Duke, UNC need to work this trade

After watching Duke and North Carolina both play exhibition games against Shaw University, I’m convinced they need to pull off a trade.

Duke doesn’t have a single proven, back-to-the-basket post scorer or defender. Brian Zoubek still has a lot of work to do before he’s ready to contend with Tyler Hansbrough and Ben McCauley in the ACC.

North Carolina could use another wing player. Danny Green is erratic, Wayne Ellington enigmatic and Marcus Ginyard a strong defender and rebounder without much of a jump shot. The Tar Heel scholarship players didn’t make a 3-pointer against Shaw on Saturday.

So here’s the trade suggestion. North Carolina, which is solid in the post, sends Alex Stepheson up 15/501 to Duke. Mike Krzyzewski, who’s got a ton of talented wing players, sends Jon Scheyer to play for coach Roy Williams.

Of course, that can’t happen in college athletics, where the players rightly have degrees they’re working on at their respective schools. But the trade would make both teams better.

Incidentally, neither team has addressed its shortcoming with the current recruiting class. For the second year in a row, North Carolina isn’t bringing in any wing players, though the Tar Heels have two solid big guys committed in Tyler Zeller and Ed Davis.

Duke’s Class of 2008 haul includes another highly regarded wing player, Elliot Williams, and post player Olek Czyz, who’s considered something of a project.

So you can count on the Tar Heels to feed the post and Duke to drive and kick for the foreseeable future.

– Ken Tysiac

Shhh! Davidson's playing Sunday, but it's a secret

Davidson's schedule actually includes five nationally ranked teams, but that's supposed to be a secret.

Wildcats fans already know about games scheduled with North Carolina, Duke, UCLA, and N.C. State, which all are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. But Sunday, the Wildcats will have a scrimmage at Texas, which is ranked 15th

But don't try to hop on a plane to Austin to see it. The scrimmage isn't open to the media or public, in accordance with NCAA rules. Davidson has played Clemson in similar scrimmages in recent years, and it shouldn't be a surprise that the Wildcats and Longhorns are getting together Sunday.

Davidson coach Bob McKillop and Texas coach Rick Barnes were both assistants at Davidson in the 1978-79 season.

Davidson guard Stephen Curry will be wearing an accessory Sunday that might give Wildcats fans pause. He has had his left wrist wrapped the past two weeks to help a sprain heal. He might still have it in the team's opening game Friday against Emory, but the appendage hasn't affected his shot. Curry made his first four 3-pointers at Friday's practice.

- Kevin Cary

Duke's Thomas shows energy in exhibition

Duke forward Lance Thomas spent a month in Houston last summer after a frustrating freshman season. He went through workouts overseen by John Lucas, the former NBA coach who trains NBA and college players.
Thomas banged bodies with NBA rookies Glen "Big Baby" Davis (formerly of LSU) and Sean Williams (Boston College) twice a day.

"The competition was great," Thomas said.

Last season, though he started 18 games, Thomas averaged just four points and 2.5 rebounds, with one assist and 43 turnovers. (That’s not a misprint. His assist-turnover ratio was .023).
He was often in foul trouble and not strong enough to finish inside or defend physical opposing ACC power forwards. After the season, he turned to video to figure out what went wrong.

"I watched a bunch of tape," he said, "and I was like, ‘I know I’m a better player than this.’ "

On Thursday night, he started again, this time with Kyle Singler in a light, quick post duo in Duke’s exhibition opener. He had five steals, made all six of his field goal-attempts and scored 15 points with seven rebounds in a 134-55 blowout of Shaw University.
Thomas’ quickness at 6-foot-8 makes him an asset at the top of the run-and-jump, man-to-man, full-court press Duke is using.

"Energy," coach Mike Krzyzewski said when asked what Thomas brings to the press. "Athletic ability. He’s got arms and legs that go in a lot of different directions, real fast."

Thomas said Duke’s new full-court, fast-breaking style suits his skills much better than the slow, half-court sets the Blue Devils used last season. He still will be required to defend opposing big guys in the post in the half-court, but hopes gaining 10 pounds will help him.
Battling for position against Davis and Williams for a month should help, too.

