Tag: ACC Basketball

Seth Trimble talks about his expected 2024-2025 role

Seth Trimble is back for Year Three, one that he’s expected to take an added leadership role in. Hear what Trimble said at ACC Tipoff Thursday.

Doesn’t Seth Trimble, undoubtedly the UNC men’s basketball team’s defensive ace, scream everything it means to be a Tar Heel?

Though Trimble has only three starts over the past two seasons, he’s never complained once about his role off the bench. Trimble loves North Carolina so much, he even decided to withdraw his name from the transfer portal earlier this offseason and return for his junior year.

Trimble’s role increased significantly last season, as his minutes nearly doubled (9.7 to 17.1 minutes per game) and he set career highs in points (5.2) and rebounds (2.1) per game.

On Thursday at the ACC Tipoff event in Charlotte, N.C., Trimble spent a few minutes talking about his evolution and expectations for an even greater role this coming season, a role which is expected to include additional leadership on a younger team.

“To me, to step into a role of being a much bigger leader than I was last year and just to play a more complete game this year,” Trimble said during UNC’s ACC Tipoff press conference. “To play my game, that’s one thing that me and Coach Davis discuss all the time, is just to do me, play free, play whatever it is. I think the biggest thing I have to do this year is lead. RJ is our guy, is our leader the one we look up to. But he can’t be the only one. If he’s the only one this year won’t go well. So I really gotta step into that role.”

I witnessed a bunch of great leadership from Trimble on the court last season. When RJ Davis went out and took a breather, or when Cormac Ryan, Armando Bacot or Harrison Ingram took a breather, Trimble stood out. He acted as North Carolina’s unofficial Sixth Man, pointed where his teammates needed to be on defensive assignments and was always one of the first to celebrate a big play.

Trimble loves the Tar Heels and the Tar Heels love Trimble. We’re extremely grateful for at least one more season with the pride of Menomonee Falls.

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RJ Davis praises freshman teammate for maturity and skill at ACC Tipoff

RJ Davis spent part of his day at ACC Tipoff praising one of his freshman teammates. Who exactly was RJ talking about?

Even if he doesn’t want to admit it, RJ Davis is the grandpa on this year’s UNC men’s basketball roster.

Davis, now entering his fifth year on Chapel Hill, is coming off his best season in which he was named ACC Player of the Year. Davis averaged a career-high 21.2 points per game, became one of the nation’s top perimeter shoots and, most important, showed he was the Tar Heels’ go-to guy when they needed a clutch bucket.

On Thursday, Oct. 10, Davis spent his day at the ACC Tipoff event in Charlotte, N.C. alongside teammate Seth Trimble and head coach Hubert Davis. Instead of choosing to focus on his veteran leadership within what will be a much younger North Carolina squad, Davis spent some time praising one of his freshman teammates: 4-star center James Brown.

With Armando Bacot and Harrison Ingram leaving for the NBA, Brown will be counted on to provide some big minutes down low.

“James Brown has been tremendous, just in practice he’s been asking questions, he’s been learning on the fly,” Davis said in UNC’s press conference at ACC Tipoff. “One thing that I love about him is his eagerness and his competitive edge. He’s always willing to learn, but he’s always willing to compete. Even if he makes mistakes, he’s going to do it by going hard. James has been great, he’s great defensively, he’s able to guard guards on the perimeter and bigs down low. He’s going to improve and progress throughout his years of playing here, but it’s kind of just taking him under my wing a little bit: telling him how to set the screens and whenever I snake, kind of just being there on the roll.”

Brown comes to UNC from Link Academy in Branson, Mo. Brown averaged 7.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, but most appealing to Tar Heel fans, perhaps, is his team-best 29 blocks and impressive .571 field goal percentage.

If Brown is this hyped by the Tar Heels’ best player, expect to see him plenty on the court this coming season.

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Jon Rothstein: ACC needs Notre Dame to be good for March Madness spots

Can the Irish play their part this season?

