2017-2018 NC Hoops

Drocca

darrell foster wallace
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Jul 21, 2005
17,585
Raleigh, NC
If UNC had recruited over Justin Jackson then I'm sure he would have left prematurely as well.
 

DukeSox

absence hasn't made the heart grow fonder
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Dec 22, 2005
11,740
It all depends what options you actually have in the real world ; )
 

Drocca

darrell foster wallace
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Jul 21, 2005
17,585
Raleigh, NC
Agreed. Maybe Frank Jackson is a surprise lottery pick.

If not though then it just comes down to different philosophies about how you win and treat kids. Both work, just different.
 

rhopkins2323

New Member
Mar 14, 2010
111
If UNC had recruited over Justin Jackson then I'm sure he would have left prematurely as well.
Well Roy tried to. Just didn't get anyone.

But let's be real. Every coach is trying to bring in the best players possible. No coach in their right mind is telling a top 5, top 10, top 20, etc. recruit they can't come because of other players on roster
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
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Jul 15, 2005
36,920
Hingham, MA
Thought this might get more eyeballs here than the MiLB forum or the Bash forum - anyone going to any of the Pawsox @ Bulls games first weekend of June?
 

rhopkins2323

New Member
Mar 14, 2010
111
Sounds like Tony Bradley is staying in the draft.
That hurts. I can't see him going in the first round, but we'll see. Going to rely a lot on the frosh up front.

UNC trying to bring in Pitt graduate Cameron Johnson, but Pitt won't grant his release.

Johnson graduated in 3 years (still has 2 years eligibility left), but Pitt coach and AD refuse to let him play next season at an ACC school. He can go outside the conference and play because he graduated, but the ACC and Pitt have a rule that can prevent players from playing if the transfer is within the conference

Can read more here - https://www.si.com/college-basketball/2017/05/23/cameron-johnson-unc-pitt-kevin-stallings
 

Greg29fan

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Jul 14, 2005
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My understanding is that whole deal is all Pitt's decision, nothing to do with league rules. There have been intraconference transfers (TJ Thorpe in football from Carolina to Virginia for one) that have played right away.

Even if he was considering one of Carolina's league rivals, for a program to have that much control over an actual graduate, needs to be fixed.
 
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Drocca

darrell foster wallace
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Jul 21, 2005
17,585
Raleigh, NC
Further, I understand it is the AD and not the Coach. The Coach is a longtime Roy Williams assistant and friend.
 

BigSoxFan

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May 31, 2007
47,038
Poor Greg29fan is going to have to deal with the Dukies by himself now that drocca is gone.
 

JShams

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It's been pretty quiet since mid-March.
 

Greg29fan

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Cam Johnson is coming to Carolina - no word on if he can play right away or if he has to wait a year
 

JShams

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Cam Johnson is coming to Carolina - no word on if he can play right away or if he has to wait a year
There is no way he would turn down Arizona, UCLA, Kentucky and Oregon if he had to sit out a year at Carolina. Something must be in the works, and he has to officially enroll in order for the process to formally begin.

If he's available for 2017-2018 this takes away the sting of losing Bradley and completely changes the complexion of the team.
 

Greg29fan

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Jul 14, 2005
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Pitt finally caved and Cam Johnson has been given his full release.

It's not a traditional Roy team by any means but the thought of Theo handling the ball surrounded by a sharpshooting flotilla of Berry-Williams-Johnson-Maye is most intriguing.
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
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Jul 15, 2005
36,920
Hingham, MA
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski will undergo knee replacement surgery this weekend, and as a result the Blue Devils have canceled their exhibition trip to the Dominican Republic.

"While it's disappointing that we aren't able to make the Dominican Republic trip, this is a positive development for both our team and myself because it will allow us to be at full strength for the start of practice this fall," Krzyzewski said in a statement.

"After three consecutive days of working with the team, it became clear that the condition of my knee wouldn't be sustainable through next season. The best course of action is to correct the problem now rather than later, when our team would be more profoundly impacted."
 

Greg29fan

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Still waiting for the first article or breathless ESPN report that K's body is breaking down and he's going to have to retire like we get about Roy six times a season.
 
Aug 24, 2017
397
Duke, again, has a fascinating team. What's the thought on the initial starting lineup?

