Atlantic City Weekly

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Basketball junkies will get a special treat when the Legends Classic Basketball Tournament arrives this weekend at Boardwalk Hall. Jim Boeheim’s 9th-ranked Syracuse squad features one of the most intriguing freshmen in the nation. His name is Hollywood-ready, Fab Melo (Fabricio de Melo), a 7’0” 260-pound center from Brazil. The Big East preseason Rookie of the Year, he has been off to a slow start so far, hampered by foul trouble, but perhaps hoop fans here will get to see him make a step up in this tournament. Syracuse has a strong Philadelphia flavor with its excellent point guard, Scoop Jardine, guard Dion Waiters and forward Rick Jackson. Although his team is 4-0 to start the season, Coach Boeheim said in a press conference that, “We’ve been very erratic on the offensive end of the court. We haven’t played as well, offensively as we’d like. We have a lot of new guys. Our defense has been okay, but we need to make strides on offense.”

The Michigan Wolverines were once at the top of the college basketball world when the Fab Five ruled the school from 1992-1995. It has almost been that long since the team has been a factor in the Big Ten. Once again the Wolverines are looking up at the elite teams in the conference (Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, Illinois), a conference most basketball pundits have declared is the best in the country this year ahead of both the Big East and the ACC. A win over Syracuse would be huge for them as a confidence boost.

The UTEP (Texas-El Paso) Miners are under the watchful eye of first year coach Tim Floyd, whose credits include both USC and the Chicago Bulls. Led by dynamic superstar guard Randy Culpepper, the defending Player of the Year in Conference USA, the Miners are ranked number two in the conference behind Memphis

Rounding out the Legends field is ACC representative Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets lost Derrick Favors and Gani Lawal to the pros, so coach Paul Hewitt has some massive shoes to fill in the frontcourt. He should partially fill that gap with 5’11’’ Daniel Miller, who redshirted last year. In the short term, the team will rely on a strong outside game anchored by junior point guard Iman Shupert.

The opening night games Friday night will feature UTEP vs. Georgia Tech at 5:30pm and Syracuse vs. Michigan at 8pm. The losing teams will play in the consolation game at 5:30pm Saturday, with the championship game to follow at 8pm.

Syracuse Orangemen

Coach: Jim Boeheim

Record: 4-0

Projected Starters: Scoop Jardine, G; Dion Waiters, G; Brandon Triche. G; Rick Jackson, F; Kris Joseph, F

Jim Boeheim’s veteran team is looking to make another run in the NCAA tournament this year. Point guard Scoop Jardine is the engine, averaging 12.8ppg and seven assists. He is joined in double figure scoring by senior forward Rick Jackson, who leads the team in scoring (13ppg) and rebounding (13rpg). Also scoring in double figures is forward Kris Joseph (11.3ppg). Third guard Brandon Triche, voted to the Big East All-Rookie team last year, is averaging 8.5ppg and is shooting 41 percent from the 3-point line. The Orangemen have size with an international flair coming off the bench in 6’10” freshmen Baye Moussa Keita of Senegal (averaging 7rpg) and 7’ Fab Melo of Brazil.

Michigan Wolverines

Conference: Big Ten

Coach: John Beilein

Record: 3-0

Projected starters: Tim Hardaway Jr., G; Darius Morris, G; Zack Novak, G; Evan Smotrycz, F; Jordan Morgan, C

It has been 15 years since Michigan’s Fab Five ruled the college basketball world. Michigan hasn’t returned to prominence since and isn’t likely to do so this year in what most experts say is the best conference in basketball this season, the Big Ten, topped by arch rival Michigan State. This is a young team with 12 freshmen and sophomores on the roster. Coach John Beilein admitted it is a rebuilding season. However, with an uptempo style and a flashy freshman with a great pedigree, guard Tim Hardaway, Jr., this team should be fun to watch. Michigan gets most of its scoring from the backcourt, with scoring point guard Darius Morris and third guard Zack Novak. Stu Douglass is another guard who contributes off the bench. Freshman forward Evan Smotrycz, despite his size, 6’9,” is more of a perimeter shooter. The team gets defense and rebounding from red shirted freshman Jordan Morgan.

UTEP (Texas-El Paso) Miners

Conference: Conference-USA

Coach: Tim Floyd

Record: 3-1

Projected Starters: Randy Culpepper, G; Julyan Stone, G; Christian Polk, G; Claude Britten, C; Jeremy Williams, F

After several different coaching stops, including Southern Cal and the Chicago Bulls, Coach Tim Floyd has returned to where his coaching career started as a UTEP assistant. The Miners returned to the NCAA tournament last season, but lost in the first round to Butler. Floyd will get this team to play defense and despite the loss of major frontcourt players Derrick Caracter and Arnett Moultrie, they still have 6’ superstar guard Randy Culpepper, who averaged 17.9 points per game last season as the Conference USA Player of the Year. He is joined by another scoring guard, Christian Polk, and Julyan Stone is a solid point guard with size (6’6”) who also rebounds and plays defense. Frontcourt scoring and rebounding are expected from forward Jeremy Williams and senior center Claude Britten. The team had already had nice bench contributions from two freshmen, 6’8” John Bohannon, and 6’ 3” guard Michael Perez.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Conference: ACC

Coach: Paul Hewitt

Record: 3-1

Projected starters: Iman Shumpert, G; Brian Oliver, G; Glen Rice, Jr., G; Daniel Miller, C; Mfon Udofia, F

Iman Shumpert is the star on this team, a 6’5” guard averaging 15.3 ppg and 7.3 rebounds. Brian Oliver has been jacking up the threes with little success so far, shooting just 33 percent, but is still second on the team in scoring at 12 points a game. Glen Rice, Jr. is another scorer in this guard-oriented team. The Jackets hope to get some frontcourt bench support from 6’8” power forward Kammeon Holsey, who sat out last season while recovering from a knee injury. The Yellow Jackets suffered a bad loss to Kennesaw State, one of those early season “easy opponent” games that backfired to the tune of 80-63.

Legends Classic
Where: Boardwalk Hall, A.C.
When: Friday, Saturday, Nov. 26-27, 5:30pm
How Much: $10-$250