Few if any people in the country love college basketball as much as CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein. If you follow him on social media, you know he puts absolutely nothing in sports above college basketball. If a college football fan tweets something at him, he’ll play dumb and frame his response in college basketball terms.

Rothstein has released his ACC preview, and Notre Dame gets only one mention, which isn’t unexpected given that it has a lot to prove. However, it’s how Rothstein references the Irish that makes this interesting.

The ACC has been going through a bit of a dry spell as far as the number of berths it gets in the NCAA Tournament. The Irish last made the tournament in 2022, but some conferences teams have even longer droughts. Rothstein particularly signals out Louisville, Syracuse and Florida State.

Rothstein’s point is that all of these high-profile programs need to get their act together in order to restore the ACC’s reputation as the best in college basketball and have more than the five March Madness berths it’s gotten in each of the past three years.

We’ll see how the season plays out, and hopefully, the Irish can help make the ACC truly intimidating again.

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Follow Geoffrey on X: @gfclark89

Micah Shrewsberry lands highest rated recruit in Notre Dame basketball history

Micah Shrewsberry made his presence known as a recruiter, landing five-star wing Jalen Haralson at Notre Dame.

A lot of elite college basketball players have come through South Bend to play for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Few, if any, had as much hype as Jalen Haralson, who committed to coach Micah Shrewsberry’s program on Wednesday.

Haralson is the highest rated commitment to Notre Dame in the modern era, coming in at No. 14 in the 2025 recruiting class at 247Sports. He chose the Irish over Indiana and Michigan State.

The 6’7 wing from La Porte, Indiana chose Notre Dame because of the strong relationship he built with Shrewsberry during the recruiting process, and the role coach envisions for him in South Bend.

“His vision for me is to just come in and play my game,” said Haralson. “There’s no time for waiting. He has big goals and he’s going to expect a lot out of me. He wants me to come in and be disruptive on the offensive and defensive end and be a problem. Be constant with rim attacks, be able to hit shots off the catch, post up.”

The Irish went 13-20 overall and 7-13 in ACC play last year, Shrewsberry’s first after leaving Penn State to replace Mike Brey, who spent over 20 years as Notre Dame’s head coach before retiring in 2023.

One of Shrewsberry’s goals was the build the program back up with high school talent, while upgrading the level of recruiting.

Haralson represents a huge first step toward those goals, as he joins four-star forward Brady Koehler in Notre Dame’s 2025 recruiting class, which is now ranked fifth in the country.

ACC releases 2024-25 Clemson men’s basketball schedule

The ACC released the 2024-25 men’s basketball conference schedule on Tuesday. Here’s a look at who Clemson will play on what dates.

The 2024-25 Clemson men’s basketball season is just over a month away, with practices for teams in the ACC already underway.

Clemson and the rest of the ACC now have their league-wide schedule, released by the conference on Tuesday. That includes tipoff times and TV broadcast information for most games.

The Tigers will open conference play in Coral Gables against the Miami Hurricanes on Dec. 7 at Watsco Center in a nationally televised game on ESPN at noon ET.

After nonconference games against the Memphis Tigers (in Clemson) and South Carolina Gamecocks (in Columbia), Clemson will welcome Wake Forest to Littlejohn Coliseum two weeks later when ACC play resumes on Dec. 21. Clemson and Wake Forest will meet at 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Coach Brad Brownell’s team will not head west to either Stanford or Cal this season, as both the Cardinal and Golden Bears will visit Clemson in those schools’ first year in the ACC. The Tigers will, however, visit SMU in late February for their first conference matchup with the Mustangs.

The ACC did Clemson no favors by scheduling back-to-back games against the Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels in a quick turnaround. The Tigers will host Duke on Feb. 8 at Littlejohn, followed two nights later when North Carolina visits Clemson on Feb. 10. Both games will be televised by ESPN.

The Tigers will face three repeat opponents (at home and away): the Florida State Seminoles, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and Virginia Tech Hokies. Clemson will host Virginia Tech on March 8 in the Tigers’ regular season finale.

The 2025 ACC Tournament will return to Charlotte, with the league’s top 15 teams reaching the conference tournament.

