As conference, NCAA and NIT/WNIT tournaments get started… this little gem helps us keep it all in perspective.

The Strength of a symbol

When Ross Deutsch read the advertisement, it seemed too good to be true.

For a fee, he could go to Las Vegas with some friends and attend Michael Jordan’s Flight School, essentially a summer camp for basketball-crazed adults. It was a place to live out one’s hardwood fantasies for a few days and receive instruction from NBA and college coaches, Hall of Famers among them.

Mike Krzyzewski and Ross Deutsch first met in 1997 at a basketball camp in Las Vegas.

It was 1997, and Deutsch was working in the financial world in Chicago. He was 36; he had the money and an interested friend; and his wife, Mindy, had no objection. He was certainly passionate about basketball and, as a Chicago native, had a love for all things Michael Jordan. He had three young sons — Rory was the oldest at 6; Robbie and Rickey were younger — but it was for only a few days, and besides, what kid wouldn’t get a kick out of his dad playing hoops for a few days as though he were a star?

A few days later, Ross and his friend David Duckler found themselves in Las Vegas on a Bally’s court. They had just finished a few drills and were attending a makeshift draft where they were to be divided into their teams, selected by the coaches in attendance. Across the court, Duke coach and fellow native Chicagoan Mike Krzyzewski, already a two-time national champion, evaluated Deutsch and Duckler and decided to go local, selecting the two friends for his team.

Neither Deutsch nor Krzyzewski knew at the time that those fortuitous circumstances would mark the beginning of a lifelong friendship, that the two would bond in a way that few men do in adulthood. They were new acquaintances then, player and coach for a few days, but Krzyzewski would soon be supporting Deutsch through something no parent can ever imagine after looking into the eyes of a healthy child at birth.

“There were talks that we would have that you don’t have very much in your life, and for the two people involved, you become brothers,” Krzyzewski said. “There’s no way you don’t have a bond for life.”

The connection began during the first game at the camp. Their team was getting smoked, and when they gathered for a halftime talk, Coach K let them know what he really thought of their performance.

“He ripped us pretty good,” Deutsch said.

“I blew them out like they were my own team,” Krzyzewski said.

It worked. They came back and beat a team coached by Gene Keady and Eddie Sutton. But as soon as the game ended, Krzyzewski felt guilty. This wasn’t really his Duke team. These 35-and-older men had paid thousands of dollars to play, not to get yelled at for 10 minutes. Or had they?

“He starts apologizing to us for getting on us, but we told him, ‘No, that’s what we wanted,’” Deutsch said. “We wanted to be treated like we were Duke players.”

Not everyone at the camp felt the same. In one instance, Deutsch said, Larry Brown was railing at a player when the camper interrupted the Hall of Famer and said, “Coach, I’m just a dentist.”

“We ended up winning the whole thing,” Krzyzewski said. “Ross and I had one of those player-coach relationships.”

“It was at that moment that I knew there was an instant connection of a friendship,” Deutsch said.

Coach K remembers it fondly.

“I saw these guys, and they were like the Jewish Columbos of Highland Park and Skokie,” Krzyzewski said. “We just hit it off. There was enough of an age difference that they could see me as their coach. They were genuine guys. And we won, too. We weren’t supposed to win; [we] had an upset, and it ended up being a cool thing. We ate together and went out a little bit. We got to know each other as people. We found out we were very similar guys, with very similar family and friends, and once those family and friends met each other, it was easy.”

When the camp ended, players and coaches went back to their normal lives and daily routines. Ross went back to Chicago and his family and returned to the financial world. Krzyzewski headed back to Durham, N.C., to coach Duke.

And then Ross and Mindy’s world stopped.

It was February 1998, six months after the camp ended. Deutsch’s 6-year-old son, Rory, had gone to a park district activity class on a Saturday, where he played tennis. On Sunday, he complained that his arm was hurting. Initially, Ross and Mindy weren’t overly concerned. What parents haven’t heard some complaining from their child after physical activity?

The following day, Deutsch came home from work, and as usual, Rory wanted to hang out with him, sit on his lap and work on his computer. He tried to lift his right hand to move the mouse. But it didn’t work. His left wrist went limp, and he couldn’t make a fist. He couldn’t move his wrist without raising his arm.

Ross and Mindy immediately called a friend nearby who was a pediatrician. They were told to bring Rory to the doctor. Rory got a physical exam, and while testing his strength, doctors were concerned enough to call a neurologist. Next stop was Children’s Memorial Hospital. Anxiety, fear and horror were all filling their heads. Various possibilities were being thrown around, from a tumor to a virus to a blockage to a stroke.

Then the brain scan came back.

“It was over these next 40 hours where his symptoms, before our very eyes, the difficulty swallowing or breathing and his right side was dragging,” Ross said, his voice trailing a bit. “The tumor was in the area of the brain stem. It was in the area that controls life’s necessary functions. They did the MRI and explained to us how aggressive a tumor it was.”

The Deutsch family was told the tumor was inoperable. Like an hourglass filled with sand, Rory’s life would begin to slip away, grain by grain.

Rory was diagnosed Feb. 13, 1998, Krzyzewski’s birthday. The occasions aren’t comparable, but the date is burned into Ross’ memory nonetheless. He can’t forget it.

