith has more
than exceeded my expectations as I must admit I had my doubts. He’s done a fabulous job or recruiting great
players and I believe he leads this team in the right direction.
5.)Westminster College- There might be a little
biased opinion here but I believe the Blue Jays are more athletic than ever! Coming off that exciting buzzer beater to win
the Conference Tournament last year the Blue Jays picked up right where they
left starting the season undefeated. With
one true 6’3 post man in Taylor Allen, that Blue Jays are guard heavy. But, these starting guards are all returners
and have that killer instinct. With
Skylar Tolson, Joseph James, Verdis Lee Jr. and Joe Prophet running an opponent
ragged you’d think once you get to the bench, you’d catch a break. Wrong.
Transfers Robbie Burroughs and Jordan Jones only pick up the momentum from the
starters. With swing men, LeRoy Valandra
and Todd Stolte able to keep up with the pack and guard big men, these Blue
Jays are fast; very, very fast. On any
given night you could have a different high scorer, and the Blue Jays are proud
of that. It’s fun to watch Coach
Mitchell lead this team. Do they have
another run at the tou
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