Here is the full ACC schedule for Clemson (all times Eastern)

  • Dec. 7: at Miami, noon (ESPN)
  • Dec. 21 vs Wake Forest, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN)
  • Jan. 1 vs Stanford, TBD (ACC Network)
  • Jan. 4 vs California, TBD (ESPNU)
  • Jan. 8 at Louisville, 7 p.m. (ESPN2 or ESPNU)
  • Jan. 11 vs Florida State, 2 p.m. (ACC Network)
  • Jan. 14 at Georgia Tech, 9 p.m. (ACC Network)
  • Jan. 18 at Pitt, noon (The CW)
  • Jan. 22 vs Syracuse, 7 p.m. (ACC Network)
  • Jan. 25 at Virginia Tech, 5 p.m. (ACC Network)
  • Feb. 1 at NC State, 1:30 p.m. (The CW)
  • Feb. 4 vs Georgia Tech, 9 p.m. (ACC Network)
  • Feb. 8 vs. Duke, TBD (ESPN)
  • Feb. 10 vs. North Carolina, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
  • Feb. 15 at Florida State, noon (The CW)
  • Feb. 22 at SMU, 4 p.m. (ACC Network)
  • Feb. 26 vs Notre Dame, 7 p.m. (ACC Network)
  • March 1 at Virginia, TBD (ESPN or ESPN2 or ESPNU)
  • March 5 at Boston College, 7 p.m. (ESPN2 or ESPNU)
  • March 8 vs Virginia Tech, TBD (ESPNU)

RELATED: Marquee Clemson-Kentucky basketball game in December will be late tipoff

Clemson is coming off its best season in over 40 years. The Tigers reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament last March for only the second time in school history — and the first time since 1980.

Brownell is entering his 15th season as Clemson’s head coach. The Tigers will officially open the 2024-25 campaign against Charleston Southern on Nov. 4 at Littlejohn Coliseum. Clemson returns six scholarship players from a season ago, including sixth-year senior guard Chase Hunter and forward/center Ian Schieffelin.

Both were instrumental in the Tigers’ deep run to the Elite Eight. Schieffelin was named the ACC’s Most Improved Player a season ago.

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UNC basketball to host 2024-25 ACC opener

Here is who UNC basketball will host in the 2024-25 acc basketball season opener.

The North Carolina Tar Heels’ men’s basketball program officially began practices for the upcoming 2024-25 season this week as an exciting time is on the horizon. UNC is coming off a season last year in which they won the ACC regular season title and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

But they are out for some revenge this year as they saw their season end early in the Sweet 16.

As we get set for the upcoming season, the Tar Heels now have their first opponent for the 2024-25 ACC schedule. On ACC PM, Mark Packer released the first game on the conference schedule for every team as North Carolina is set to host Georgia Tech on December 7th to open the year.

You can see the full list of the season openers for each team in the conference below:

https://twitter.com/accmbb/status/1838337831011340548

Last season, North Carolina and Georgia Tech met just one time with the Yellow Jackets upsetting the Tar Heels 74-73 in Atlanta. It was a tough loss for UNC but Hubert Davis’ team rebounded well and beat Duke a few days later.

The full 2024-25 schedule for the ACC will be revealed on the ACC Network on Tuesday night.

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ACC basketball set to reveal 2024-25 conference schedule next week

The ACC announced on Thursday that it will reveal the 2024-25 basketball conference schedules on Tuesday, September 24.

The Atlantic Coast Conference announced on Thursday that the conference basketball schedules for 2024-25 will be revealed next Tuesday.

The women’s basketball schedule will be shown first at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time with the men’s schedule unveiled at 8:00 p.m. as part of an ACC Network show.

The Blue Devils men’s basketball team already knows its opponents for the upcoming season, but head coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] and his players wait to find out when they play each foe. Duke will of course play the North Carolina Tar Heels twice, and the Blue Devils will host NC State in an attempt to avenge last year’s Elite Eight upset.

