Welcome to the latest edition of Talking Hoops With Ted Sarandis. The off-season news cycle feels a bit slower than usual this time around, but there is plenty to talk about starting with something not long before we recorded the podcast.
The NBA Draft Lottery was held on Tuesday night, and the end result was close to what was expected. The top three picks will go to the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers. The only team that was projected to have a top three pick but did not is Phoenix, who dropped to the fourth pick.
We transition into a big commitment that came in part as a result of a draft decision. Duke landed one of the best players still available, Trevon Duval, after Frank Jackson decided to remain in the draft. Duval had a great prep career, even being a part of championship teams on two different shoe circuits, and he will give Duke the point guard they have lacked in recent years. With Duval, Duke will have plenty of talent, but they also lose a lot from this year’s team, and their holdovers don’t appear to include a solid intangibles player or two like they had this past season with Matt Jones and Amile Jefferson.
Staying with Duke, one of their players who transferred just chose a home, as Chase Jeter committed to Arizona. Save for a short stretch early in 2016-17, Jeter never really got off the bench for the Blue Devils, so he is surely hoping this move leads to a better outcome. Arizona is also the state where another high-profile transfer, former Kansas forward Carlton Bragg, will end up as he is headed to Arizona State.
That leads us to look at the larger picture of transfers, including one conference that has been hit particularly hard by players transferring up. All three underclassmen who made the All-Northeast Conference first team this year have transferred.
We turn to the coaching carousel, which has almost completed now that Florida A&M and Grambling hired new head coaches in recent days. That they are MEAC schools, and schools from there and the SWAC have tended to take their time in hiring coaches in recent years, leads into some thoughts on teams being in Division I to begin with. Savannah State recently announced plans to leave Division I, so they are another school that has not found success being in Division I.
Lastly, we look at a just-announced conference tournament move, as Conference USA becomes the latest to have an event at a facility Jerry Jones had a big hand in.
We hope you enjoy this look at the college basketball off-season, and share it with all your friends who are college basketball fans.
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