Jeremy Roach’s Feast Week heroics and Labaron Philon’s breakout November highlight the latest Rauf Report.
It wouldn’t be peak college basketball season without all-day action and a potentially massive off-court scandal, would it?
Yes, we have fully entered Feast Week, the only time of weekday mid-day basketball between now and conference tournaments in March. It’s the time when we learn a lot about how teams will perform the rest of the way, given that the games are played in such quick succession and (normally) against quality opponents. Success this week has become an indicator of future success for many of the nation’s top teams, as each of the last 10 national champions won their Feast Week multi-team event (MTE).
Off the court, ESPN’s Pete Thamel and David Purdum broke a story on Thursday detailing that former Temple guard Hysier Miller was under federal investigation for point shaving after some suspicious activity occurred late last season. This was something gambling watch dogs were alerted to back in March ahead of a Temple-UAB game. While the report only references Temple, the investigation could spread to other parts of the country.
Let’s take things back to the court. This Rauf Report will start with a look at the biggest game from Thursday night as we give Jeremy Roach his much-deserved flowers.
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The most clutch player in the country
Roach left Duke somewhat amicably this offseason. He wanted to stay, but also wanted a substantial role and an NIL figure the Blue Devils couldn’t promise. Duke would’ve liked to have had its captain back for another season, but the coaching staff was all-in on its freshman class and didn’t fight overly hard to keep Roach.
That has been Baylor’s gain. An up-and-down start to the season for the Bears reached a crescendo on Thursday night when they erased a 18-point deficit to beat St. John’s in double overtime, thanks to a buzzer-beating three by Roach.
This is something college basketball fans — especially Duke fans — have gotten used to by now. Living in the Raleigh area, I was expecting Roach to make that shot when it left his hands because, well, making big shots is what he did throughout his time in Durham.
There are more, but you get the point. I don’t think there’s another player in the country I trust more with the game on the line right now. Roach’s experience, skill set and, well, the fact he does this all the damn time makes him the most clutch player in the sport.
That’s a nice thing for Scott Drew to have up his sleeve.
Could Labaraon Philon be one of the nation’s best guards?
It’s not every day that an opposing coach will heap praise on an opposing player after getting soundly beaten by said player, yet that’s exactly what Brad Underwood did following Labaron Philon’s 16-point, nine-assist, seven-rebound performance in Alabama’s win over Illinois on Wednesday.
“Philon showed why he’s a pro and moving up everybody’s draft board,” Underwood exclaimed. “That’s a bad boy right there.”
Philon wasn’t expected to play very much this season despite being a highly rated recruit due to Alabama’s depth in the backcourt, yet his production and wide-ranging skill set have essentially forced head coach Nate Oats to start him alongside preseason All-American Mark Sears.
You know how sometimes you can just tell someone is different when watching them play? That’s the case with Philon, and it seems to be the consensus. Alabama teammate Grant Nelson told Heat Check CBB’s Riley Davis during Sleepers Media’s NBA Draft show that the freshman was turning heads during summer workouts. Oats talked him up all offseason, too.
“As a young guy, you probably get nervous or a lot of butterflies, but I just try to stay calm in every moment and confident,” Philon told reporters after the Illinois win. “Once you get in the gym, once you get on the court, it’s all confidence then.”
The 6-4, 177-pounder has great quickness for someone his size and has flashed a phenomenal feel for the game. His nine assists against Illinois tied a career-high for him, as he also had nine in the Crimson Tide’s season-opening win against UNC Asheville. Philon showcased his potential as a shooter in the loss to Purdue (3-of-4 from 3-point range) to go along with his ability to finish at the rim at a highly effective rate.
Alabama is still a veteran-led team with Sears and Nelson serving as the two leaders. That being said, Philon has already flashed as much high-level play as anyone on the roster. There’s a real chance that once he gets more experience under his belt and is more adjusted to the college game, Philon becomes a true star.
Vanderbilt might be good!
