Conference USA 2003-04 Season Recap
In a word, last year was a classic one for C-USA. The conference achieved something that had never happened before in the history of Division I college basketball – a five-way tie for first place. Cincinnati, Charlotte, DePaul, UAB and Memphis all finished 12-4 during the regular season, so the title was split between all of them. Along the way, there were plenty of highs and lows.
UAB and DePaul were the two great stories, as both schools came back from worst place finishes a couple of years ago to return to glory. Both were led by second-year coaches, as Dave Leitao and Mike Anderson did terrific jobs. Leitao’s group overcame an early season injury to star Andre Brown, while Anderson’s “40 Fastest Minutes of Basketball” enabled his Blazers to out-run the competition.
Other team’s had great success too. Charlotte won three games against Top 10 teams, Louisville defeated two No. 1 teams and TCU knocked off a Top 10 team for the first time in decades. The season had its disappointments too. Those same Louisville Cardinals collapsed during the final six weeks, South Florida only managed one conference win, and before the regular season was over, Southern Miss head coach James Green resigned.
On the final day of the regular season, it broke down like this: If Memphis won at Cincinnati, they would be the lone regular season champs. If Cincinnati won, both would share the crown, along with any of the other three teams who won. Sure enough, Cincinnati won 83-79, and the other three teams won too, clinching the crazy tiebreaker and setting up a great conference tournament.
Conference Tournament
Day one at the C-USA Tournament saw only one surprise, one that should not have really come as a surprise, as TCU defeated Marquette 64-62. It was the second time this season the Horned Frogs knocked off the Eagles, and neither was in Texas. Round two saw a thriller between Louisville and Cincinnati, which the Bearcats won 66-64, and the biggest upset of the weekend, as No. 7 Saint Louis beat No. 2 seed Memphis.
The early semifinal game was a classic, as DePaul defeated UAB, 75-74, in overtime thanks to two Delonte Holland free throws with less than five seconds remaining. Cincinnati coasted into the finals with a 20-point against the Billikens, setting up the finals. Both offenses struggled, and a punch to Tony Bobbitt’s led to an ejection. In the end, Bobbitt had the last laugh, scoring seventeen points as the Bearcats won 55-50. Bobbitt earned MVP honors.
NCAA Tournament
UAB – No. 9 seed in St. Louis region
Defeated No. 8 Washington, 102-100
Defeated No. 1 Kentucky, 76-75
Lost to No. 4 Kansas, 100-74
Cincinnati – No. 4 seed in Atlanta region
Defeated No. 13 East Tennessee State, 80-77
Lost to No. 5 Illinois, 92-68
Memphis – No. 7 seed in East Rutherford region
Defeated No. 10 South Carolina, 59-43
Lost to No. 2 Oklahoma, 70-53
DePaul – No. 7 seed in Phoenix region
Defeated No. 10 Dayton, 76-69
Lost to No. 2 Connecticut, 72-55
Charlotte – No. 9 seed in East Rutherford
Lost to No. 8 Texas Tech, 76-73
Louisville – No. 10 seed in Atlanta region
Lost to No. 7 Xavier, 80-70
NIT
Marquette
Defeated Toledo, 87-72
Defeated Boise State, 66-53
Lost to Iowa State, 77-69
Saint Louis
Defeated Iowa, 70-69
Lost to Notre Dame, 77-66
Hardware (Hoopville’s Picks)
First Team All-C-USA:
Antonio Burks, Memphis
Sean Banks, Memphis
Travis Diener, Marquette
Curtis Withers, Charlotte
Francisco Garcia, Louisville
Second Team:
Reggie Bryant, Saint Louis
Charles Gaines, Southern Miss
Terrance Leather, USF
Delonte Holland, DePaul
Corey Santee, TCU
Third Team:
Jason Maxiell, Cincinnati
Anwar Ferguson, Houston
Andre Owens, Houston
Tony Bobbitt, Cincinnati
Morris Finley, UAB
First Team All-Freshman:
Banks
Desmond Mason, Marquette
Sammy Meija, DePaul
Martin Iti, Charlotte
Mike Cook, East Carolina
MVP – Burks
Defensive Player of the Year – Burks
Freshman of the Year – Burks
Sixth Man of the Year – Bobbitt
Coach of the Year – Dave Leitao, DePaul
Team by Team
Charlotte (20-9, 12-4)
One of a few surprise teams in C-USA, the Niners set the tone with an upset of the defending champs Syracuse at the Carrier Dome. Charlotte scored three wins against Top 10 foes, including its first ever win at Cincinnati, and was a part of the five-way tie for the conference regular season crown. Curtis Withers was arguable the most improved player in the league.
