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| Monday, November 11 ACC pushes stack of blue chips 'all in' By Gregg Doyel Special to ESPN.com |
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Chris Bosh is a freshman at Georgia Tech, one of the best freshmen in one of the best years for freshmen in ACC history. Maybe you've never heard of Chris Bosh. Maybe this will remind you. He was the lithe 6-foot-10 forward who scored 14 points this spring in the McDonald's All-American game, the guy who looked like a cross between a giraffe, an antelope and a raptor. "He has a lot to learn, but if he learns it? No telling," says Jackets forward Robert Brooks.
Bosh could have gone to almost any college in the country out of Lincoln High in the Dallas area, but he chose Georgia Tech, and the ACC, because that's what great high school players did last year. They chose the ACC. Of the 25 players in that McDonald's All-American Game -- the elite high school showcase -- 10 went to the ACC. That's one reason why ACC coaches aren't poor-mouthing the league's chances this year to remain somewhere near the top of the national heap. It won't be easy, what with the league returning just six of the top 25 scorers from a year ago, attrition intensified by the early departures of five players to the NBA. Defending national champion Maryland lost sophomore Chris Wilcox among four starters. Duke lost juniors Jay Williams, Mike Dunleavy and Carlos Boozer -- three of the top 11 vote-getters on the Associated Press All-America teams -- to the NBA. Wake Forest graduated five seniors. Virginia lost junior Roger Mason and three other starters. "The ACC loses great players every year," says N.C. State coach Herb Sendek, who lost All-ACC guard Anthony Grundy and point guard Archie Miller. "And every year there are new players with that same kind of talent." As far as built-in recruiting advantages go, the ACC has enough going for it. The last two national titles have been won by league members Maryland and Duke. At least one ACC team has been in 14 of the last 15 Final Fours, and the league has broken even or better in each of the last 15 NCAA tournaments. Almost every league game, and a lot of the non-conference games, are on television. Famous coaches are on almost every campus. "Why wouldn't you want to play against the best?" says Duke freshman Shelden Williams. Yet, there's more to the ACC's unusually rich recruiting haul this season than ACC history. Take a look at the 10 incoming McDonald's All-Americans. All have a story to tell regarding their college choice, starting with the young man from Georgia Tech. "I wouldn't say this was a basketball decision," says Jackets coach Paul Hewitt. "Chris likes the basketball we play, don't get me wrong, but I'd say he chose Georgia Tech primarily because of an academic program we have, computer graphics, and because of the opportunities in that field in the Atlanta area." The other nine McDonald's All-Americans also had a reason to choose an ACC school, more than just the league's reputation and promise. Sometimes it's geography. Sometimes it's a long-ago connection. It didn't hurt that ...
Maybe every one of those players would have chosen those colleges had they grown up in Alaska with no connection to the league, as was the case with former Duke star Trajan Langdon. Maybe not. It doesn't matter, because they are here, and they are needed.
"I'm not sure I've ever seen a year like this one," says Krzyzewski. "Freshmen will play an even larger role, and for that reason the league is more wide open than I can remember." The ACC attrition, and the addition of Bosh, is one of the main reasons Georgia Tech has been given a chance to compete for the ACC title one year after finishing 15-16. The Jackets had as much talent on the perimeter as anyone but Duke last season; not having any one player to approach the ability of a star ACC guard like Juan Dixon of Maryland, but having an array of young, athletic, big guards like B.J. Elder, Isma'il Muhammad and Marvin Lewis. The Jackets also return a competent banger in 6-8 Ed Nelson, the reigning ACC Rookie of the Year, as well as 7-1 Luke Schenscher and a number of other solid parts. But Bosh is the special talent, with the kind of potential for star power Georgia Tech hasn't had since Stephon Marbury in 1996. Hewitt doesn't want too much pressure heaped on Bosh, not this soon, which is why he speaks more effusively about other incoming ACC freshmen, like Randolph and Felton, than his own. "Physically, Chris has to get a lot stronger," Hewitt says. "I'm sure that could be said of a lot of freshmen, but it's especially true with Chris. But is he talented? Absolutely. He can run, jump and block shots. And his best attribute is he's a team player." Assimilation will be key throughout the ACC. Duke has to introduce six freshmen, all of whom will play, to a rotation that includes fifth-year senior Dahntay Jones, third-year starting point guard Chris Duhon and a sophomore, Daniel Ewing, who waited his turn last season behind Dunleavy and Jay Williams. North Carolina, which started sophomore Melvin Scott last season at point guard, is moving him to the wing to make room for Felton. Garrison or another freshman, 6-1 McDonald's All-American finalist John Gilchrist, could be the newcomer to join Maryland's four senior starters. Even at Georgia Tech, Bosh isn't the only freshman who stepped onto campus and immediately became a likely starter. Jarrett Jack has beaten out sophomore Anthony McHenry for the Jackets' vacancy at point guard, replacing four-year starter Tony Akins. "He's like Bosh," says teammate Brooks. "He's got great talent, but he has a lot to learn, too." Jack may not know jack yet about playing point guard in the ACC, but like Felton and Gilchrist and Dockery, he will learn this season from Duhon, Maryland's Steve Blake, Clemson's Edward Scott and N.C. State's Julius Hodge. "It's going to be an interesting year with so many freshmen," Clemson coach Larry Shyatt said last week from a hotel ballroom in Greensboro, N.C., where all nine ACC coaches were speaking to the media at various tables. "Every guy in this room has questions he needs to answer." Gregg Doyel covers college basketball for The Charlotte Observer and can be reached at gdoyel@charlotteobserver.com. |
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