2010 FIELD
By Jon Cooper
The fourth annual Puerto Rico Tip-Off boasts the tournament’s most balanced field yet. The eight competing teams combined for a .608 winning percentage last season, and five teams reached postseason play, including five-time NCAA Champion and 2010 NIT runner-up North Carolina and 2010 NCAA Final Four participant West Virginia. Here's a look at the 2010 field:
DAVIDSON
Nickname: Wildcats
Conference: Southern
Location: Davidson, N.C.
2009-10 Record: 16-15, 11-7
Despite losing Stephen Curry, Davidson recorded its ninth straight double-digit-win season within the Southern Conference in ’09-10. The Wildcats return four of their top six scorers from last year’s squad, which ranked seventh in the nation in three-point shooting (9.0 threes per game),including conference coaches 2010 SoCon Freshman of the Year, guard J.P. Kuhlman (12.7 ppg), and forward Jake Cohen (13.4 ppg), also a SoCon All-Freshman and the media's conference Freshman of the Year — the first time those final polls have split. The duo not only ranked 1-2 in scoring on Davidson, but also among rookies in the conference. Also returning is senior guard Brendan McKillop, whose 2.7 assists-to-turnover ratio led the conference and was 10th in the nation.
HOFSTRA
Nickname: Pride
Conference: Colonial Athletic Association
Location: Hempstead, N.Y.
2009-10 Record (postseason result): 19-15, 11-7 (CBI 1st round)
Hofstra hopes to live up to its nickname under new coach Mo Cassara. A former assistant at Boston College, Cassara takes over a program that just missed its fifth 20-win season in six years. The Pride returns three starters from the CAA’s second-highest scoring and top fi eld goal and three-point field goal defending team. Charles Jenkins, the 2009-10 CAA Player of the Year, leads the way. As a junior, Jenkins was one of five players in the country to average 20.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and three assists. Senior forward Greg Washington (2.8 blocks per game, second in the CAA) provides a post presence for the conference’s best shot-blocking team last season.
MINNESOTA
Nickname: Golden Gophers
Conference: Big Ten
Location: Minneapolis
2009-10 Record (postseason result): 21-14, 9-9 (NCAA 1st round)
Tubby Smith’s high-octane Golden Gophers (72.1 ppg, second in the Big Ten) come running and gunning into San Juan. Last season, Minnesota played in the school’s first Big Ten Tournament Championship Game and made its second straight NCAA Tournament appearance. They led the Big Ten in three-point shooting (.399), while also playing Smith’s signature tenacious defense, holding opponents to .400 shooting (second to Big Ten champ Purdue), and recording a 16-2 mark when scoring 70 points. UM returns key guards Blake Hoffarber, the nation's third-best three-point shooter (.467); Al Nolen (4.6 assists per game, third in the conference); and Devoe Joseph (3.0 apg), as well as forward/center Ralph Sampson III (a team-leading 5.8 rpg).
NEBRASKA
Nickname: Cornhuskers
Conference: Big 12
Location: Lincoln, Neb.
2009-10 Record: 15-18, 2-14
Nebraska looks to build on last season’s finish, when they knocked off Missouri in the Big 12 Tournament, then nearly upended No. 23 Texas A&M. Doc Sadler's Huskers return four of their top six scorers from last season's team, which was second in the Big 12 and 15th in the nation in three-point shooting (a school-record 39.7), including junior Brandon Richardson, who had six conference games with at least 15 points; junior point Lance Jeter (4.1 apg); and center Jorge Brian Diaz, who blocked a school-freshman-record 41 shots. Nebraska also gets back two '09-10 projected starters, guard Toney McCray, who missed all but three games, and center Christopher Niemann, who missed all of last season with injuries.
NORTH CAROLINA
Nickname: Tar Heels
Conference: ACC
Location: Chapel Hill, N.C.
2009-10 Record (postseason result): 20-17, 5-11 (NIT runner-up)
Finishing as runner-up in the 2010 NIT was little consolation for 2009 NCAA Champ and perennial power North Carolina. The loss of top scorer Deon Thompson and leading rebounder Ed Davis, and the surprising transfer of twins David and Travis Wear, makes bouncing back from Roy Williams' worst season as a head coach tough, but the Tar Heels have the talent to do it. Forward Will Graves, the ACC's fifth-best three-point shooter (.371); point guard Larry Drew II (6.0 assists per game); sophomore forward John Henson; and seven-footer Tyler Zeller return, and Alabama transfer Justin Knox should contribute and improve a team that was third in the ACC in scoring (74.5 ppg) but last in scoring defense (71.9).
VANDERBILT
Nickname: Commodores
Conference: SEC
Location: Nashville, Tenn.
2009-10 Record (postseason result): 24-9, 12-4 (NCAA first round)
The Commodores chalked up their fifth 20-win season and fourth NCAA Tournament berth in seven seasons, finishing second in the SEC East, only two games behind No. 1 Kentucky. But the team stumbled in postseason play, losing in the second round of the SEC Tournament, then getting upended by Murray State in the first round of the NCAAs. Vandy lost leading scorer Jermaine Beal, but SEC Coach of the Year Kevin Stallings has enough talent to make it six 20-win seasons and five NCAA berths in eight years, led by SEC All-Freshman and Conference Sixth Man of the Year John Jenkins (a .483 shooter from three).
WEST VIRGINIA
Nickname: Mountaineers
Conference: BIG EAST
Location: Morgantown, W.V.
2009-10 Record (postseason result): 31-7, 13-5 (NCAA final four)
The Mountaineers have their work cut out for them in matching last season, following the school's first Final Four appearance in 41 years and a Big East Tournament championship. They'll have to do so without two of their top three scorers from last season, Da'Sean Butler and Devin Ebanks, but Bob Huggins' cupboard is far from bare. Point guards Joe Mazzulla and Darryl “Truck” Bryant, as well as forward Kevin Jones (13.5 ppg, 24th; 7.2 rpg, 10th), return for the Mountaineers, who were second in the Big East, allowing 63.5 points per game. Huggins also wooed Minnesota Mr. Basketball, Kevin Noreen, a 6-10, 220-pound forward, to Morgantown, and he may contribute right away. WVU likes ESPN preseason tournaments, as they took home the 2009 76 Classic Championship.
WESTERN KENTUCKY
Nickname: Hilltoppers
Conference: Sun Belt
Location: Bowling Green, Ky.
2009-10 Record: 21-13, 12-6
The Hilltoppers extended their streak of 20-win seasons to a Sun Belt Conference record—six—but saw their two-year reign as conference champs and NCAA representatives end. WKU, which lost key leaders A.J. Slaughter and Jeremy Evans, return junior forward Steffphon Pettigrew, the team's second-leading scorer (14.9 ppg) and rebounder (5.9 rpg), and sophomore Caden Dickerson, who shot a team-leading .427 from three-point range and was second with 44 three-pointers made. The return of junior forward Sergio Kerusch, who averaged 14.3 points and 7.2 rebounds but suffered a foot injury that cost him 14 games (WKU was only 7-7 in those games), should give Western a boost.
University of Maryland alum Jon Cooper is an Atlanta-based freelance writer.
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