“The problem with many of these illnesses is that they come back, and when they come back, they come back with a vengeance,” Ross said. “You couldn’t radiate at his age and in the location. So we were told to bring him home.”

To this day, Deutsch isn’t sure how Krzyzewski found out about Rory’s illness. Krzyzewski said someone from the camp contacted him to let him know. He called to see what he could do, putting the Deutsches in contact with the Duke Medical Center and Dr. Henry Friedman, a brain tumor specialist, to see whether there was any other treatment. They were told the medical professionals were doing all they could.

Krzyzewski and Deutsch would talk a few times over the next couple of months before Deutsch went into a shell. Rory was in his bedroom, a hospice-like situation. He couldn’t communicate. Mere months after the diagnosis, after Rory had turned 7 years old, he was going to die.

Deutsch sat at Rory’s bedside in an almost catatonic state, watching his firstborn’s life fade away. He wasn’t answering the phone during this time. But one time it rang and, for some reason, he picked it up. It was Krzyzewski.

“He said: ‘Ross, in basketball we define success by winning and losing, but with Rory, with this sickness, you don’t define it with a cure or no cure. The definition will be how you handle it. You have handled the most horrific illness as winners.’ It was a little thing. And it wasn’t like I needed to hear this from Mike Krzyzewski. But it was the perfect thing to hear from him at the perfect time.”

The next day, Ross and Mindy established the Rory David Deutsch Foundation for brain tumor research.

“I think when we started talking, he felt that I would tell him the truth,” Krzyzewski said. “He knew he could be completely honest and forthright and straightforward about everything. It was very emotional stuff. We are really, really close friends.”

Ross didn’t hold back when he would talk to Krzyzewski. If he had to cry, he would let it all out.

“He could show weakness to me, emotion that he couldn’t show as a man to his family because he had to be strong,” Krzyzewski said. “I can remember telling him for us to be strong together. I told him to let it out. I said whatever you need to let it out, let’s get through this together. …

“How do you recover from that? How do you make something positive from that, or does it ruin your life? Ross and Mindy, the way they’ve honored Rory’s life and memory is to keep it alive and talk about it,” Krzyzewski said. “To me it’s beyond belief. I don’t know if I could. I tell him he’s a mensch. He’s a mensch, no question about it.”

“Mensch” means “person” in Yiddish, but the figurative meaning is much deeper. It’s someone you would want to befriend and be with because you feel genuine when you’re in their presence. A mensch is said to make others feel good.

Being with Deutsch, talking to him, going through the hell he had to endure as a friend, and sharing an enriching relationship with him through the foundation has touched Krzyzewski beyond words.

Rory was born March 9, 1991. He died July 22, 1998, five months after his diagnosis.

“It’s the worst thing that a parent can experience — the loss of a child,” Krzyzewski said. “The foundation has become a huge part of the healing process. There still is a healing process.”

For Deutsch, the healing process began with a commitment and a hope to find a cure for brain cancer. Needing a symbol, something to carry with him and show the world who Rory was, he came up with the idea of a pin. Engraved with a picture of Rory with a baseball cap bearing his name, the pin is engraved with the words of the foundation he and Mindy started: “Rory Foundation For Brighter Tomorrows.” They wear it every day.

A month after Rory died, Deutsch, encouraged by Mindy, returned to the Jordan camp in Las Vegas and reconnected with Krzyzewski. He would return every year until 2004, playing for Krzyzewski three times and actually serving as an assistant coach in ‘04 after a hamstring injury prevented him from playing.

In August 2001, Mindy and Ross were having dinner with Mike and Mickie Krzyzewski at a restaurant in Las Vegas when Coach K told Ross he wanted to do something to honor Rory’s memory. With the help of the Krzyzewskis’ daughter Debbie, they planned a fundraising event in Chicago at the Standard Club. On Oct. 4, 2002, 400 people attended the charity dinner to hear Krzyzewski speak.

At the conclusion of his speech, Coach K held up the pin that Deutsch had given him and talked about pride and what it meant to be a part of something bigger than you. To achieve that, he said, you need something symbolic.

Coach K always has Rory's pin on his lapel while he coaches.

“It needs a uniform, it needs a letter jacket, it needs something,” Krzyzewski said during his speech. “What I’m going to do is something very symbolic and I’m not going to tell the press about it or anything else. What I would like to do and what I’m going to do, and we get on TV more often a lot or more than ‘Friends,’ or whatever. I’m not saying anything about it, except my team will know. If you turn the game on for even one minute — and they show the sidelines for every game we play — I’m going to have on my lapel Rory’s pin.”

For the first time since the fundraiser in Chicago, Krzyzewski and Deutsch agreed to talk about the pin. Since its inception in 1998, Rory’s foundation has raised roughly $7 million, according to Deutsch, without any corporate sponsorship. It has no salaried employees and operates solely through the generosity of its volunteers. There is no plan to change that.

Ross and Mindy also serve on the advisory board of directors for the brain center at Duke Medical Center and are involved in causes close to the Krzyzewskis, such as the Emily Krzyzewski Center in Durham, an organization named after Coach K’s mother that is dedicated to inspiring economically disadvantaged students in the area.

