Austin Nichols transfers to Virginia

[roywhite]

It's certainly true that there are few things more consistent than the performance of Tom Izzo's teams against Mike Krzyzewski's teams in regular season or tournament play.

Coach K is 9-1 vs Izzo (3-1 in NCAA Tournament games).

[Duvall]

Coach K is 9-1 vs Izzo (3-1 in NCAA Tournament games).

Exactly. That's remarkably consistency over two decades.

[MChambers]

He's not going to Wisconsin, according to those who are very close to the Bennett family. The true test of whether Bennett will stick at UVA will be if/when the NBA comes calling. However, the longer he's at UVA, the tougher it will get to leave. He's a BIG family guy and his wife loves the town, and the kids are apparently very happy at their schools. Just don't see him uprooting or leaving the family - and we'll match money from pretty much anywhere.

Unless Bennett has serious Final Four success, I can't see him in the NBA. His deliberate style just won't fit there.

[Olympic Fan]

Interesting comparison with Izzo amd Bennett vs. K ...

K is 6-2 vs. Bennett and 9-1 vs. Izzo ... Izzo is also winless against Roy Williams at UNC (something like 0-6 or 0-7 ... don't care enough to look it up; he might have beaten Roy when Williams was at Kansas ... not sure).

I talked to a writer from Virginia last week and said Bennett has either just signed or is about to sign a contract extension. I mentioned the Wisconsin rumors and he dismissed them ... but he did mention the new buyout clause and it was fairly small ($1 million, I think).

[gep]

Agree with all you said. It's still yet-to-be-determined if Bennett's style of roster management and coaching philosophy can create top-tier NCAA tourney results (final fours & title games). Still, after the last 20 years of late Jones/Gillen/Leitao/early Bennett, we're pretty happy with just being a top 5-10 program throughout the regular season. Now, if it's 2020 and Bennett still hasn't gotten past the sweet 16, more than a few fans will be frustrated. I don't really expect that to happen though. The kenpom numbers indicate we ARE legit, and we can't possibly run into Izzo (who I personally believe to be the most consistent and maybe best tournament coach in the NCAA - no disrespect to K meant) EVERY year.... can we?

Isn't this what happened to Steve Lavin at UCLA? Some large numbers of Sweet 16's, but never advanced? Then... out

[Des Esseintes]

Isn't this what happened to Steve Lavin at UCLA? Some large numbers of Sweet 16's, but never advanced? Then... out

Not really. Lavin's UCLA teams were regular season underachievers. For a few years, though, they then outperformed their seed and made the Sweet 16. It kept Lavin employed there longer than made sense, and eventually the luck ran out. UVA, meanwhile, is the literal opposite. Bennett's teams have been legitimately elite; they've just had bad games at the wrong time.

[COYS]

Not really. Lavin's UCLA teams were regular season underachievers. For a few years, though, they then outperformed their seed and made the Sweet 16. It kept Lavin employed there longer than made sense, and eventually the luck ran out. UVA, meanwhile, is the literal opposite. Bennett's teams have been legitimately elite; they've just had bad games at the wrong time.

The luck gods weren't on their side this year, either, with arguably their most dynamic player suffering an injury, missing time, and then trying to get back in the swing of things. To make the FF, a team usually needs to be both really good and lucky. The hardest part of the equation, in my opinion, is the first part. If Bennett continues to put really good teams on the court, the "luck" part of the equation will work in his favor, whether that be a favorable bracket, a healthy squad, or even an injury to an opponent's player instead of his own. (Obviously, no one wishes for this. I remember how bummed I was for Purdue back in 2010 when Robbie Hummel suffered an ACL tear . . . even though it meant that Duke's match up with them in the Sweet 16 suddenly looked a lot more favorable.)

[DarkstarWahoo]

Interesting comparison with Izzo amd Bennett vs. K ...

K is 6-2 vs. Bennett and 9-1 vs. Izzo ... Izzo is also winless against Roy Williams at UNC (something like 0-6 or 0-7 ... don't care enough to look it up; he might have beaten Roy when Williams was at Kansas ... not sure).

I talked to a writer from Virginia last week and said Bennett has either just signed or is about to sign a contract extension. I mentioned the Wisconsin rumors and he dismissed them ... but he did mention the new buyout clause and it was fairly small ($1 million, I think).

I don't think it was an extension per se, but they did rework his contract and put some pretty heavy incentives to stay, notably a $3 million buyout. I have no idea if that's applicable to NBA teams as well, but I don't know why it wouldn't be.

[jhmoss1812]

For those of you interested in UVA's recruiting for 2016. We already have landed commitments from Ty Jerome (4-star PG - #68 on Rivals), Kyle Guy (4-star SG - #59 on Rivals) and Jay Huff (3-star stretch 4 that Duke had interest in). Jerome and Guy are arguable two of the top 5 shooters in the class and Huff is a very good shooter for being nearly 7-feet tall. We also will have Nichols eligible that year. We are the prohibitive favorite for Mamadi Diakite (4-star F - #30 on Rivals) by all accounts and still in contention for Wenyen Gabriel (who you guys have offered). If we land Diakite, we probably wouldn't take Gabriel too. I would probably say Gabriel is a long shot now as he is blowing up and probably a one-and-done type player now. Then, we are in the final six for our top wing prospect Braxton Blackwell (4-star F - #38 on Rivals). If we land Diakite (near lock imo) and Blackwell (solid contention), that is a VERY VERY good class for us. So I think the success we've been having on the court is starting to make top recruits (not elite) notice. We'll never recruit like Duke or Kentucky but our roster should be comprised of top 100 players with some top 50 players sprinkled in. And Kyle Guy is Michael Porter Jr's best friend so who knows what could happen for 2017. If he's not a package deal with Trae Young, we might have a chance.