Ken Tysiac

Jackets' Morrow primed for big year

Charlotte Latin graduate Anthony Morrow averaged 9.9 points and shot 41.8 percent from 3-point range last season for Georgia Tech.

Imagine what he’ll do now that he’s healthy.

“I’m in the best shape of my life,” said, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard. “I feel a lot quicker laterally and as far as getting off the floor.”

In 2006, Morrow missed individual instruction and conditioning in the fall as well as the first three weeks of practice because of a stress fracture in his back.

There was a period when doctors discouraged him from even walking much because they didn’t want him to put pressure on his back. When he returned to the court, his skills were rusty and his conditioning was weak.

Morrow had been the ACC leader in 3-point percentage in 2005-06, besting even J.J. Redick, the previous season. Morrow had averaged 16.0 points per game and started every regular season game as a sophomore.

After the injury, he started just 10 games as a junior.

“That’s why this past summer I worked so hard,” he said.

Because of his struggles last season, Morrow has been overlooked by many analysts in their preseason All-ACC selections. But his improved athletic ability should make him a better defender, and he still possesses that sweet shooting stroke.

At a time when there aren’t many outstanding seniors playing college basketball, Morrow could be one of the best in the ACC.

“He’s primed to have a huge year,” said Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt.

– Ken Tysiac

Monroe to Hoyas stings Duke

The news that Greg Monroe committed to Georgetown over the weekend will sting a bit at Duke.

Scout.com ranks Monroe as the No. 1 player in the current high school senior class. A 6-foot-10 forward with good ball-handling and passing skills, he could have provided the strong post presence Duke appears to be lacking.

The Blue Devils also recently missed on 6-8 McDonald’s All-American Patrick Patterson, who’s now a freshman at Kentucky. They have a commitment from 6-7 banger Olek Czyz of Reno, Nev., but he’s far from a polished scorer.

If there are other quality, uncommitted post players in the current senior class, they’re not immediately obvious. That leaves sophomore Brian Zoubek, a 7-foot-1 project coming off surgery for a broken foot, as the team’s top scoring threat at center for the foreseeable future.
It makes the decision of 6-4 guard Elliot Williams of Collierville, Tenn., even more critical for Duke to avoid having this recruiting class become a bust.

The current strong freshman class consisting of McDonald’s All-Americans Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith and Taylor King means it’s hardly time for Duke to panic. The fact that North Carolina signed nobody in the Class of 2007 and still might be No. 1 in the preseason also provides perspective.

But losing out on two highly coveted big guys in a row – Patterson and now Monroe – won’t be easy for a Duke program that isn’t used to losing in recruiting.

– Ken Tysiac

Roy trying to shake vertigo

UNC coach Roy Williams has tried hanging upside down.

He’s tried ginger roots. He’s tried drinking diet Mello Yello.
Nothing has completely rid him of the vertigo that has annoyed him during the offseason.

"Everybody’s got Grandma’s cure," Williams said. "So they send it to me. I’ve done everything you can possibly do."

An attack of vertigo kept Williams nauseated and in bed one day during mid-July. According to the Mayo Clinic web site, vertigo condition is a problem with the nerves and balance mechanism of the inner ear that can cause intense dizzy spells.

Though Williams is under the care of doctors, he said he still isn’t 100 percent recovered.

"Early in the mornings I’m still a little light headed. I can’t shake it completely," Williams said. "It’s hard. Doctors can’t give me their exact remedy for it."

The condition won’t keep him away from his team. Practice for his 20th season begins at 7 p.m. Friday with "Late Night" festivities at the Smith Center. – Ken Tysiac

TV picks up 2 more Davidson games

Two more Davidson games have been picked up by television networks, including one that broadcasts nationally.

WGN in Chicago - available on cable and satellite throughout the nation - will broadcast the Wildcats' Dec. 8 game against UCLA in Anaheim, Calif. at 5:30 p.m.. Mid-Altlantic Sports Network (MASN) will show the Wildcats' home game against Appalachian State Feb. 27. MASN is not yet available on Time Warner cable, but is on DirecTV and Dish network.

The additions give Davidson nine televised regular season games, four on national networks and five on regional networks. More could still come: Davidson's BracketBuster game Feb. 23 could be picked up by an ESPN network, and a Davidson official said two other games could be added by a regional sports network.

