Drake

2008 CollegeHoops.net Program & Conference of the Year

Shawn Siegel — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 14:18:53 -0700

After a lengthy run of individual awards, we finally reach CHN's program and conference awards. As always, CHN writers voted for the best of the best:

CollegeHoops.net Program of the Year: Drake

By now, Drake’s surprise success has been discussed many times over. The 28-5 record, the MVC Championship, the Top 25 Ranking. The unknown players like Adam Emmenecker turning in all-star seasons, and a first year coach earning National Coach of the Year plaudits. But every time you read about the success of Keno Davis’s squad, the more shocking it truly seems.

Here at CHN, we pride ourselves on our top quality season preview and preseason rankings. Yet when it came to Drake, like everyone else, we were completely wrong. 165^th place was our prediction.. and we were only about 140 places off. In fact, Drake was projected to be 85 places worse than the 2^nd lowest team (Western Kentucky) that ended up in our Final Top 40. For shocking CHN’s experts and college basketball nation, Drake is a worthy program of the year.

Runner Up: Texas

After losing NBA All-Rookie performer Kevin Durant to the Draft, many thought that the Longhorns would regress. But instead, Rick Barnes led Texas to a record 31 win season as well as their 3^rd Elite Eight trip of the last six years. Amazingly, not one major contributor from the co-Big 12 champion is a senior, and the program’s continued success seems like a lock.

CollegeHoops.net Mid-Major Program of the Year: Davidson

Davidson was arguably the national Program of the Year due to their amazing Elite Eight tournament run, but their success wasn’t nearly as surprising as Drake’s. After losing some close games to major Top 10 powers like UNC and UCLA, the Wildcats bounced back to utterly dominate the Southern Conference. They won all 20 league games, and swept the conference tournament with an average margin of victory of 26 points. Their overall 25-game winning streak was the best in the nation, and helped Coach Bob McKillop and star guard Stephen Curry amass some impressive hardware. More impressive than their 29-7 record or any individual’s numbers is the way they captivated the country by letting it all out during the NCAA Tournament.

Runner Up: South Alabama

The Jaguars had an impressive season this culminated in at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. This was the first time in 14 years that a Sun Belt team had received at-large consideration. Their 26-7 overall record included two wins over Sweet Sixteen team (and conference rival) Western Kentucky, as well as tournament squads Mississippi State and San Diego. Coach Ronnie Arrow won Sun Belt Coach of the Year honors, returning to a position he once held 13 years ago.

CollegeHoops.net Conference of the Year: Pac-10

Simply put, no league offered more exciting individual and team matchups than the Pac-10 on a weekly basis. With the exception of Oregon State, every team in the league was capable of beating every other team.. and this overall depth of talent lead to an amazing 9 postseason bids for the 10 team league.

At the team level, UCLA was the true class of the league leading the way with a 16-2 record. The Bruins were led by Kevin Love, just one of many potential NBA lottery picks scattered throughout league rosters. Brook Lopez, OJ Mayo, Jerryd Bayless, Ryan Anderson and others lit up the scoreboards on a nightly basis.

Overall, the Pac-10 ended up 2^nd in RPI to the ACC, but the league members led the country with an amazing .798 out-of-conference winning %. This is even more impressive when you consider that as recently as 2004, the Pac-10 was 9^th in overall RPI. With big time coaches and big time programs, there’s no reason not to expect another great Pac-10 run next year.

Runner Up: Atlantic 10

This was somewhat of a renaissance season for the A10, as the league finished 7^th in overall RPI, easily its best season in a decade. Conference leader Xavier made an impressive run to the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight, and they were joined in the Big Dance by conference tournament winner Temple and St. Joseph’s. Even more impressively, the league had great depth as teams like Dayton, UMASS, and URI all made strong claims to Top 25 consideration at one point or another.

