BEVERLY HILLS (MI) -- Opinions, the old joke goes, are kinda like bungholes -- everybody has one (but that doesn’t necessarily mean that I want to hear yours.) The UD Pride Message Board is currently cluttered with a variety of highly opinionated posts on three very distinct subjects:
The Big East
The Four New Players for 2013-2104
Matt Kavanaugh
Let’s take a look at each of these topics and analyze what we do and do not know and what it all means.
The Big East
What we know
Xavier, Butler and Creighton are in for 2013-14; UD is still in the A-10.
Back on March 20th, UD issued the following statement:
“The University of Dayton will continue to aggressively pursue the best interests of the institution, our student-athletes, alumni, supporters and fans. The University is committed to being both a Catholic leader in higher education and fielding highly competitive athletic programs.
As you are aware, Butler University and Xavier University have delivered notice of their intent to withdraw from the Athletic 10 conference.
The Atlantic 10 will continue to make decisions to enhance the strength and brand of the conference.
A period of instability has persisted within intercollegiate athletics for the last few years and will continue.
Details surrounding conference realignment are highly confidential. The University will continue to communicate with our alumni, supporters and fans about any significant developments impacting our conference affiliation.
The University of Dayton is committed to competing in a conference that provides a platform for success for all of our sports programs and, specifically, men’s basketball. University and athletics administration continue to make conference affiliation a top priority.”
What we don’t know
Will the Big East stay at 10 teams or expand to 12 (or even 14) schools for the 2014-15 season? Is UD one of the next in line to join? How much influence do the NBE schools have on selecting/vetoing new members? How much juice does Fox have in the decision?
What does it all mean?
Read the UD statement again. Nowhere does it say that Dayton is totally SOL when it comes to joining the NBE. In fact, it states that these communications are highly confidential, meaning UD could already know that they are “in” for 2014, but can’t tell us that, even though they would obviously love to do so. At the same time, Dr. Dan & Company continue to play nice with the A-10 as if nothing has happened -- because, in UD’s case, nothing has officially happened…yet! That doesn’t stop fans from calling for the heads of Curran,
Wabler, Archie, the ballboys and the guy who sells popcorn in the concession stands.
Amazing.
The Four New Players for 2013-2104
What we know
Kyle Davis, Kendall Pollard and Dayshon “Scoochie” Smith join OSU transfer Jordan Sibert on the UD squad next season.
Davis’s Morgan Park team won the Illinois 3A State Championship; Pollard’s Simeon squad won the Illinois 4A State Championship; Smith had a stellar season at Putnam Science Academy in Connecticut; Sibert was a Top 100 recruit his senior year at Cincinnati Princeton.
What we don’t know
Will Davis, Pollard and Smith see their skills translate to the college game? Was Sibert (who only averaged 3 PPG at OSU) a stiff or simply mishandled?
What does it all mean?
In order to attract top basketball talent you have to be in on players early. The University of Michigan is playing for the National Championship Monday night. Take a look at some of the players on their roster:
Mitch McGary--BG identified him early on as a player
Jordan Morgan--ditto
Trey Burke--likewise
Al Horford--same deal
Caris Lavert--he was down to UD and Michigan after he dropped his commitment to OU
Say what you will about BG, but he had an eye for spotting big-time hoop talent early on in the process and Archie does as well. Everybody in the universe was recruiting Jabari Parker at Simeon in Chicago. Did Archie have a shot? Probably not. But instead of focusing on the unattainable superstar, AM pursued the Simeon glue-guy, the dude who did all the dirty work like rebounding and defending the opponent’s best scorer. He got that player in Kendall Pollard, who to me looked more ready to play D-1 ball than his heralded teammates Kendrick Nunn and Jaylon Tate, who are both headed to Illinois. As Camron Smith, the color announcer for the Illinois HS Tournament webcasts said several times during their championship run “Archie Miller and Dayton are getting an absolute steal in Kendall Pollard.”
The Class of 2013 represents the first opportunity for Archie to put a real stamp on the program with “his players.” Even Jordan Sibert can be labeled one of Archie’s guys, as he was responsible for recruiting him to OSU.
We shall see.
Matt Kavanaugh
What we know
Matt was suspended from UD and consequently from the basketball team for one year for violations of the student code of conduct. All indications are that he will suit up for the Flyers next season. The young lady in question transferred from UD. No criminal charges were ever filed.
What we don’t know
What exactly happened? What impact MK will have on the team--will he be an asset or a distraction?
What does it all mean?
Like the Big East situation UD can’t really comment on this case because the documents are not publicly available. The fact that no one (except for Matt and the young lady) knows what actually transpired has not prevented posters from proclaiming Matt guilty, despite the lack of any charges being pressed.
The Bottom Line
As the title of this piece states, we don’t know what we don’t know. The resolution of all three of these situations is akin to watching a DVD on a machine that is lacking a fast forward button. A year from now we may be anticipating UD joining the Big East, marveling at what a great group of players the newcomers are and grateful that Archie got Kavs back for one last season.
Then again we may not.
We don’t know.
That’s it “From the Swamp.”
You can email me at:
swampy@udpride.com
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