Rory would have been a freshman in college this year. Deutsch has become a coach himself, serving as an assistant for the past eight years at Highland Park, a high school in a North Chicago suburb. He recently took his two sons, Robbie, now 17, and Rickey, now 14, to Durham for the Virginia Tech game. Ross and Mindy also have two girls — 10-year-old Reggi and 8-year-old Roxie Cameron, who is named after Cameron Indoor Stadium.

“I can’t say enough about Mike and Mickie’s friendship and love,” Deutsch said. “I was 36, and he was 50. It was 13 years ago. You don’t think that you’re going to make new friends at a certain age. We all face our own adversity at some point, and to me what will define you is how you respond. From that moment, Mindy and I decided we were going to do whatever we could. No family should have to hear those words: ‘Your son has a brain tumor and a very, very bad one.’ As long as we’re able, as long as we’re able to dedicate support and research, we will. There are people now who know Rory, who never knew Rory.”

Krzyzewski won another national title in 2001, his third. His team won Olympic gold in 2008 in Beijing. But he swears that he found better perspective in life after Rory’s death and the experience with Deutsch.

“That’s why I wear the pin on my jacket,” Krzyzewski said. “I’ve worn it every game since because I’m proud of it. It puts the game in perspective. How can a game ever be that difficult? It can’t ever be more difficult than what the Deutsch team went through. Wearing this pin is one of those things that makes you feel good about being a human being.”

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com. The Rory David Deutsch Foundation can be visited here.

Here’s Charlie’s latest projection through games as of Feb. 21.  Scroll over a team name for more analysis. Records reflect Division I competition only.

Automatic bids are in CAPS.

This is the absolute best time of the year for talking basketball with everyone.

Bids by Conference is going to make some people edgy…

• Big 12 (8)
• ACC (7)
• Big East (7)
• SEC (6)
• Big Ten (3)
• Atlantic 10 (3)
• Pac-10 (3)
• America East (2)
• Sun Belt (2)
• Colonial (2)

I love the ACC, was part of it for 4 years.  It is arguably one of the Top 2 Conferences in the country year after year… but, 7 bids is high!  I say 5.  UNC and Maryland are all questions and NC State is on the cusp.  Each of those teams are currently 5-7 or 6-6 in the ACC.  If you allow all of them in, how then do you say no to Wake Forest and maybe Boston College?  Both are either 5-7 or 6-6 and Wake Forest is a head of UNC and Maryland in the ACC standings.  don’t go to the RPI and Strength of Schedule… it’s all comparable.

Why not give the Atlantic 10, Colonial or Mountain West a 4th, 3rd or 2nd team in, respectively.   Maybe give one or two of the MAAC, MAC, America East or Missouri Valley and 2nd team in.

Everyone screams for more parity in Women’s Basketball.  You can’t have parity if the Top 5 Conferences hold 31 of the 64 spots in the NCAA tournament every year.  Those coaches will never be able to consistently convince (recruit) top prospects to play in conferences where only one team goes to the NCAA’s year in and year out.

We’ll see…

By Andy Johnston                   For the AJC

Some folks say it’s parity. Others are beginning to worry that this is a down season for the ACC.

The ACC continues to be the top-rated conference in the Sagarin and Pomeroy rankings, but only Duke and Georgia Tech are ranked in the AP Top 25, and the Blue Devils might have knocked the Yellow Jackets out of next week’s poll with their 86-67 victory on Thursday night.

Every team has at least four losses, and Duke, which is considered the ACC’s best team, was crushed by Big East-power Georgetown on Sunday. One thing is for certain: The conference doesn’t have a dominant force like last season’s North Carolina team that won the national championship.

“It’s where we are now. It’s where this conference is at,” North Carolina State coach Sidney Lowe said. “Any given night, you don’t know who is going to win. One team can knock off a nationally ranked team and then play another team that’s not ranked and lose to them. One thing you do know is that this league has a lot of talented players. If those talented players decide they’re going to be better and they’re going to get after it, they’re going to win.”

The fall of North Carolina (13-9, 2-5 ACC) has corresponded with the rise of both Maryland (15-6, 5-2) and Virginia (14-6, 5-2), which are tied for second behind Duke (18-4, 6-2). The parity is evidenced by the fact that 22 of ACC’s 46 games have been decided by eight points or less, including 13 by fewer than four points.

The balance might lead to only six ACC teams making the NCAA tournament, but all 12 entered this week in the top 110 of the RPI.

“It’s become a night-in and night-out grinder,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “It’s a challenge of every team to be at their best.”

Out of his shell

Freshman Jordan Williams is providing Maryland with an inside boost.

He posted his third double-double of the season in Maryland’s loss at Clemson on Sunday. The 6-foot-10 Williams then added 14 points in a win at Florida State on Thursday, reaching double-figures for the seventh time. His 13 rebounds Sunday were a career-high.

“[He provides] what we didn’t have last year, [which] is an inside presence,” Maryland coach Gary Williams said. “This year, when we’re playing well, we can throw the ball into Jordan and expect something good to happen.”

Possible return

Clemson guard Demontez Stitt has missed the past two games with a sprained foot, but coach Oliver Purnell hopes to have him back for Saturday’s game at Virginia Tech. Stitt had started 52 consecutive games before the injury.