Check out all the: CHN 2007-08 Postseason Awards

All-Americans, All-Rookie, Top Coaches & more

2008 CollegeHoops.net Coach of the Year Awards

CHN — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:32:20 -0700

CollegeHoops.net Coach of the Year: Keno Davis (Drake)

In the category of “first year coaches taking over for their father’s somewhat struggling program”, Tony Bennett’s 2006-07 campaign seemed to be as good as it got. Bennett took over for his father Dick, and won 26 games while finishing 2^nd in the Pac-10. However, Keno Davis took things to new levels this year when he led the Drake Bulldogs to a shocking 28-5 record and an MVC Championship. Not since 1971 had Drake won 20 games, and it was that same season the program last made the NCAA Tournament. Thirty seven lean years later Drake was back in the Big Dance, and would have advanced to the Second Round if not for WKU’s last second prayer. Davis was handed a bunch of relatively unknown players like Adam Emmenecker and turned them into stars. Who knows what kind of success awaits Davis in the future, but Bulldog nation couldn’t be happier with what they’ve got.

Runner Up: Matt Painter (Purdue)

Last Year: Tony Bennett (Washington State)

CollegeHoops.net Mid-Major Coach of the Year: Bob McKillop (Davidson)

The general public might not have been aware of Bob McKillop’s Wildcats until this season’s magical Elite Eight run. But those in college basketball circles have known for years that Davidson has done nothing but win under his reign. In 12 of the last 13 seasons, McKillop’s Cats have finished either 1^st or 2^nd in their Southern Conference division. In that same period, he’s led Davidson to 5 NCAA Tournaments, 7 postseason bids, and 7 twenty wins seasons. Not bad considering when McKillop took over 18 years ago, the program was reeling to the tune of a 4-24 record. But this year’s Mid-Major Coach of the Year award is not about career success, but an outstanding 29 win season that included 25 straight over a four month period. With a little help from friends Stephen Curry and Jason Richards, the Wildcats blazed an impressive NCAA Tournament trail, knocking off three big name programs along the way, and winning over the hearts of the American public.

Runner Up: Darrin Horn (Western Kentucky)

Last Year: Gregg Marshall (Winthrop)

Check out all the: CHN 2007-08 Postseason Awards

All-Americans, All-Rookie, Top Coaches & more!

Poll: Who Had the Most Disappointing Early Exit?

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:14:41 -0700

Quick Midday Recap: Curry Explodes, Roger is Clutch, McClinton Dominates

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 15:04:06 -0700

A quick review of the morning action on Day Two of the NCAA Tournament: (10) Davidson 82 - (7) Gonzaga 76 The first big games of the first round that actually lived up to its hype. Stephen Curry scored 40 points, including an amazing 30 in the second half, to lead Davidson to the mini-upset. Gonzaga tried many times to run away with the game in the first thirty minutes, getting up 10 with just 13 minutes to go. But too much Curry and not enough clutch play down the stretch did in the Zags. As was the case all season, the Bulldogs simply lacked that one go-to player that could put them over the edge. Steven Gray had big moments early, Jeremy Pargo had big moments in the middle, but it was only Curry who had big moments in the end. (12) Western Kentucky 101 - (15) Drake 99 Drake's magical season came to an end due to an amazing game-winning three from Ty Rogers. Western Kentucky came out firing and was shooting close to 60% for the first 35 minutes of the game.. but down 74-59 with 8 minutes left, Drake finally found its long-range touch. Once in overtime, the Bulldogs had many chances to pull away but their lack of inside presence and ability to break guys down off the dribble was damning. There's really only so many times you can settle for 40 foot shots. Both teams made bonehead decision in the OT session, especially a foul by WKU's Boris Siakam. But Siakam made up for his wrongdoing by hitting a pair of clutch ft's with 21 seconds left. (7) Miami 78 - (10) Saint Mary's 64 Up 5 at half, things were looking good for Saint Mary's. But Jack McClinton's 32 point second half outburst (every bit as good as Stephen Curry's half) was more than enough to put away the Gaels. At various points in the second half, he scored 14 in a row for Miami, 10 in a row, and 8 in a row. (7) Butler 81 - (10) South Alabama 61 Like the above game in some sense, this was neck and neck for 15 minutes with South Alabama leading 23-22. But a three-point barrage by Pete Campbell and AJ Graves broke open the game and the Bulldogs never looked back. Campbell ended up with 26 points, including 8 of 10 from downtown. South Alabam scoring leader Demetric Bennett was held to just 6 points thanks to solid D by Drew Streicher. Butler now faces Georgetown in the 2nd round. (2) Tennessee 72 - (15) American 57 For 30 minutes the Eagles gave it a good run before the Vols talent and athleticism pulled away. Garrison Carr hit back to back threes midway through the second half to tie the game at 40. Tennessee then called a timeout, ran off 10 straight points and never looked back. Carr, who averaged 18 on the season, ended up with 26 of American's 57 points. Tennessee's Chris Lofton was just 1-7 from the floor, but JaJuan Smith and others picked up the slack. (2) Georgetown 66 - (15) UMBC 47 Nothing terribly exciting to note here. UMBC showed some heart, keeping the score relatively close for most of the game, but you never got the sense they really had the upset in them. (2) Texas 74 - (15) Austin Peay 54 This game was well over by the 10 minute mark with Texas leading 22-5. Whatever happened after that really didn't matter. (13) San Diego 70 - (4) UCONN 69 More on this game soon! Overall: Some fireworks by Stephen Curry and Jack McClinton, not to mention Pete Campbell's 8 of 10 shooting were the first real big individual efforts of the tournament. Ty Rogers clutch game-winning OT three was the first of what hopefully will be many buzzer-beaters over the next couple weeks.