[Edouble]

The luck gods weren't on their side this year, either, with arguably their most dynamic player suffering an injury, missing time, and then trying to get back in the swing of things. To make the FF, a team usually needs to be both really good and lucky. The hardest part of the equation, in my opinion, is the first part. If Bennett continues to put really good teams on the court, the "luck" part of the equation will work in his favor, whether that be a favorable bracket, a healthy squad, or even an injury to an opponent's player instead of his own. (Obviously, no one wishes for this. I remember how bummed I was for Purdue back in 2010 when Robbie Hummel suffered an ACL tear . . . even though it meant that Duke's match up with them in the Sweet 16 suddenly looked a lot more favorable.)

Agree... this is how it works. If you can be consistently good year in and year out, eventually the luck part goes your way and you make a nice run to the Final Four/NC.

[Billy Dat]

The kenpom numbers indicate we ARE legit, and we can't possibly run into Izzo (who I personally believe to be the most consistent and maybe best tournament coach in the NCAA - no disrespect to K meant) EVERY year.... can we?

I know, Izzo is a real bear in the NCAAs. K's had a ton of trouble with him both in the tournament and outside of it.

#stylesmakefights

[sagegrouse]

I know, Izzo is a real bear in the NCAAs. K's had a ton of trouble with him both in the tournament and outside of it.

#stylesmakefights

Ease up, Billy Dat! The Wahoo will take you seriously.

Kindly,
Sage

[Billy Dat]

Ease up, Billy Dat! The Wahoo will take you seriously.

Kindly,
Sage

I missed the previous iterations of the same theme offered by Duvall, roywhite and Olympic Fan - too funny - K's domination of Izzo is a nice feather in his cap.

In all seriousness, it would be nice for the ACC scheduling gurus to sniff the fact that Duke v UVA is a nice little rivalry right now and assign it a home and home. Maybe they will for 2016-2018.

[Wahoo2000]

I missed the previous iterations of the same theme offered by Duvall, roywhite and Olympic Fan - too funny - K's domination of Izzo is a nice feather in his cap.

In all seriousness, it would be nice for the ACC scheduling gurus to sniff the fact that Duke v UVA is a nice little rivalry right now and assign it a home and home. Maybe they will for 2016-2018.

Yeah - I already knew about K's (and Roy's for that matter) domination vs Izzo before I posted. Sometimes, one particular coach/style just seems to have your number. Or maybe it's just the fact that despite all the success Bennett's had so far, he's still relatively inexperienced in the NCAA tourney - and SUPER inexperienced when compared with guys like Izzo or K who've coached seemingly hundreds of games there.

Still have faith we'll get there - Tony has waaaay overachieved with recruits usually in the #80-#130 range. Now he seems to be upgrading the talent somewhat significantly (2016 class is almost entirely top 50 guys plus Nichols who'll be eligible in 16 as well). If he can "coach them up" as much as he did much lower rated guys like Mitchell and Harris I like where we're headed.

[Indoor66]

Yeah - I already knew about K's (and Roy's for that matter) domination vs Izzo before I posted. Sometimes, one particular coach/style just seems to have your number. Or maybe it's just the fact that despite all the success Bennett's had so far, he's still relatively inexperienced in the NCAA tourney - and SUPER inexperienced when compared with guys like Izzo or K who've coached seemingly hundreds of games there.

Still have faith we'll get there - Tony has waaaay overachieved with recruits usually in the #80-#130 range. Now he seems to be upgrading the talent somewhat significantly (2016 class is almost entirely top 50 guys plus Nichols who'll be eligible in 16 as well). If he can "coach them up" as much as he did much lower rated guys like Mitchell and Harris I like where we're headed.

I really like what he as done so far. That said, the next step is very tall and not many are successful conquering it! I wish him well.

[Edouble]

I really like what he as done so far. That said, the next step is very tall and not many are successful conquering it! I wish him well.

And the step after that, maintaining the success, is even harder still. Just ask Gary Williams, Paul Hewitt, and to a lesser extent Dave Odom at Wake and Rick Barnes at Clemson. Climbing the mountain once has been done by many, and all but a handful fall back down.

[Indoor66]

And the step after that, maintaining the success, is even harder still. Just ask Gary Williams, Paul Hewitt, and to a lesser extent Dave Odom at Wake and Rick Barnes at Clemson. Climbing the mountain once has been done by many, and all but a handful fall back down.

Just ask Sisyphus!

[BD80]

Just ask Sisyphus!

That is just soooo politically incorrect, calling someone a sissy-puss.

[BobBender]

And the step after that, maintaining the success, is even harder still. Just ask Gary Williams, Paul Hewitt, and to a lesser extent Dave Odom at Wake and Rick Barnes at Clemson. Climbing the mountain once has been done by many, and all but a handful fall back down.

The implications of this thread are clear, that Bennett has taken a first step but not necessarily established a permanency. And , of course, K was able to do this. The pertinent question around here should be what makes us believe Jeff Capel is going to sustain this. Sure, he's a great recruiter. His head coaching record leaves more questions than answers.

[Duvall]

The pertinent question around here should be what makes us believe Jeff Capel is going to sustain this. Sure, he's a great recruiter. His head coaching record leaves more questions than answers.

In what sense is that question pertinent? No one has mentioned Capel in this thread, as far as I can tell.

It's not reasonable to assume that *anyone* can sustain the success of Duke under Mike Krzyzewski - that would require Duke hiring the two greatest coaches in college basketball history back-to-back, which seems unlikely at best.