On the ball

Malcolm Delaney, who scored 21 points in Virginia Tech’s 74-70 victory over North Carolina on Thursday, leads the ACC in scoring (19.8) and 20-point games (11).

N.C. State’s Julius Mays has made 20 consecutive free throws and is shooting 89.5 percent from the line (51-for-57).

Trevor Booker needs 19 rebounds to become the second player in Clemson history with 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds. With 1,584 career points, he would join Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody and Texas’ Damion James as the only active players with 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds.

Kyle Singler, playing with an injured right wrist, had career highs with 30 points and eight 3-pointers in Duke’s victory over Georgia Tech.

Must-see TV

Don’t sleep in, or you might miss Wake Forest’s game at Virginia, which begins at noon Saturday (WATL). On Wednesday, Duke plays at North Carolina at 9 p.m. (ESPN) in the first game of the season in that heated rivalry. They’ll also meet at Duke on March 6.

If you are not in one of the coaching “Family Trees”… Calipari, Summitt, Pitino, Auriemma, Knight, VanDerveer, Krzyzewski, Stringer, Calhoun, etc… How do you get noticed to even get a call back, let alone an interview for the next opportunity?  The same can be said of the first time head coach once they get there, how do they get noticed at a non-BCS school?  it’s almost a never-ending cycle.  Unless you set your mind right and keep it right, even after you have some success, it can be a never-ending struggle.  Give your head coach complete trust and loyalty – unconditionally.  Trust your head coach’s loyalty back to you, their respect to your development and the continuation of our profession.

Basketball advancement in this generation of coaches, especially in men’s basketball, has become all about recruiting… who is delivering the best players.  The ESPN’s hot young assistant list is all about coaches with multiple top ranked recruiting classes as the “recruiting coordinator” at a BCS school.  If you can bring a program players – you get jobs and move up.  For the sake of argument, we aren’t going to include advancement for those who operate through “working in the grey area.”  That’s going to happen, it always has and always will.  Don’t let your self worry about it or get involved.  Control what you can control.  With the recent NCAA rules changes, hiring – paying people “around” prospects – will be harder.

Understand, I’m not saying you should expect to advance, move up, if you can’t deliver players.  You have to be able to recruit.  You have to become a well-rounded coach too.  My next statement will definitely put me in the “old school” category, but the way I was raised in this profession was this: to work as hard as you can, to be loyal and supportive to your head coach, the staff, players and university and do the job you have today as though it is the last job you have.  If you did that, the next opportunity took care of itself. Those were the words Jeff Van Gundy spoke to me in 1985 when I became his assistant at McQuaid Jesuit High School.  Is that true today?  They were very true then and I believe they are still true today, but fewer coaches live by them.  It’s harder to believe it’s true when those that are working that way are by-passed for people that deliver players, advance and get jobs without having the experience.

That has all changed because of how recruiting has evolved and young coaches moving through the ranks because of their ability to deliver players.  It’s perpetuated by what I call the “Cycle of Coaching.”  Simply put, coaches are hired to be fired almost at any level.  In both the Men’s or the Women’s game the days of 20+ year careers at the same college or university are over.  Now, a 5-Year contract really means win in 3 or you’re probably done.  As long as that is the case, coaches that can deliver players will get jobs.  The “win right now” (or be fired) pressure will keep that in place no matter what the NCAA does to legislate parity in recruiting.

Below is a way to get noticed and get noticed the right way.  It may seem too “old school” for some and it may not get you the next job as fast, but when you do get there you’ll be prepared, you will have a solid group of loyal people in your inner circle, you’ll have built trust and respect amongst family, friends, parents, colleagues and prospects and you’ll enjoy our profession much more.

Adapted from the Center for Creative Leadership

The Right Way to Get Noticed

First off… Be Humble. Please.  It’s perceived that humility does not breed advancement.  I disagree.  Today’s new head coach is the consummate self-promoter.  Unless, as an assistant, you work for someone who really promotes and sells you – humility is a hard proposition to take a chance on.  It’s a catch 22:  the new head coach is promoting themselves, the young assistant is (presumably) bustin’ their tail for the program and that head coach and the head coach is still promoting themselves.  An assistant can’t promote himself or herself – it’s then perceived that they are “a big ego” coach.  What do you do?

“Many of the best, most talented individuals avoid self-promoting,” says CCL’s Cindy McLaughlin, co-author of The Truth About Sucking Up: How Authentic Self-Promotion Benefits You and Your Organization. “They are uncomfortable with it or feel like any kind of self-promotion is bragging or sucking up.”

This is very true in the coaching world.  So many of the well established, well respected veteran coaches understand this and work very hard to promote their assistants.  But what happens when that is not the case?  Trouble.  Why do some head coaches do that?  It’s a no-win situation for both sides.  Our profession is built on loyalty, on trust.  Head coaches demand it; assistants crave it for all the countless hours they pour into the head coach’s program.  Everyone needs it for potential advancement.  Without it, both sides suffer.