Poll: What Is the Most Likely 12-5 Upset?

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 18:14:45 -0700

Writers Picks: Top Upsets & Surprise Teams

CHN — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:53:57 -0700

Need help filling in your bracket? CHN writers give their predictions below about who will be the big winners and losers of this year's bracket. See how these picks compare to CHN's Official Prediction.

Surprise = Team that will exceed expectations/seed

Failure = Team that will underperform seed

Upset = Projected 1st round upset special

Writer	Brubaker	Carpentier	Fox	Johnson
Surprise	USC	USC	Davidson	WKU
Failure	Wisconsin	Duke	Drake	Tennessee
Upset	Siena	Siena	WKU	Siena
	over Vandy	over Vandy	over Drake	over Vandy

Writer	Teitel	Tomassini	Wesler	White
Surprise	Pitt	Temple	Stanford	Kansas St
Failure	Xavier	Georgetown	Duke	Memphis
Upset	Kansas St	Oral Roberts	Villanova	WKU
	over USC	over Pittsburgh	over Clemson	over Drake

What can we make of these picks? USC is a favorite to advance to the Sweet Sixteen at the expense of Wisconsin (a belief shared by CHN's Official Prediction.) Western Kentucky and Siena are trendy upset picks.. while thoughts on Pitt are mixed.

See what these writers had to say about the Final Four.

2008 NCAA Tournament Capsule: Drake

Joel Welser — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 09:04:49 -0700

Drake Bulldogs

Missouri Valley Conference (28-4, 15-3)

Big Wins: 2/5 at Illinois State (73-70), 2/23 at Butler (71-64), 3/9 vs Illinois State (67-41)

Bad Losses: 2/13 at Southern Illinois (62-65), 2/19 Bradley (71-72), 2/26 at Missouri State (83-86)

Last NCAA Appearance: 1971, Elite Eight loss to Kansas

Coach: Keno Davis (First NCAA appearances)

Probable Starters:

Adam Emmenecker, Senior, Guard, 8.5 ppg, 6.2 apg, 1.6 spg

Josh Young, Sophomore, Guard, 15.8 ppg, 1.8 apg, 1.3 spg

Leonard Houston, Senior, Guard, 14.0 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.4 spg

Klayton Korver, Senior, Forward, 10.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg

Jonathan Cox, Junior, Forward, 11.8 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 1.0 bpg

Key Roleplayers:

Jacob Baryenbruch, Junior, Guard, 2.2 ppg

John Michael Hall, Junior, Guard, 3.6 ppg, 1.2 rpg

Brent Heemskerk, Junior, Forward, 4.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg

Why They Can Surprise:

The old adage says you live by the three and die by the three. Drake adheres to that, but they have done a lot more living than dying this season. The team hits over nine long balls per game and everybody in the starting five besides the point guard is a deep threat. And it all starts with Josh Young. The sophomore showed promise last season, but this year he has become the go-to-scorer. Young hits about three shots from beyond the arc per game, but he will also be very aggressive getting to the basket.

Leonard Houston is on the other wing and he will do a little bit of everything. Up front, Klayton Korver and Jonathan Cox spread out the defense with their shooting ability. Korver might take a few too many three’s, but that is what he does. Cox is the more dynamic interior player, yet he still hits over one long ball per game and shoots over 42 percent from behind the arc.