MVP – Curtis Withers
Top scorer – Withers (16.3)
Top rebounder – Withers (9.5)
Top assists – Demon Brown (3.9)
Starters leaving – Brown (graduating)
Next season – The 49ers should be a preseason favorite to win its first C-USA title. Brown is the only significant loss and if Mitchell Baldwin handles the point well, the loss of Brown may even be a blessing in disguise.
Cincinnati (25-7, 12-4)
The Bearcats overcame a mid-season swoon to capture its eighth C-USA regular season title, then won the conference tournament in its home city. Big home wins against Louisville and Memphis late in the season highlighted the year, along with its three-game trek through the conference tourney. Tony Bobbitt was arguably the top sixth man in the country, and earned C-USA Tournament MVP honors.
MVP – Tony Bobbitt
Top scorer – Jason Maxiell (13.6)
Top rebounder – Maxiell (6.9)
Top assists – James White (3.6)
Starters leaving – Field Williams (graduating)
Next season – Cincinnati will again contend for the regular season title, even with the loss of Field Williams and Bobbitt. The only areas of concern – an everygame threat from beyond the arc and to sew up the point guard position.
DePaul (22-10, 12-4)
The season looked bleak during early January, as Andre Brown remained on the bench with a shoulder injury and the team struggling to stay at .500. When Brown returned in mid-January though, the team took off. With big wins against Louisville and Cincinnati late in the year, they clinched a share of the regular season title and advanced to the conference tournament finals. Then the Demons won its first round NCAA tournament game against Dayton in double overtime, its first tourney win in fifteen years.
MVP – Andre Brown
Top scorer – Delonte Holland (16.5)
Top rebounder – Brown (9.2)
Top assists – Sammy Meija (4.4)
Starters leaving – Brown (graduating), Holland (graduating)
Next season – DePaul will take a hit with the loss of Brown and Holland. Dave Leitao had a decent bench last season and has a good recruiting class coming in. Meija will be the key next year; he has the potential to be a superstar.
Memphis (22-8, 12-4)
It was the B & B combination all season for Memphis. Antonio Burks and Sean Banks were possibly the two best players in the league last year, leading the Tigers to a share of the conference regular season title. Memphis was one of the best three-point shooing teams in the country and this carried them to a first round NCAA tournament win against South Carolina, the school’s first tourney win in nine seasons.
MVP – Antonio Burks
Top scorer – Sean Banks (17.4)
Top rebounder – Banks (6.5)
Top assists – Burks (5.5)
Starters leaving – Burks (graduating)
News – Freshman Ivan Lopez left the team in late April to play professional basketball in Spain.
Next season – Burks was an integral part of the team, but in Banks they have a star to build around. Jeremy Hunt will step into the point guard slot nicely. Expect Memphis to come close to winning least a share of the regular season title again.
UAB (22-10, 12-4)
The Blazers were easily the story of the year in C-USA. Predicted by most experts (although not by Hoopville) to finish in the middle of the pack, UAB clinched a share of its first C-USA regular season title. Then they defeated Washington, 102-100, in the first round of the NCAA tournament, before pulling off one of the biggest shockers of March, beating No. 1 seed Kentucky, 76-75, thanks to a Morris Finley jumper with less than thirteen seconds remaining. UAB had not won a tournament game since 1986 and had not been to the Sweet Sixteen since ’82.
MVP – Morris Finley
Top scorer – Finley (13.9)
Top rebounder – Sidney Ball (5.3)
Top assists – Carldell Johnson (4.3)
Starters leaving – Finley (graduating), Ball (graduating), Gabe Kennedy (graduating)
Next season – The above seniors meant even more to this team than their stats would indicate. That being said, UAB is still very deep. Mike Anderson has found a winning formula and his team will again compete for the regular season crown.