Generally, head coaches do not intentionally choose to NOT advocate for their assistants, to NOT help them advance – but in some cases they DO choose to not help because they do not want to lose the assistant.  Long time, veteran head coaches may be so removed from being an assistant that they have forgotten this from early in their own career.  Some never were assistants very long and this factor doesn’t play into their thought process.  Either way, you must have open, honest conversation with your head coach about this.  If you do, you will find out right away: this coach is going to help me or they aren’t.  Then decide, stay or go.  No matter what, stay loyal, don’t go negative (it is never any good for anyone and no one really wants to hear it anyway) and continue doing the job you have today as though it is the last one you will have.  Stay above anything you perceive as disloyalty from a head coach.  As an assistant, you never win the battle or the war – just move on.

Self-promotion doesn’t need to be viewed in a negative light, according to McLaughlin and her co-authors Gina Hernez-Broome and Stephanie Trovas. Interestingly, when self-promotional behaviors are done well — matching style with substance — they are usually interpreted as something else: effective communication, managing up, networking, information-sharing or relationship-building.  Do it with humility, do it openly and honestly.

To toot your horn in a way that is authentic and good for both your career and your organization, consider these points:

• Self-promotion does not have to be painful or over-the-top.

Ignore the braggarts and suck-ups. People who promote well understand the importance of publicizing the work done by themselves and their groups, but there are many ways to do it: speaking up in meetings, being clear (and accurate) about successes, improving communication with your head coach and fellow staff members, volunteering for visible roles. Don’t be obnoxious, but don’t be overlooked, either.

• Effective self-promotion isn’t about being someone you’re not.

In fact, your efforts will be more accurate and better received if you are genuine, substantive and (yes) imperfect. Authenticity is an important skill to foster a healthy and collaborative workplace. Without it, credibility is strained and trust is hard to come by.

• Understand yourself.

Get clear on your strengths and why they matter. If you try to self-promote and are off the mark, then you come across as either pathetic, ego-driven or having delusions of grandeur.

• Don’t expect others to notice your work without your efforts.

Doing a job and doing it well doesn’t ensure that others will appreciate and value it. Self-promotion is needed in some way to connect the dots between what you do and why it matters. The head coach won’t always make those connections by themselves.  Especially if they are busy self-promoting.  Help them.

• Don’t inflate yourself at others’ expense.

What might seem like a win at the time will cause damage to your reputation and limit your ability to work well with others. Plus, it’s just not nice.  We’re a profession of respect and loyalty.  To your head coach as well as the other assistants you are on staff with.  Treat the profession with respect and the others around you the same.  It will give back to you ten-fold.

• Promote what you deliver.

Back up your claims with real accomplishments, skills, experience or knowledge that deserve recognition and acknowledgment. If you tout yourself as detail-oriented, then be that person, plan the minutiae and uncover the mistake. Unmatched people skills?  Put them to use resolving conflict, coaching others and building a great staff.

When it isn’t working.  If you know that you are getting great results – there is proof in the pudding and it is not getting recognized and you’re concerned about your future, you have to take a new approach.

Begin by looking for opportunities to talk to your head coach about the accomplishments that have occurred that directly relate to your investment in that area.  Do it in a way that felt genuine, humble and reasonable.  Add yourself to the staff meeting agenda and made sure you speak up early in the meeting.  Start with a group accomplishment and a group challenge or critical issue. You’ll find information shared was the truth; it just hadn’t really been shared publicly before.

After a few weeks, your head coach will realize how you have played an important role in increasing the staff’s productivity. While the staff may or may not have actually improved, you will have increased your promotion of the staff and yourself so that, going forward, they were accurately assessed by the head coach.

Many think this is not as strong a class as some in the past.  True, there may not be a plethora of studs… but there are many, many good players that will help teams across the country.

The formula I used is not that scientific.

ABR Top Ten Formula: Assigned point values for each prospect signed, added by total number of signees, then divide out the number for an average so the smaller classes aren’t over-looked.  In the event of a tie – I let them be ties.

A great job of recruiting, evaluating and signing by this group of coaches, their staff’s and of course the players on each of the teams who hosted these prospects on their visits.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!

Here it is, my final rankings for the 2010 Women’s Basketball Recruiting Class:

1. DUKE: (5)                                                                                        ABR:  44 / 8.8

2T. CONNECTICUT: (5)                                                                  ABR:  43 / 8.6

2T. MARYLAND: (5)                                                                       ABR:  43 / 8.6

4T. GEORGIA: (2)                                                                               ABR:  17 / 8.5

*Khaalidah Miller (verbal) is not yet listed as signed.  Her #10 ranking will move Georgia to the #2 overall class:  ABR: 26/8.67.

4T. STANFORD: (2)                                                                         ABR:  17 / 8.5

6T. LOUISVILLE: (5)                                                                     ABR:  40 / 8.0

6T. PENN STATE: (2)                                                                     ABR:  16 / 8.0

*Ariel Edwards (verbal) is not yet listed as signed.  Her #11 ranking will not change PSU’s overall ranking.  ABR:  24/8.0

8. FLORIDA STATE: (4)                                                               ABR:  30 / 7.5

9. BOSTON COLLEGE: (4)                                                          ABR:  26 / 6.5

10. OKLAHOMA: (5)                                                                     ABR:  26 / 5.2

For a PRINTABLE VERSION: CLICK HERE

Over the past two weeks there has been less content on our ABR site.  My apologies.  I have been preparing the ABR ACC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PREVIEW.

Each pre-season I found it helpful to write a one-page Pre-Season Opponent Overview. I always felt it helped with early season practices and planning for what we might see.