We're going to have to play an entirely different style than Roy has ever used or been comfortable with (he sort of tried a small ball approach out of necessity when David Noel was the team leader following another championship but we have a lot more talent than that team). In summer practices (so no Coaches present but media members and some obsessed bloggers/fans have peeked) one interesting wrinkle was Theo bringing up the ball on offense as sort of a Point 4 and then Berry, Maye, Johnson just fanned out on the wings and looked for threes. Probably just for fun because it doesn't make sense to not use your best asset, Berry, as your primary ball handler and then let Theo play a small 4 and rebound. Not sure that's what Theo envisioned though when he came here.

I just don't see what we do about the interior. All reports are that the three Freshmen big men are really, really far from being ready. So: Berry, Williams (if he's ready which they say he is and if he isn't then I guess you can go with Jalek here or Robinson), Johnson, Pinson & Maye?
 

Greg29fan

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They went small with some success in 2012-13, with Hairston or Tokoto at the 4 and McAdoo at the 5 as the only big.

But yes, it's more like a Notre Dame-type team than one Roy likes to go with.
 
Aug 24, 2017
397
And speaking of Notre Dame, that's about the only non-Duke, non-State ACC home game I'm interested in going to this year. Our home schedule sucks which means our road schedule is brutal. I'll be happy with a finish in 5th in the conference this year.
 

uk_sox_fan

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Nov 11, 2006
1,273
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Duke, again, has a fascinating team. What's the thought on the initial starting lineup?
Barring injury I'd say it's likely Duval/Allen/Trent Jr/Bagley/Carter for the standard lineup and inserting Bolden and substituting Bagley for Trent Jr when they want to go big. I'm anticipating a big leap up for DeLaurier and he could fight his way in, but not sure at what point in the season this will happen.
 

DukeSox

absence hasn't made the heart grow fonder
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Dec 22, 2005
11,740
Cameron obv had to end up at Duke
 
Aug 24, 2017
397
The long national nightmare might finally be over.

The NCAA will release its sanctions report today at 10:00 a.m. for UNC. UNC can either accept or appeal; if they appeal then this drags on even further.

In lighter news, on the recruiting front we landed Nassir Little, the #14 recruit according to ESPN and one of our highest ranked recruits in quite some time. He will come in with Coby White (#25), and Rechon Black (#48), making this our strongest recruiting class since Berry/Pinson/Jackson. We are still in on Simisola Shittu (#6) who has narrowed his choices down to just UNC and Vanderbilt. I have not heard anything more about Zion Williamson (#2) who is in Columbia, SC and we have been all over. Some of this may shake itself out today if loss of scholarships are part of the sanctions.
 
Aug 24, 2017
397
Also, to be clear: if I was not a UNC fan I would livid at the (as usual) bullshit NCAA for essentially letting UNC go to two straight finals and win a championship during the time they were under investigation.
 

DukeSox

absence hasn't made the heart grow fonder
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Dec 22, 2005
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I think there is an argument to be made that the investigation led to the championship. UNC has had some tough recruiting classes the past several years, as the overhang of the investigation has driven some recruits away. This has lead to some of the guys in the class you mention (and others) sticking around and developing and not getting layered by hot new stud recruits, and gelling as a team. As we saw in Duke's 2010 championship (full of old guys), there is real value in this.
 
Aug 24, 2017
397
DukeSox,

I think, and this is insane, we actually agree.

The guys to grab are ranked 15-35 and that's where we've been living since the sanctions.
 

soxhop411

news aggravator
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Dec 4, 2009
46,200
So the NCAA just gave colleges free reign to have athletes take sham classes, as long as the general student body is also able to take those same sham classes.
 

Philip Jeff Frye

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Oct 23, 2001
10,219
So the NCAA just gave colleges free reign to have athletes take sham classes, as long as the general student body is also able to take those same sham classes.
The solution to losing your integrity as an academic institution because of athletics is to lose your integrity as an academic institution entirely.

What a disgrace.
 

Greg29fan

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Jul 14, 2005
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UNC was punished by the accrediting agency, who had purview. The NCAA doesn't. Nowhere in their bylaws does it grant them the authority to determine how fake (Wainstein found NO evidence that any member of these classes was granted a grade for no work) or easy or rigorous a class is.

If you or they want to open up that Pandora's Box, be my guest.
 
Aug 24, 2017
397
The punishment was the dragging out of this entire process. We have essentially been on probation for years now and missed out on many top recruits.
 

riboflav

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Jan 20, 2006
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NOVA
And in what real world way was UNC actually punished?
It has had zero impact on UNC's ability to recruit and enroll students (zoo light keeps focusing on athletes but your point is more about the academic side). Being placed on probation for a whole year!! and knowing full well that's as far as it'd ever go has been one big eye roll.
 

