College Hoops Preview: NCCU, New Mexico State, AZ State and Illinois

by Wrmjr

This is the first in a series of short previews of teams that are on (or could be on) Duke’s schedule this year. If you wonder why I chose a team or why I put them in a particular order, check out Duke’s schedule. I am not writing these as previews to the games, but as previews of these teams as a whole. I may write previews before the games, but since there are only a few college basketball teams being covered by beat reporters, I thought this was a way to get some coverage for teams. Without further ado…

North Carolina Central University is playing their inaugural season as a Division I university. They return 1 starter from a team that went 13-15 last year in Division II. Bryan Ayala led the team in assists last year with 117. The three other returning players join seven newcomers on what is almost sure to be a long season for Eagles. They open on November 9 at Duke, where they have played exhibition games the last few years. Their schedule also includes ACC schools Wake Forest and North Carolina State as well as two-time defending champs, Florida. 22 of their 29 games are on the road. Welcome to Division I basketball.

New Mexico State lost head coach Reggie Theus, but before he left, he lined up an excellent recruiting class. New coach Marvin Menzies made it his first order of business to get the class to stay committed, and he succeeded. The Aggies have 3 returning starters from a team that went 25-9 last year and made it to the NCAA tournament. Justin Hawkins led the team in scoring and rebounding last year and he has the versatility to play either the 2 or 3 position. Hatila Passos is a seven footer from Brazil who returns as a defensive force on the inside. If he can improve his rebounding and shooting, he could be a major player for NMSU. Among the newcomers, Herb Pope is the most likely to contribute early. He’s got the build and game to play power forward, and he and Passos will present a formidable front court. Expectations are high for the Aggies this year—many expect them to win the WAC—and first-year coach Mendez would love to get them further in the NCAAs than they did last year.

Princeton looks to be in a rebuilding mode this year. New head coach, Sydney Johnson, returns to his alma mater after helping Georgetown make the Final Four as an assistant coach. He will look to return the “Princeton Offense” to prominence in the Ivy League. On the positive side, Princeton returns 4 starters, including Noah Savage who will likely break the school 3-point shooting record this year. Expect the Tigers to slow the game down and shoot lots of threes (they’ve made a 3 pointer in 577 straight games). Most preseason polls have them finishing in the bottom half of the Ivy League.

Arizona State hopes to rebound from a horrendous 8-22 year in 2006-07. They’ve got the tools to improve, though no one expects them to be a powerhouse in the loaded Pac-10. Junior Jeff Pendergraph returns to lead the Sun Devils. The 6-9 forward averaged 12 points and 9 boards last year. He will be joined in the front court this year by Eric Boateng who transferred from Duke. Those two will form a good frontcourt, but there isn’t much depth to back them up. In the frontcourt, Christian Polk is the biggest scoring threat. He led the team last year in 3-pointers, but he made only 31%. That number has to improve so that teams won’t collapse on the big men inside. Coach Herb Sendek, though, will give his outside shooters the green light as he hopes to get out of the cellar of the Pac-10.

After a tumultuous season last year, Illinois hopes to return to the upper echelons of college basketball. They’ll have to do it without last year’s leading scorer, Warren Carter. Coach Bruce Webber will have to count on Demetri McCamey and transfer Steve Holdren to help solidify the perimeter game, with Chester Frazier holding down the point. Down low, 7-1 freshman Mike Tisdale and redshirt freshman Rodney Alexander hope to provide power down low, but the inside game is really focused around Shaun Pruitt. Pruitt is a big bruiser who takes space and does all his damage inside. He looks to improve upon last year which saw him as a 3rd Team All Conference performer. This is a team that could crack the top 25 if the pieces come together.