Here is an example:  PRE-SEASON OPPONENT OVERVIEW

With that in mind, and now that everyone is about two weeks into practice, I wanted to provide you with the ABR ACC Women’s Basketball Preview.

The intent is to summarize the 2008-09 season and forecast somethings to expect for 2009-10.

I’d welcome your feedback.

Enjoy…

2009 – 10 ABR ACC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PREVIEW

Coaches of all levels can gain experience and learn.  The clinic schedule includes a full team practice with a Q & A session and a discussion by Head Coach Joanne P. McCallie.  Following lunch, lectures will be provided by the assistant coaches and strength and conditioning staff.

The registration cost is $40 per coach and this year there is an in-state discount registration fee of $30 for any in-state North Carolina coach of any level or age group.  The registration fee includes lunch.

Register by mail or at Cameron when you arrive to attend the Clinic on November 1.

Check-in will be at Cameron’s north entrance (the Krzyzewskiville side).

Cash (with correct change) and checks are the only accepted forms of payment.

Checks are made out to:            Duke Women’s Basketball.

Receipts can be provided at check-in.

Please contact Sarah Smoak, Asst. Director of Basketball Operations, at 919.613.7548, ssmoak@duaa.duke.edu or Kate Senger, Director of Basketball Operations, at 919.613.7572 for more information.

Click here for the full coaching clinic brochure, registration forms can be printed off and mailed in to:

Duke Women’s Basketball

Attn: Coaching Clinic

Box 90554 4th Floor Schwartz-Butters Center

Durham, NC 27707

The ESPN Networks 2009-10 NCAA Women’s Basketball Schedule Includes Approximately 250 Games; The Most Ever in ESPN History

Schedule includes entire NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship

DOWN LOAD A PRINTABLE COPY HERE

ESPN Networks 2009-10 Women’s Basketball Regular-Season Schedule

- 2010 CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK SCHEDULE - 

The 2009-10 ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN360.com and ESPN FULL COURT women’s college basketball schedule will feature approximately 250 telecasts – the most ever on the ESPN networks, including the entire NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship.  Highlights of ESPN’s 31st season of women’s college basketball coverage include:

• For the 17^th consecutive season, the State Farm Tip-Off Classic will commence ESPN’s coverage of the sport. This year’s matchup will feature Baylor at Tennessee on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
• ESPNU Road to the Championship, a women’s basketball doubleheader created by ESPN Regional Television (ERT), will be played on Tuesday, Nov. 17, at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, home of the 2010 Women’s Final Four.  National powers Connecticut, Tennessee, Texas and Texas Tech will take part in the doubleheader televised by ESPNU and ESPN2 at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., respectively. This will be part of ESPN’s second annual College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon.
• Entering its fourth season, ESPN2’s Big Monday presented by Bud Light prime-time Game of the Week series will include 11 games (up from eight) throughout January and February, featuring the best programs in Division I women’s basketball. The series will begin on Jan. 11 at 7:30 p.m. with an ACC matchup featuring Maryland at Virginia.  New to this year’s schedule is the addition of Big Monday doubleheaders on Feb. 8, Feb. 15 and Feb. 22.  The games will generally air during the 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. windows.
• The 2009 Jimmy V Women’s Basketball Classic on December 7 will be held at Rutgers University in Piscataway, N.J. for the fourth consecutive year and will feature Florida vs. Rutgers in a showdown at 7 p.m. on ESPN2. 
• ESPN’s weekly College GameDay Driven by State Farm® college basketball series and the Saturday Primetime game-of-the-week telecast — returning for a sixth consecutive season – will begin Saturday, January 16, 2010 from Storrs, Conn. for the women’s BIG EAST showdown between Notre Dame and defending National Champion Connecticut.  It will mark the first time the show has originated from a women’s game.  Two one-hour segments of the show will air at 10 a.m. and at 8 p.m.  The game will air on ESPN at 9 p.m.
• February Frenzy returns on Valentine’s Day Sunday, Feb. 14, as ESPN2 showcases six regionalized games within two telecast windows. For a third year in a row, ESPN will support the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund, in partnership with The V Foundation, during its annual “February Frenzy” women’s college basketball games.  The full national ESPNU women’s game featuring Kentucky at Vanderbilt at 6 p.m. on Feb. 14 will also be part of the “Frenzy,” as will Big Monday doubleheader on Feb. 15 showcasing North Carolina at Virginia at 7 p.m. and Connecticut at Oklahoma at 9 p.m.
• As part of ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN360.com’s week-long men’s and women’s Championship Week presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods, the networks will combine to present 13 women’s conference championships, including every game from the quarterfinals through the championship for the BIG EAST, plus the SEC Semifinals and SEC Championship. Other women’s championships: Big Ten, Atlantic 10, Summit League, Sun Belt, NEC, Horizon League, West Coast Conference, WAC, MEAC, SWAC and SIAC.
• Overall, the ESPN networks will showcase more than 130 regular-season games, over 40 conference tournament matchups, the Division II Women’s Basketball Semifinals and Championship, and all 63 NCAA Division I Championship contests.  Additionally, ESPN will continue to present the exclusive live announcement of the 64-team NCAA Tournament field as part of Selection Monday, Mar. 15, at 7 p.m., with ESPNU offering bonus coverage with an additional hour of NCAA Women’s Basketball Selection Special: Extended Coverage from 8–9 p.m.
• ESPNU will televise 54 games, including 37 regular-season contests (up from 31), 17 conference championship matchups and the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Championship Semifinals.  In addition, the 24-hour college sports network cover the Fourth Annual Maggie Dixon Classic on Sunday, Dec. 13, from Madison Square Garden. The doubleheader will showcase Baylor vs. Boston College at 1 p.m., followed by Rutgers vs. Tennessee at 3 p.m.  The schedule will also be highlighted by a BIG EAST and SEC game-of-the-week most Sunday afternoons during January and February.
• ESPN360.com will simulcast every game on ESPN and ESPN2 and will offer complete telecasts of every NCAA Women’s Tournament game.

