I Hate Duke Basketball

2009-2010 Men’s College Basketball Preview

(PART ONE – The Top 10)

I know we are still a few months away from the new season Men’s College Basketball, but I thought I would get a jump on the competition by announcing my 2009-2010 preseason picks.  This should be good since no one else has made a prediction, and it should make me look good when all of the pundits start to copy my picks. 

For the record, I am an avid Georgetown Hoya’s fan since 1989.  I am also a card-carrying chapter president of the “I HATE DUKE” club.  In fact, while I dislike the Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, North Carolina Tar Heels, Las Angeles Lakers, and Notre Dame Fighting Irish (I also am a recovering Notre Dame Fan of almost 15 years); I can truly say that my utter disdain for Duke has only been curbed slightly by my desire to see Team USA win.

In 2008, the North Carolina Tar Heels began the season as the odds-on favorites to capture the national title.  While the season played out in a very interesting way, it was Tyler Hansbrough and the Tar Heels who ultimately cut down the nets in Detroit in 2009. 

In fact, their performance was so dominating that it caused many to forget that this team had struggled through injuries even as late as the 2009 ACC Tournament.  However, the two team they played in the Final Four were a little more surprising. 

While many picked Connecticut to make the Final Four and the expectations for Michigan State were also high; no one outside of the City of Brotherly Love thought that the Villanova Wildcats would be in Detroit. 

I certainly did not after Georgetown defeated them in a late season “must-win” in Philadelphia.  Ultimately, the season proved to be one of much intrigue and the early departures of so many (again) have shaped a College Basketball landscape of mystery and intrigue. 

With that being said; I will now unveil the 2009-2010 Preseason Top 25 as bestowed upon me by the Basketball god’s themselves (that is my story and I am sticking to it).

(1) Kansas – While the Jayhawks are not the odds-on favorites that North Carolina was a year ago; they certainly have all the tools necessary for success.  They lose no one of significance from a team that lost in the Sweet 16 to eventual National Runner-Up Michigan State. 

They also return College Basketball’s best version of an Inside/Outside game with Sr. G Sherron Collins and Jr. C Cole Aldrich.  They also add former Arizona reserve Jeff Whithey (Kansas will have five guys 6’8" or taller) and McDonald’s All American Xavier Henry to a rotation that was already eight deep. 

Add the experience of five players with Final Four experience and you have a team that is this season’s version of “A Lock” to be in Indianapolis in April.

(2) Michigan State – The Spartans return seven men from a nine-player rotation that propelled the Spartans to the 2009 National Championship game.  While both departures were starters, Tom Izzo’s team returns enough talent to make a repeat run this April. 

Back are Jr. G’s Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers along with So. F Delvon Roe and Sr. F Raymar Morgan.  The Spartans also return key reserves in Jr. G Chris Allen, Jr. F Draymond Green, and So. G Korie Lucious. 

If either Jr. C Tom Herzog or Fr. C Garrick Sherman can buy into the tough rebounder that is a trademark for recent Michigan State teams, Spartie may be the ones cutting down the nets in Nap Town come April.

(3) Tennessee – Good Old Rocky Top should be a song we are all sick of come April.  While this pick may surprise some; the fact is Bruce Pearl’s bunch left many in Knoxville wanting more. 

With nine players of importance returning (including All SEC F Tyler Smith), the Vols should be running and gunning all the way to Indianapolis in 2010.  If the team can display more discipline and maintain a high level of intensity, they may go down as the best team in school history.

(4) West Virginia – Not since his days in Cincinnati has Bob Huggins had a team as talented and deep as this year’s Mountaineers will be.  The catalyst for it all is Sr. F Da’Sean Butler, who should be a first round draft pick in the 2010 NBA draft. 

Back also are super soph F Devin Ebanks and the two-headed PG Joe Mazzulla/Darryl Bryant.  With the addition of a solid recruiting class that includes Junior College transfer Casey Mitchell, West Virginia should dance much further than Dayton allowed them to in 2009.   

(5) Kentucky - I would have put the Wildcats in my top four but there was not enough room on the Blue Grass bandwagon for me to fit.  Don’t get me wrong, John Calipari will introduce the Wildcat faithful to an exciting brand of dribble-drive basketball thanks in large part to the addition of several key recruits. 

The most prominent of which is National High School Player of the Year John Wall, who shunned the pleas of many schools (including Duke) to be the next guard to blossom under Calipari’s tutelage. 

It did not hurt that All SEC F Patrick Patterson came back for his junior year.  In fact, the Wildcats will feature a roster of players who are tall (the average height is 6’7") and athletic and should do a great job of getting up and down the court. 

(6) Villanova – Not since 1985 had the Villanova campus been so into their basketball team.  And when Scottie Reynolds turned the Regional Final game into his personal edition of “One Shining Moment.” 

While this year’s version is still capable of winning in April, they will have to do so with some new faces manning the front court.  That is not a problem when one of them is Fr. Mouphtaou Yarou whose warrior roots can be traced back to his Benin, Africa heritage.

Bench depth will also come from a recruiting class that many had ranked in the top 5-10 classes.  However, while the newcomers will determine how far the Wildcats go, it is the guard rotation (Sr. G Scottie Reynolds, Jr. G Corey Fisher, Sr. G Reggie Redding, Jr. G Corey Stokes, and Fr. G Dominic Cheek) that will ensure that Jay Wright has another long NCAA Tournament presence.

(7) Purdue – Matt Painter will have arguable his best team he has ever coached.  The junior class, which features All Big Ten performer Robbie Hummel, G E’Twaun Moore and F/C JaJuan Johnson.  Add in Sr. G’s Chris Kramer and Keaton Grant and you have what will be the makings of the only team that will challenge Michigan State for the Big Ten crown.

(8) Connecticut - One of the most important, and ultimately smart, decisions made last year involved Stanley Robinson’s decision to return for his senior year.  Not only did this decision make possible the likelihood for a return trip to the NCAA Tournament, this experience will make Robinson a better player as well.

(9) Mississippi State – This ranking is bases on the notion that McDonald’s All American big man Renardo Sidney.  If he is eligible, Starkville, MS will be ringing cow bells all season long. 

Sr. F/C Jarvis Varnado, Fr. C Renardo Sidney, Jr. F Kodi Augustus, C. John Riek, So. F Romero Osby and Jr. F/C Elgin Bailey make up arguable the best combination of versatility, athleticism, and talent than any other team in the country.  The question now is: What will Rick Stansbury do with all of this talent?

(10) North Carolina – While Roy Williams will have to coach a team depleted of four starters, the Tar Heels are in great shape to compete for a Regional Final berth thanks in large part to the coach’s ability to recruit. 

This season is no difference because several McDonalds All American reinforcements are here to save the day.  The 2009-2010 roster was also helped out by the return of Sr. G/F Marcus Ginyard and So. F Ed Davis’ desire to return to Chapel Hill for a second season. 

While a back-to-back Final Fours will be a stretch, you should expect to see North Carolina in the second weekend of the 2010 NCAA tournament.