ACC Hoops

HUNTER TO HUNTED: GT BIGGER EXPECTATIONS
That is the price for success, and one worth paying. But to be an elite program, we have to win consistently, especially when we are expected to.

SUPERSIZE ME
Article on Luke Schenscher and bulking up.

He played like a man offended.

"I knew that a lot of people were saying we didn't have any big guys, that we were going to struggle," Schenscher said. "I took that as a personal slander on me. 'Hang on, I'm here.' No one saw me as the guy who could step up and fill that void."

FROM THE 4 CORNERS
Foreign players are having an impact, with this on Luke Schenscher:

That's the way a lot of international recruiting works, through personal contacts or quirks of fate. Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt talks frequently with NBA scouts who travel the world in search of talent, but his best international player came via a tip from a friend. Schenscher committed to Drexel, where assistant coach John O'Connor recruited him. When the Drexel staff got fired, O'Connor tipped off Hewitt. Hewitt called another friend who had coached in Australia, knew Schenscher and told Hewitt Schenscher would be a good fit. O'Connor now coaches with Hewitt at Tech.

Hewitt thought he had a hot tip on another foreign player a few years ago. Hewitt had done a coaching clinic in Turkey, and one of his contacts there called him about Atsur.

"Sleepers these days, because there's so much information being passed back and forth, they don't last long," Hewitt said. "I thought we had an inside track on somebody nobody knew about, we went to Germany to see him play and there were like seven programs there, including N.C. State."

College coaches disagree about whether the number of foreign players will continue to increase. Hewitt says the NCAA amateurism rules could make the numbers drop . . . but he's currently recruiting another international player.

MARK BRADLEY PICKS GT #1
This on GT:

There might be a more talented team -- then again, there might not -- but none has a better blend. The Jackets can score inside and outside. They can defend. They have many ballhandlers and just enough shooters. The coach is no slouch, either.

NCAA TIP-OFF THIS WEEK
On hoops around the country:

Of course, who could forget Georgia Tech’s Cinderella run to last year’s Final Four? If you need a small reminder, look no further than 7-1 red-headed Aussie, Luke Schenscher. He was the Yellow Jackets centre who showed off his size 15 glass slipper last spring as GT surprised North America by breaking through to the final before falling to the eventual champs.

The Jackets have an eclectic bunch of guys that can pass and shoot with the best of them in the NCAA and their team is still completely intact from last season’s impressive run. The only point left for this squad to prove is that they’re winners. A trip to St. Louis for the 2005 Final Four may give the Atlanta school the chance to prove that they are the best in this year’s class.

Every year it seems as though there's one team determined to pile up win after win, even if nobody expects them to advance past the Sweet Sixteen. Last year it was Georgia Tech and this year look for it to be Oklahoma State.

JARRETT JACK ON COACH K
Quote:

"You can put some blind kids out there and Coach K will have those boys ready." -- Georgia Tech guard Jack Jarrett, on Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski.

ACC LOADED WITH POINT GUARDS
As if you didn't know this already.

Jack hit a last-second shot to beat North Carolina in the ACC tournament quarterfinals, and came up even bigger in the NCAA tournament.

In the second round, his steal and breakaway dunk sealed a 57-54 win over Boston College. In the regional final, with leading scorer B.J. Elder hobbled, Jack scored a career-high 29 points in a win over Kansas.

The athletic 6-foot-3 guard has the size and toughness to direct Paul Hewitt's up-tempo attack.

"We're the leaders of each team and we try to be the one leading the charge," Jack said. "You're just doing what the call of duty asks for."

AREA SCHOOLS GRAPPLE WITH NEW STANDARDS
Interesting article on the NCAA standards package:

Sendek was not the only coach to object to the NCAA's old system of measuring graduation rates.

Georgia Tech's Paul Hewitt used last spring's Final Four as a forum to blast the way the NCAA measured and reported graduation.

FRANK HAITH HAS HIS WORK CUT OUT...
...in rebuilding Miami into a hoops power. This from Coach Hewitt:

"Frank's been around this game long enough to pick up how it works," said Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt, who took his Yellow Jackets to the national title game last year. "He's worked for Dave Odom and Rick Barnes, two pretty bright guys. And Frank will get players. Believe me when I say that. They'll get players."