DOWNLOAD WITH ABOVE LINK

• 40 televised games, making up 78 television appearances, including a CBS telecast of North Carolina at defending national champion Connecticut on Jan. 9 to open the 2009-10 television package..
• Six ESPN2 games, highlighted by Maryland at Virginia on Jan. 11, Connecticut at Duke on Jan. 18, Miami at NC State on Feb. 14 for “Pink Frenzy” and Florida State at Maryland on Feb. 28.
• Five additional nationally televised games on Fox Sports Net and affiliates, including a rematch of the 2009 ACC overtime championship game and the 2006 NCAA national title game between Duke and Maryland on Jan. 24 and the classic in-state rivalry of Duke at North Carolina on Sunday, Feb. 28, which will conclude the 2009-10 regular season.
• 28 conference match-ups on the league’s regional sports networks, which include Comcast SportsNet, Fox Sports Net South, Fox Sports Net Florida, and New England Sports Network. The regional sports networks reach approximately 24 million households.
• Seven games of the 2010 ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament to be held March 4-7 at the Greensboro (N.C.) Coliseum – four on the league’s regional sports networks and three nationally on Fox Sports Net and affiliates. FSN will broadcast the ACC Tournament semifinal games and the 2010 ACC Championship game.
• A nationally televised hour-long preview show on Fox Sports Net and affiliates with a time and date yet to be determined.

1. Connecticut

2. Stanford

3. North Carolina

3. Ohio State

5. Notre Dame

6. Duke

7. Baylor

8. Tennessee

9. Xavier

10. Michigan State

11. Oklahoma

12. Virginia

14. Arizona State

15. Rutgers

16. Florida State

17. LSU

18. DePaul

19. Georgia Tech

20. Texas

21. Vanderbilt

22. Middle Tennessee

23. San Diego State

24. South Dakota State

25. Florida

*Details – Continue

1. Connecticut: 39 consecutive wins.   A fifth perfect season.  Two questions:  How long will the streak last?, who can possibly beat the Huskies?   78 in a row and another National Championship?  Never say never.  Point guard Renee Montgomery is gone.  Don’t forget, this season’s WNBA MVP Diana Taurasi won two titles after Sue Bird graduated.  Maya Moore has a chance to do the same.

2. Stanford: Back-to-Back trips to the Final Four with only Jillian Harmon missing from the regular rotation. Jayne Appel is a versatile force and may have something to say about who is voted the Nation’s best player when it is all said and done.  Stanford – UConn final?

3. North Carolina: Italee Lucas, Cetera DeGraffenreid and Jessica Breland will be surrounded by the Nation’s #2 recruiting class.  That should make the Tar Heels the preseason favorite in the ACC and in contention for the National title.  Athletically they have the best chance to hang with UConn.

3. Ohio State: Jantel Lavender and Samantha Prahalis will have a year of experience together.   Add two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Shavelle Little to the mix and you have one of the Nation’s best teams.

5. Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish have a chance to be very, very good.  How does Skylar Diggins fit into the mix is the first big priority.  Returning from injuries are Devereaux Peters and Brittany Mallory.  Staying injury free is a key.  This is a well-established roster; chemistry early on will be something to watch.

6. Duke: Jasmine Thomas, Krystal Thomas and Karima Christmas are the unquestionable leaders of a team.  This might be the first full season where the personnel are most indicative of  Coach Joanne P. McCallie’s system.  Jasmine Thomas has really evolved into a lead guard who can play like a point, but score like a wing.

7. Baylor: Is there anyone who doesn’t know who 6-foot-8 freshman Brittney Griner is?  Coach Kim Mulkey returns a very good roster, which includes Danielle Wilson (if her knee recovers) and Morghan Medlock. That core will play a larger role in keeping the Lady Bears among the Nation’s best teams.

8. Tennessee: For nearly any other school the ’08-’09 season would have been a good year.  In Knoxville, it was one of the worst ever.  If Coach Summit’s freshmen learned some lessons, then Tennessee could be back to its usual position with the elite of women’s college basketball.

9. Xavier: Amber Harris is healthy.  Combined with Ta’Shia Phillips, they might form the best frontcourt tandem this side of UConn’s Tina Charles and Maya Moore.  If XU’s guard play excels, look for the Musketeers to be playing in very late March.

10. Michigan State: The 2008 – 09 Spartans were within one shot of the Elite Eight.   From that team only Mia Johnson is not on the roster.  They weren’t consistent last year, but those lessons learned should pay dividends in 2009 – 10.