Wake Forest and Miami will also be on the slate twice. California and Stanford, two of the three new members of the ACC, will come to Cameron Indoor Stadium at some point this season. Duke will travel to SMU, the third new conference team, for a road game.

https://twitter.com/accmbb/status/1836828933888823697

The women’s basketball team already knows its opponents for the next two seasons. They’ll also split a two-game series with the Tar Heels, and Virginia Tech comes to town after winning the 2023 ACC Tournament and the 2023-24 regular-season conference title.

Andy Katz reverses course, praises RJ Davis but with a catch

RJ Davis is amongst the nation’s best perimeter shooters, but is he THE best?

It came as a shock to many when reigning ACC Player of the Year RJ Davis, ahead of the 2024-2025 college basketball season, wasn’t named the ACC’s best player.

Andy Katz, a well-known college basketball correspondent, instead named Duke’s Cooper Flagg as the ACC’s best player. Flagg is being billed as a generational talent, but he hasn’t even played in a live college game yet.

Despite the disrespect, Davis is still one of the nation’s best players. He led the North Carolina Tar Heels with 21.2 points per game last year, including a career-best 42 points against Miami in February.

Davis did get some respect from Katz, though, as he was Katz’ fifth-best 3-point shooter in the country.

Davis shot 39.8% from deep last year, which was 38th nationally and third in the ACC. That percentage was also Davis’ career-best – and just ahead of teammate Harrison Ingram.

David will get some major help from beyond the are this coming season, as Belmont transfer Cade Tyson‘s 46.5% mark from deep was second-best in college basketball.

One could make the case it’s absurd Tyson isn’t on this list. Koby Brea led college basketball in 3-point percentage last year, so he’s deserving of the top spot,

By the end of March Madness, will Davis live up to (and exceed) his hype?

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Former Notre Dame coach Mike Brey criticizes ACC for fining system

You go, Mike.

Anyone who covered Notre Dame basketball when [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag] was coach will tell you he’s a pretty easygoing guy. The way he spoke at times, you wouldn’t mind if he pulled up a seat next to you at the bar and just start telling you one coaching story after another. That’s just who he is.

If Brey felt his team was being put at a disadvantage though, he wasn’t afraid to tell it like it was. Such was the case when he criticized the officiating after the Irish lost a close game at Florida State in January 2020. The ACC responded by fining Brey $20,000.

Nearly five years later, Brey has left college basketball, but ACC coaches across all sports continue to be fined for being critical of officials. Pittsburgh football coach Pat McMurphy was just fined $5,000 for it.

However, Brey seems less bothered by McMurphy’s fine than the apparent inconsistency in the amount for which coaches are fined:

 

Look, we’re not going to pretend to know what goes into determining how much coaches get fined for things. But if one coach is losing four times as much money as another for the same action, it might be time to reevaluate your practices. Otherwise, it’s pure chaos.

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All-ACC star guard signs Exhibit 10 deal with Philadelphia 76ers

Syracuse guard Judah Mintz signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday.

The Philadelphia 76ers signed former Syracuse Orange guard Judah Mintz to an Exhibit 10 deal on Sunday, according to a team announcement.

Mintz starred at Syracuse for two seasons, earning All-Freshman honors after averaging 16.3 points and 4.6 assists for the Orange in Jim Boeheim’s final season in 2022-23.

He stuck with Syracuse when Red Autry took over in 2023-24, and it paid off as Mintz improved statistically across the board – averaging 18.8 points, 4.4 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.1 steals per game.

The 6’3 guard went undrafted after declaring for the NBA draft, ultimately joining the Sixers for summer league where he showcased his strong mid-range game, pesky defensive traits, and elite ability to get to the free throw line. He posted averages of 9.5 points, 1.5 assists, and 1.3 steals in 19.2 minutes per game.

Exhibit 10 deals can be converted to two-way contracts before the start of the NBA regular season, which would allow Mintz to play for both the Delaware Blue Coats and 76ers during the season.

Currently Philadelphia has former Kentucky wing Justin Edwards, former Memphis forward David Jones, and NBA veteran and former Rhode Island guard Jeff Dowtin on two-way deals.