Why They Can Disappoint:

With the big guys being perimeter threats, it can cause some problems on the defensive end. Cox is a great rebounder and has decent size at 6-8 and 225 pounds, but he is not much of a threat to block shots and certainly does not get help in that department from Korver. That allows the opposition to work the ball inside and get some easy buckets. The perimeter defense is solid and Cox and Korver are not bad defenders, but once the ball gets inside, there is not much that can be done when facing bigger, stronger post players. Because of that the opposition shoots over 43 percent against the Bulldogs.

Who To Watch:

Adam Emmenecker came out of nowhere to become a great floor leader. The 6-1 senior dishes out six assists per game and has a two-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio. Emmenecker has not let his, or his teams, new found success change his game. He is a smart player who finds the scorers on his team instead of trying to score himself. Emmenecker will very rarely take a three-pointer, but he will use his quickness to get to the basket for easy buckets or trips to the charity stripe.

- More 2008 NCAA Tournament Coverage

- All 2008 Tournament Capsules

Welser Wonders: Big East Bids?

Joel Welser — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 06:55:59 -0800

What I’m really wondering right now is why I tivoed 30 hours of the NFL Combine in high definition. Naturally, I record anything in HD if it is available, but boy was that a mistake. The only thing worse than watching a 350 pound guy running the 40 in 5.82 seconds is watching a 350 pound guy running the 40 in 5.82 seconds in high definition. Don’t worry, everything else has to do with college basketball in this week’s “Welser Wonders…”

…who benefited the most from BracketBusters Saturday?

The answer is an easy one. Kent State went from an outside the bubble team to a Top 25 group that has a legitimate chance at an at-large bid. The Golden Flashes traveled to Moraga, California and knocked off St. Mary’s 66-57.

The rest of Coach Jim Christian’s schedule is pretty difficult with games at Bowling Green and Akron and a senior night hosting Miami (Ohio). Assuming Kent State can win those three, which might be a little too much to assume, the Flashes will head into the conference tournament with a 26-5 record. Those five losses were against Detroit on the opening day of the season, against Xavier, at North Carolina, at Ohio and a heartbreaker at Toledo. That’s not too shabby and certainly deserving to be on the bubble.

…who else was a big winner on BracketBusters Saturday?

They would get an at-large bid either way, but the Drake Bulldogs suddenly became a legitimate Sweet Sixteen contender…or even more [Ed: Note that Drake lost to Missouri State shortly after this article was submitted]. After a home loss to Bradley, the Bulldogs went to Butler and played extremely well, winning the battle of the Bulldogs 71-64.

The issue that remains is how they well they can play against a team with a more traditional big man. Against Butler, it was really a battle on the perimeter. Would Drake’s style of play work as well against a team that was not so much like their own? At the least, I’m one step closer to being sold on Drake as a Sweet Sixteen team than I was last week.

…when the ACC will sort itself out?

After North Carolina and Duke, the Atlantic Coast Conference remains jumbled. Clemson, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Miami and Wake Forest are all at least .500 in conference, but the ACC is not going to get seven teams into the NCAA Tournament. With four games left for most teams, there are plenty of opportunities left for separation to occur, but the way things have been going, it won’t happen. Amazingly, none of those five teams play Duke or North Carolina the rest of the regular season. That leaves a ton of great games against the other teams fighting for an at-large berth.

…whether the Big East could end up as a five bid league?

Georgetown, Louisville, Notre Dame, Connecticut and Marquette are all virtual locks. West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Villanova and Syracuse are pretty much on the bubble.

West Virginia is 8-6 in conference with a 19-8 overall record. Not too shabby, but there is not a big win on the schedule right now besides beating Marquette at home. The Mountaineers travel to Connecticut and host Pittsburgh in March and they need to win at least one of those games to feel good heading into the Big East Tournament.

Pittsburgh is 19-8 overall and 7-7 in conference. What hurts the Panthers the most is their three game losing streak. All those games were against better teams, but they need to turn it around this week when they host Cincinnati and take a trip to Syracuse.

Villanova started out strong, but are just 7-8 in conference. The win over Connecticut on Saturday was big, but beating Louisville on the road on Sunday would be even bigger.