11. Oklahoma: Coach Sherri Coale will have to do a double take when she takes the floor.  Not having the Paris sisters there will seem very strange.  The Sooners bring back the rest of their Final Four team.  Danielle Robinson and Whitney Hand lead that group and could be one of the best backcourt combinations in the country.

12. Virginia: This is most talented Cavaliers team since Dawn and the Burge twins walked on Grounds.  Monica Wright leads a solid core.  Paulisha Kellum returns after a season-ending knee injury in ’08-’09 to stabilize the backcourt.  The departure of Lyndra Littles, Ashia Mohammed and Kelly Hartig inside will need to be solved quickly.  Potential ACC Rookie of the Year China Crosby, returning PTG Arianna Moorer and wing Lexie Gerson will play a huge role in the backcourt.

14. Arizona State: Coach Turner-Thorne loses plenty, including WNBA back-up extraordinaire Briann January.  The Sun Devils should have a solid nucleolus, led by Dymond Simon and Danielle Orsillo.  Look for the Sun Devils to be back in the hunt for the Pac-10 title.

15. Rutgers: Coach Vivian Stringer will have to replace starters Kia Vaughn, Heather Zurich and Epiphanny Prince.  The loss of Prince is huge and puts pressure on the freshmen to grow up quickly.  Rutgers will guard the daylights out of you… questions will rise about who will score and who will lead.

16. Florida State: Wade and Wooden watch candidate Jacinta Monroe and Courtney Ward will continue what the Seminoles started in 2008-09, sharing the ACC regular-season title.  An off-season trip to South Africa surely allowed Coach Sue Semrau and her staff an opportunity to fine-tune the next step for the Seminoles.

17. LSU: Everyone returns except Kristen Morris for the Lady Tigers.  This team has improved substantially throughout the 2008-09 season.  Allison Hightower is a legit All-American candidate and they have Coach Van Chancellor.  This could be one of the surprise teams come March.

18. DePaul: Deirdre Naughton and Sam Quigley return to direct Coach Doug Bruno’s offense in Chicago.  How that plays out in the brutal Big East Conference is yet to be seen.  Look for a great deal of runnin’ and gunnin’ by the Blue Demons.

19. Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets are perhaps the most physical team in the country.  Few teams guard you like GT.   They need to become a better offensive team and take some of the pressure off that defense.  Coach MaChelle Joseph has nearly everyone back to make it happen.   Iasia Hemingway transferring to Syracuse is a loss, but not one that is insurmountable.

20. Texas: Returning are the Nash sisters, along with Brittainey Raven.  This group will be driven to get the memory of a poor 2008-09 finish out of their mouths.  Talented and hungry, the Longhorns will be a dangerous team.

21. Vanderbilt: Jennifer Risper and Christina Wirth are gone – those are huge loses, but significant talent remains.  Coach Melanie Balcomb has a tremendous ability to teach offense and has always put teams on the floor who over achieve.  Two Sweet Sixteen’s in the last three years and two SEC Championships… we might be looking at #3 of each in 2009 – 10.

22. Middle Tennessee: The Blue Raiders return everyone.  Third team All-American Alysha Clark, the nation’s leading scorer last season, leads a team that went 28-6 and nearly won at Michigan State in the first round of the NCAA tournament.  This team will make noise in March.  The middle of the BCS bunch will be holding their breath on Selection Monday to hope they are NOT playing MTSU.

23. San Diego State: Coach Beth Burns returns four of five starters, including 6-4 center Paris Johnson from a 24-8 team.  Johnson, emerged as one of the best rebounders in the country last year and has SDSU a team to watch in the Mountain West.

24. South Dakota State: Jennifer Warkenthien departs after a tremendous career and devastating loss to Baylor in the NCAA tournament.  Coach Aaron Johnson’s teams transition to full-time Division I status is over – the Jackrabbits are for real and here to stay.

25. Florida: The departure of Sha Brooks and Marshae Dotson is substantial, but Coach Amanda Butler’s cupboard is not bare.  Jennifer Mosser (due back injury), sharpshooters Steffi Sorensen and Jordan Jones (South Carolina’s leading scorer in 2007-08) form a solid backcourt.  The Gators should be in the SEC title hunt right to the end.

On the Bubble: The next six teams you could see cracking the ABR Top 25:

California: The Bears will largely be relying on Alexis Gray-Lawson and a top-five recruiting class to stay near the top of the Pac-10.

Pittsburgh: Can Coach Agnus Berenato maintain Pitt as a top-25 power without Shavonte Zellous?

Texas A&M: Tyra White and Sydney Colson have to step up with Danielle Gant and Takia Starks gone.

Boston College: Stefanie Murphy and Carolyn Swords are back.  This might very well be the ACC’s surprise team.

Kansas: Angel Goodrich hurt her knee it was very difficult for the Jayhawks to make a second straight trip to the NCAA tournament. The WNIT finals run helped them grow and develop.  Is Kansas primed for a better 2009-10?  I think so.

Louisville: Coach Jeff Walz will prove he can coach, if anyone wondered, without Angel McCoughtry and Candyce Bingham.  The roster is “sneaky” good, look out.