Greg29fan

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It has had zero impact on UNC's ability to recruit and enroll students (zoo light keeps focusing on athletes but your point is more about the academic side). Being placed on probation for a whole year!! and knowing full well that's as far as it'd ever go has been one big eye roll.
Blame the system - university presidents and administrators told the NCAA to keep their hands off investigating/judging class rigor.

I don't blame people outside the Carolina Family for being upset, but this was always going to be the end result.
 

The Gray Eagle

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Aug 1, 2001
16,687
NCAA to NC State: double f-you with a cherry on top.
Not only are we going to do absolutely nothing about UNC's disgraceful academic scandal, we also aren't letting your incoming recruit play this year because he took legitimate summer school classes at Ohio State. Athletes getting credits for taking fake classes? No problem, go for it! Athlete taking legit classes? You can't play this year, get off the court.

Some precedent they are setting with the UNC ruling, managing to make college sports even more of a joke. I am sure no other schools will set up even more fake classes for jocks now. And UNC has already shown they care more about basketball than academics, so now they will probably set up a new department just for fake classes for basketball players. Why not?
 

riboflav

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Jan 20, 2006
9,546
NOVA
Blame the system - university presidents and administrators told the NCAA to keep their hands off investigating/judging class rigor.

I don't blame people outside the Carolina Family for being upset, but this was always going to be the end result.
FTR, I attended UNC and I'm still upset... and ashamed! But, I get your point.
 

JShams

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Jul 3, 2001
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NCAA to NC State: double f-you with a cherry on top.
Not only are we going to do absolutely nothing about UNC's disgraceful academic scandal, we also aren't letting your incoming recruit play this year because he took legitimate summer school classes at Ohio State. Athletes getting credits for taking fake classes? No problem, go for it! Athlete taking legit classes? You can't play this year, get off the court.

Some precedent they are setting with the UNC ruling, managing to make college sports even more of a joke. I am sure no other schools will set up even more fake classes for jocks now. And UNC has already shown they care more about basketball than academics, so now they will probably set up a new department just for fake classes for basketball players. Why not?
Oof, that lowers the chances they'll be able to make some sweet t-shirts celebrating a regular season win over Carolina or Duke amidst a 5-13 season.
 

Average Reds

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Sep 24, 2007
35,291
Southwestern CT
Blame the system - university presidents and administrators told the NCAA to keep their hands off investigating/judging class rigor.

I don't blame people outside the Carolina Family for being upset, but this was always going to be the end result.
I agree that this was always going to be the end result, but completely disagree as to why.

This was an academic fraud committed for the purpose of ensuring eligibility for athletes. The fact that UNC successfully laundered their actions by allowing other students to take advantage of it is irrelevant. And the NCAA absolutely has jurisdiction over eligibility. (Hell, it's literally their only purpose.)

However, when faced with a situation where the only appropriate penalty for a nearly two-decades long fraud was the abolishment of the athletics department at one of the showcase programs in the county, the NCAA punted. And the reason they punted is that they knew the case represented an existential threat to the NCAA - come down too hard on a powerful program and the major colleges will rebel and leave your organization. So they did nothing.

This highly predictable outcome doesn't vindicate UNC. It simply broadens the circle of shame.
 
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Greg29fan

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Did athletics take advantage of the available situation? Yes, it's clearly obvious they did, but it was lax oversight of the department by the college of arts & sciences and a lazy and corrupt department chair who allowed it to take place, not the athletic department.

There's no smoking gun, in all of the investigations, publicly available e-mails, and reporting, that athletic eligibility was the reason these classes existed (in fact, at least one counselor told the college of A&S about how the independent studies were being graded and were told to mind their own business because faculty had the autonomy to teach classes how they saw fit). - and simply taking an absurdly easy class is not in the NCAA's purview - if you want an NCAA proctor sitting in on every class taught, that meets in a classroom or is an independent study - I'm all for it, but it will never happen.

And ultimately that's why no academic fraud was ever charged - impermissible benefits were. So, class rigor not being in their purview and the courses being available to the entirety of campus - meant no NCAA bylaws were violated by the athletic department.

And the stuff about UNC being basically too big to fail- they have had no problem throwing the book at USC football, Louisville, Syracuse, and UCONN basketball - all huge and national championship-winning programs. If they had found something that could've stuck, they'd have been more than happy to attempt to nail us too.