-- Kevin Cary

Clemson's grad rates will improve

Clemson’s graduation numbers for men’s basketball are downright ugly, but sports information director Tim Bourret said they will improve under fifth-year coach Oliver Purnell.

On Wednesday, the NCAA released its six-year graduation rate figures for freshmen who entered school from 1997 to 2000. Clemson’s 31 percent Graduation Success Rate and 19 percent federal graduation rate for men’s basketball were the lowest marks for men’s basketball and football teams in the Carolinas.

Bourret said those numbers are disappointing, but added that none of the athletes examined in that study were recruited by Purnell. He expects future graduation rates to be higher because:

- All three scholarship seniors on the 2005-06 team (Akin Akingbala, Steve Allen and Shawan Robinson) received their degrees.

- All three 2007-08 scholarship seniors (Cliff Hammonds, James Mays and Sam Perry) are on track to graduate.

- The team grade-point average of 2.66 last spring was one of the top five marks for a semester in the last 10 years.

- Clemson had three members of the ACC All-Academic team last year, more than any other men’s basketball team.

The low graduation rates of players who entered school before Purnell arrived still are troubling. With scholarship penalties soon coming into effect for programs that don’t perform in the classroom, it’s more imperative than ever for teams that have struggled with academics in the past to turn things around. – Ken Tysiac

Davidson can't avoid D-III opponent

Davidson’s schedule has almost everything a Wildcats fan could want, including games against North Carolina, Duke, N.C. State and UCLA. But there’s one thing fans were hoping to avoid: a game against a Division III opponent.

Fans at davidsoncats.com have been posting for weeks that they wanted the Wildcats to have every game against a Division I opponent. Yet, the Wildcats open the season against Division III Emory Nov. 9.

It wasn’t because Davidson didn’t try to find a Division I opponent. Davidson coaches spent the past month trying to schedule the last nonconference game, and athletics director Jim Murphy estimated the team spoke to 20 Division I schools. Davidson had some talks with UMass – a team Davidson played two years ago – but couldn’t get a deal done.

Then, last week, the Wildcats almost had a deal with a Patriot League team. Even though the two-year agreement would have started with Davidson on the road, nothing worked out. In fact, the other team decided to play a 28-game schedule this season – one below the maximum.

So, Davidson ended up with Emory, which has lots of Davidson connections. Head coach Jason Zimmerman is a former Davidson assistant, and assistant Matt McKillop is the son of Davidson coach Bob McKillop and played for the Wildcats.

That will make for a nice family reunion, but it won’t help the Wildcats’ RPI. But Davidson didn’t have many other options. Most other Division I teams had filled out their schedules. Emory almost had to be the choice, albeit not the ideal one.
-- Kevin Cary

Recruiting timeclock speeds up

Bob Gibbons of All-Star Sports has been covering recruiting for longer than Mike Krzyzewski has been coaching at Duke, but can’t remember North Carolina accepting a commitment from a player as young as Kendall Marshall.

A 6-foot-3, left-handed point guard from Bishop O’Connell High in Arlington, Va., Marshall committed Wednesday to North Carolina. He’s a high school sophomore rated one of the top half-dozen players in the Class of 2010 by Gibbons.

“He’s really an excellent addition for them,” said Gibbons, who lives in Lenoir, N.C.

Marshall’s commitment also demonstrates that even the traditional college powers no longer are waiting for players to mature before offering scholarships. As of Thursday, Gibbons said 108 of the top 150 seniors in the rankings he provides to ESPN.com are committed.

C.J. Leslie, a 6-7 forward from Word of God Christian Academy in Raleigh in the Class of 2010, has been committed to N.C. State since June 22.

“The (recruiting) clock has just moved up,” Gibbons said.

He said schools are taking risks with early scholarship offers and commitments. Players who commit early can change their minds. Taylor King was an eighth-grader when he committed to UCLA; he enrolled at Duke this fall.

Sometimes players who commit early don’t mature and develop the way college coaches expect. If colleges withdraw their scholarship offers, coaches’ reputations with future recruits can be harmed.

“(Coaches) are gambling a bit,” Gibbons said. “They (players) have still got three years of high school left.”

But if coaches wait until players are seniors to offer scholarships, there won’t be many uncommitted players left to recruit.

– Ken Tysiac