Welcome to the latest edition of Talking Hoops With Ted Sarandis. We’re now well into the off-season, and while it has been relatively quiet in that there hasn’t been much earth-shattering news, that changed on Wednesday before we recorded this.
As the FBI investigation into corruption appears to come to a close – for now, we emphasize – Christian Dawkins and Merl Code were convicted of federal crimes in New York. With this complete, there are a lot of questions about how this will affect college basketball going forward, and there are far more questions than answers. Foremost among them are the status of Arizona head coach Sean Miller and LSU head coach Will Wade, as well as what the NCAA has to say about all of this. It seems the NCAA aspect of this is only just beginning, especially since they are now investigating Arizona.
From there, we talk about one program whose outlook for next season was quite murky when the season ended but is now much better. North Carolina is losing their top five players and did not appear to have much of a recruiting class, but now the Tar Heels look ready to be formidable again. They have gained William & Mary graduate transfer Justin Pierce, Charleston Southern graduate transfer Christian Keeling, and then the real jewel, top recruit Cole Anthony, who will get the ball from day one. North Carolina also adds Armando Bacot from the high school ranks, and they have solid players like Garrison Brooks and Brandon Robinson returning, but make no mistake: the Tar Heels are losing a great deal from this team. These additions were badly needed.
Finally, we reflect on a couple of untimely passings in the world of basketball. One of the all-time greats for the greatest franchise in NBA history, Boston Celtics legend John Havlicek, passed away on April. More recently, a man we both knew, Andy Jick, passed away unexpectedly in his sleep a week ago. Jick was famous for being the long-time public address announcer at the Boston Garden, the last one to hold that title in the old building, then later held that job at Boston College during the best years the program has seen and beyond that time. Besides that, Jick was a nice, understated man who enjoyed people at Conte Forum that everyone at the Heights will miss.
We hope you enjoy the podcast and share it with your fellow college basketball fans. Be sure to tune in again soon for more off-season coverage of college basketball.
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