Louisville (20-10, 9-7)
The Cardinals’ bright season turned into one of the worst collapses in college basketball in years. In mid-January, Louisville was 16-1 and ranked in the top five in the country. They finished the season 4-9, lost in the quarterfinals of the C-USA tournament and blew a fourteen-point lead in the first round of the NCAA tournament, losing by ten points to Xavier. Injuries to stars Francisco Garcia, Luke Whitehead and especially to Taquan Dean hindered the Cards during the final two months of the year.
MVP – Francisco Garcia
Top scorer – Garcia (16.4)
Top rebounder – Luke Whitehead (7.7)
Top assists – Garcia (4.7)
Starters leaving – Whitehead (graduating), Kendall Dartez (graduating)
Next season – Right now, the Cardinals are a bit of a question mark. Yes, with Garcia and a healthy Taquan Dean, they look very tough on paper. But this part year’s collapse will likely weigh on the team during the offseason.
Saint Louis (19-13, 9-7)
The Billikens’ season was a bunch of mini-runs (three wins here, four losses there) resulting in a seventh place finish in the conference. Their biggest wins came during the tournaments – first with an upset of No. 2 Memphis in the conference tournament quarterfinals, along with its exciting finish in the first round of the NIT. Their nineteen wins were the team’s best total in four seasons.
MVP – Reggie Bryant
Top scorer – Bryant (16.4)
Top rebounder – Tom Fredricks (6.0)
Top assists – Josh Fisher (4.3)
Starters leaving – Fisher (graduating), Chris Sloan (graduating)
Next season – Expect the Billikens to look pretty similar. They will usually be in every game, keep the score low and rely on Bryant to be the offensive punch. A middle of the road finish is likely.
Marquette (19-12, 8-8)
Not the season Marquette fans were expecting. The team came up with big wins (twice at Louisville, Notre Dame, DePaul) but continually were upset in others (TCU at home, Southern Miss in Green Bay). Travis Diener was the best player in the conference, but never received consistent help. The Golden Eagles advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT, before losing to Iowa State.
MVP – Travis Diener
Top scorer – Diener (18.8)
Top rebounder – Scott Merritt (7.1)
Top assists – Diener (6.0)
Starters leaving – Merritt (graduating), Terry Sanders (graduating)
Next season – Marquette will bounce back from its eighth place finish. Diener will be an unstoppable force, while Desmond Mason and a consistent Scott Novack will provide for three legit scores. All that this team is missing from a conference title is an inside presence.
TCU (12-17, 7-9)
It’s not often you call a losing season a success, but that’s exactly what this past year was for the Horned Frogs. They scored plenty of big wins (at Marquette and again during the conference tournament, 27-point blowout of Louisville), but more importantly played consistent during the entire second half. Second-year head coach Neil Dougherty transformed this team into “his” team, and it showed.
MVP – Corey Santee
Top scorer – Santee (14.5)
Top rebounder – Chudi Chinweze (4.9)
Top assists – Santee (4.3)
Starters leaving – Nucleus Smith (graduating)
Next season – The Horned Frogs are definitely a team on the rise. Smith is the only contributor departing. TCU played excellent during the second half and there is no reason they shouldn’t continue this next year. Look for them to finish in the top half of C-USA.
Southern Miss (13-15, 6-10)
It was a heartbreaking year for the Golden Eagles. Their star-studded frontcourt never took control like many expect, eventually costing Southern Miss any chance of a good season. Eventually it cost the team its coach, as James Green resigned near the end of the year. The Eagles then folded, losing to lowly South Florida at home and then to Saint Louis in the first round of the conference tournament.
MVP – Charles Gaines
Top scorer – Gaines (15.7)
Top rebounder – Gaines (10.4)
Top assists – Dante Stiggers (4.0)
Starters leaving – Gaines (graduating), Greg Johnson (graduating), Clement Carter (graduating)
News – James Green resigned as head coach with one game left in the regular season. Larry Estachy, the former Iowa State head coach, was hired as the new head coach.