Like Pitt, Syracuse is on a tough losing streak. Somehow they lost to South Florida a few days before beating Georgetown. With Pittsburgh and Marquette coming to town and a trip to Seton Hall remaining on the schedule, it will not be easy for Syracuse to end up with a .500 conference record. Sometimes that would be enough, but the Orange non-conference losses to Ohio State, Massachusetts and Rhode Island do not sound as impressive as they did a month ago.

Welser Wonders: Clock Issues, Indiana's Future, Bracket Busters..

Joel Welser — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 08:35:38 -0800

It’s been a fun week in the world of college basketball. The bubble keeps expanding and contracting, Indiana is in trouble and BracketBusters is nearly upon us. This week, that and more is what “Welser Wonders…”

…who will be the next coach at Indiana?
After Coach Kelvin Sampson’s recent troubles, which I am going to call the Teapot Phone scandal instead of the overused –gate suffix, the search for a new head coach at IU could very well begin this week. (Ed: Sources suggest Sampson has in fact been fired today). Two predecessors removed from the giant shadow of Coach Bob Knight, the school should pretty much have their pick of the litter.

There really aren’t any quality IU guys available that weren’t passed over last time so it looks like the Hoosiers should go in a different direction. Some names being thrown out, by which I mean totally randomly suggestions, are Tony Bennett, Scott Skiles, Mark Turgeon, Gregg Marshall, Mark Few, Mark Fox, Dane Fife, Isaiah Thomas and RMK himself, among a slew of others. We can knock out a few of those very easily. The last two are more for humor than anything else, so we can take those two off the list. Fife is too young, so we’ll keep him in mind in five years and Few probably would be wise to see what has happened to others (Dan Monson) who have gone from Gonzaga to the Big Ten. It is a different situation, but still Few has the most established program of any guy on that list…and that includes the Knicks. Current IU assistant Dan Dakich would be the likely candidate to take over for the rest of the season if Coach Sampson is terminated right now, but after nine so-so years at Bowling Green, hiring him full time could end up to be a mistake of Bobby Williams like proportions.

Tony Bennett might be the most interesting choice. The guy is a Midwesterner who coached with his dad at Wisconsin and played at Wisconsin Green Bay. Coming back to Big Ten country to lead his own team would probably be an offer he couldn’t refuse. The knock on Bennett could be that he is using his father’s players at Washington State, but the younger Bennett had plenty to do with building that success in the northwest. If I was the new AD at IU, that would be my top pick.

…why it is so difficult to make two clocks work?
Is it just me or are game clock and shot clock malfunctions up drastically this year? I’m not just talking about human error. That happens and is understandable. I’m talking about the technology of something clicking down every second. It seems like on any given Saturday, five of 50 televised games have some sort of clock failure. Football might not have to deal with tenths of a second like basketball does, but they seem to have far fewer technical problems. In football the clock just runs down a little too far so they reset it. In basketball, the stupid thing won’t work.

I have no point or solution, but Archimedes would be disappointed with what we’ve done over the last 2000 and some odd years.

…whether Notre Dame deserves a lot of respect?
Throughout November and December nobody really paid much attention to the Irish. The non-conference schedule was pretty weak besides a victory over Kansas State that looks a lot better now than it did in early December. Since then ND has garnered an impressive 9-3 record in the Big East, with the losses coming at Marquette, at Georgetown and at Connecticut.

What Coach Mike Brey’s squad lacks is a big road victory (Villanova doesn’t count anymore). If they had one, the Irish would be getting a ton of buzz right now as a team that could make an Elite Eight type of run come March. There is only one opportunity left for Notre Dame to make that big statement when they travel to Louisville the last day of February.

…who will make a statement on BracketBusters weekend?
Drake and Butler are the top two teams in the field and will square off Saturday evening. Drake is probably in the more interesting position. There is a ton of doubt surrounding the team due to a weak non-conference schedule and what many perceive as a down year for the Missouri Valley Conference. Can the Bulldogs (that’s the Drake Bulldogs, not the Butler Bulldogs) pull off a victory on the road over a top ten team? If they do, the Drake bandwagon will be a lot bigger.

Meanwhile, Butler is looking to hold onto a top four seed in the NCAA Tournament and a whole lot of people will have them slated to at least reach the Sweet Sixteen if that is the case. Drake has yet to earn that respect and unless they can beat Butler, most brackets will be screaming for a first round upset for the Bulldogs from Des Moines.

Poll: Who is the Best Mid-Major?

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 09:07:21 -0800