In the other ACC Sunday Night game, N.C.
State defeated Miami, 81-69, behind solid games from Ilian Evtimov and
Cameron Bennerman. Frank Haith said Miami's defense wasn't up to snuff,
but State had a lot to do with that, and under Herb Sendek, State's defense has
at times been just vicious.
| School | Conference | Overall |
| Duke | 1-0 | 10-0 |
| NC State | 1-0 | 8-1 |
| Maryland | 1-0 | 7-2 |
| Georgia Tech | 1-0 | 4-3 |
| Clemson | 0-0 | 8-0 |
| Florida State | 0-0 | 5-1 |
| North Carolina | 0-0 | 5-1 |
| Wake Forest | 0-0 | 7-2 |
| Boston College | 0-1 | 6-2 |
| Virginia Tech | 0-1 | 7-3 |
| Miami | 0-1 | 6-4 |
| Virginia | 0-1 | 3-3 |
Virginia is looking
for some fast-break points, which makes sense, since if they can score
before the defense is set, they can overcome some disadvantages. But Dave
Leitao says effort
is the biggest thing, and he's not happy with what he's getting.
Take a quick look down the conference standings. It's very early, we
know, but still. For argument's sake, move Georgia Tech down around Miami,
so that the schedule reflects more general success. At this point, Duke,
N.C. State, Maryland, UNC, Wake, and B.C. look like solid bets for the
tournament.
Clemson and Florida State will have to prove their worth in the conference,
as will Virginia Tech. But if they can keep it up, they'll have an
argument too. Virginia isn't likely to do much, and Miami, at 6-4, will
have to make up ground.
There continue to be
rumors about Skip Prosser and Cincinnati, with Gregg Doyel being the latest
to anoint Prosser as the next coach of the Bearcats. He clearly likes the
city, having coached at Xavier, but what are the odds of Cincinnati hiring a guy
from Xavier? That's a pretty fierce rivalry, and most schools (Louisville being
an obvious exception) don't hire coaches from their rival school.
But just for fun, if Prosser leaves Wake, then who would the new coach
be? The list Doyel provided for Cincinnati works reasonably well for Wake,
too: Kevin Stallings and Bob McKillop would be great choices for the Deacs.
So would Fran Dunphy.
Former Wake assistants Dennis Wolff and Gerry Wainwright have been excellent
coaches, although if Wainwright took the job, that would be three schools in
three years, and that's a bit much. Bucknell's Pat Flannery would have to
get consideration, as his team is riding quite high. And they'd be nuts
not to look at GW's Karl Hobbs.
Remember DePaul's upset in Joel? Well,
look what Old Dominion did to DePaul. This is the
worst loss in the history of DePaul.
Former Mike Montgomery assistant Blaine Taylor has done a sensational job at
ODU, and deserves a shot at the big-time. Whether it's at Wake or
elsewhere, we hope he gets it.