Next season – With the hiring of Estachy, the 2004-05 season really doesn’t even matter, because all of the attention will be on him. That’s good, because next year’s Eagles do not look very promising.
East Carolina (13-14, 5-11)
The Pirates again started out very slow in conference play, but made a push towards the end of the year that was their best stretch ever in C-USA. They won three straight conference games in February and finished the regular season with a 13-point road win at Southern Miss, only ECU’s second road win in its C-USA history. During its first round game at the conference tournament, they hung tough before losing to Louisville, 61-54.
MVP – Derrick Wiley
Top scorer – Wiley (14.8)
Top rebounder – Erroyl Bing (8.3)
Top assists – Japhet McNeil (3.5)
Starters leaving – Wiley (graduating), Bing (graduating)
News – Belton Rivers, the team’s top three-point shooter, announced he will transfer
Next season – Every year the Pirates seem to inch a little closer towards a breakthrough, but next year that breakthrough could be difficult. Bing and Wiley have been major contributors for the past three seasons and will be missed.
Tulane (11-17, 4-12)
The Green Wave fell hard from its .500 season a year ago, losing its first seven conference games and never recovering. Senior Wayne Tinsley did all he could to keep his team alive, but to no avail. Guard Ben Benfield looked like a savior in December, but eventually found himself on the bench by the end of the year. Quincy Davis was the lone bright spot and will be the cornerstone next season.
MVP – Wayne Tinsley
Top scorer – Quincy Davis (10.6)
Top rebounder – Vytas Tatarunas (7.2)
Top assists – Tinsley (4.1)
Starters leaving – Tinsley (graduating)
Next season – Losing Tinsley will hurt, but in Davis they do have a star. Now the only trouble will be finding someone to get him the ball. Don’t get expect much more out of Tulane next year, and don’t expect Sean Finney to be the coach much longer either.
Houston (9-18, 3-13)
If ever there was a team that always seemed to find a way to lose, it was the Cougars last year. They lost back-to-back games by a total of three points, then lost in triple overtime by three points and led Cincinnati in the final 90 seconds before losing, again in back-to-back games. Then in the regular season finale, they let a 20-point lead with twelve minutes remaining slip away at Saint Louis.
MVP – Andre Owens
Top scorer – Owens (16.0)
Top rebounder – Anwar Ferguson (7.4)
Top assists – Lanny Smith (3.2)
Starters leaving – Owens (graduating), Marcus Oliver (graduating), Ferguson (graduating)
News – Ray McCallum was fired as head coach and former Texas head coach Tom Penders was fired as the new coach.
Next season – Penders will have his work cut out for him next season. In Lanny Smith the Cougars have a player to build around. Overall though, Houston will likely be near the bottom again.
South Florida (7-20, 1-15)
The Bulls knew it was going to be rough, but no one expected it to be this bad. New head coach Robert McCullum cleaned house, dismissing several players from his team and leaving him with only a few scholarship players. Terrance Leather stared, but the team struggled. Its lone conference win of the season came against Southern Miss.
MVP – Terrance Leather
Top scorer – Leather (15.5)
Top rebounder – Leather (8.4)
Top assists – Brian Swift (4.4)
Starters leaving – Gerrick Morris (graduating), Brian Graham (graduating)
Next season – While things will look bleak for Houston and Tulane next year, the Bulls will definitely improve. Terrance Leather and Brian Swift are a great inside-out combo, and USF was better than its record indicated.
Look ahead to 2004-05
This time last season, we were talking about how hard it was going to be for C-USA to follow its historic season after Marquette advanced to the Final Four. Consider it followed. Now the question is, “Can they do it again?” And the answer, “Why not?” Three of the five co-champions lose very little from this year’s teams, while usual powerhouses Louisville and Marquette should improve upon last year.
The bottom third will likely stay the same, but the top two-thirds are up for grabs. Look for TCU to have its best run in C-USA ever, for UAB to slide a bit (but only a bit) and for Travis Diener to be Second Team All-American. While it would be crazy to pick another five-way title, we’ll just go with two: Charlotte and Louisville. And oh yeah, next year will the last in C-USA as we know it; 2005-06 will see major realignment. What a way to go out.