Elsewhere in the SEC, Vanderbilt was the consensus pick to finish last in the league in the preseason. The logic behind that selection was relatively sound — the Commodores weren’t great under Jerry Stackhouse and new head coach Mark Byington had to bring in virtually an entirely new roster without much portal buzz.
Yet, after beating Nevada in the Charleston Classic on Thursday, Vanderbilt has started the season 5-0. It’s the first time the program has done that since the 2015-16 campaign, and it has a win over a power conference opponent in Cal.
This group has a top-50 offense, per KenPom, and leads the nation in turnover rate. That comes from having experienced players in the backcourt — the perks of the veteran transfer class — and having at least three or four ball handlers on the court at all times.
But there has also been significant player development this offseason, one of Byington’s specialties. North Texas transfer Jason Edwards has seen his scoring translate while being even more efficient. Michigan State transfer AJ Hoggard — who had 18 points and seven assists against Nevada — is playing perhaps the best basketball of his career. Devin McGlockton (Boston College), Tyler Nickel (Virginia Tech) and Jaylen Carey (James Madison) are flourishing in bigger roles, too.
That’s a credit to coaching. Byington has won everywhere he has been, and it looks like he may have Vanderbilt competitive in the SEC way ahead of schedule.
Grand Canyon’s early season struggles
Expectations were very high for Grand Canyon coming into this season, which isn’t a surprise given the Lopes returned the core of a 30-win team that made the second round of the NCAA Tournament. I predicted that Bryce Drew’s squad would win 30 games again this season and, quite frankly, still do.
However, there is reason to be concerned, because GCU has looked far from dominant.
The Lopes struggled in their opener against Cal State Fullerton, trailing in the first half before coming back and winning by 10. They then needed last-second heroics from Ray Harrison to beat Western Kentucky. Then, GCU suffered a convincing loss to Arizona State in which the Sun Devils largely controlled the game.
That was acceptable given that Arizona State had just pushed Gonzaga to the brink in Spokane, but losing at home to UC Davis on Wednesday in a game they led for only 1:32 is inexcusable. Yes, big man Duke Brennan is out and Tyon Grant-Foster was only playing his second game back, but that doesn’t explain the poor offensive output.
“We had good looks, but guys have got to make shots,” Drew told reporters postgame. “You can’t go 4-for-25 [from 3-point range] in your own gym, especially when you have good looks.
“A lot of shooting is pride, putting in the extra work and being focused and locking into your shooting so it carries over to the game. A lot of times when you miss shots, it’s lack of focus. Lack of focus in practice. Lack of focus in the game. We had really good looks.”
That lack of focus extends to the defensive end as well. Grand Canyon is playing significantly worse on both ends of the court than it was last season, particularly when it comes to turning the ball over and wreaking havoc defensively.
I still fully expect Grand Canyon to hit its stride. There are too many talented players on this roster who sacrificed opportunities elsewhere for them to not figure things out. Plus, the WAC doesn’t project to be very strong at all and there isn’t a KenPom top-50 team remaining on GCU’s schedule. There is plenty of time for the Lopes to find their groove, especially given that most of their issues involve raising their effort level.
That being said, those efficiency metrics are indicative of a team that will miss out on the postseason entirely if they don’t get an auto-bid. Grand Canyon has much higher expectations than that.
Don’t forget about UTRGV
UT Rio Grande Valley left the WAC for the Southland this season, a conference that is expected to be dominated by Will Wade’s McNeese squad. That will likely still end up being the case, but UTRGV looks like it could give the Cowboys a stiff test.
Through just a few weeks, the Vaqueros have already pushed three power conference teams to the brink of an upset. Here’s a look at some notable feats:
- Trailed Nebraska by four points with 4:35 remaining
- Trailed Creighton by five points with 2:15 remaining
- Led Wisconsin for over 30 minutes, trailed by one point in closing seconds
First-year head coach Kahil Fennell’s squad has done this through a firmly established identity — they want to shoot as many 3-pointers as possible, play at a fast pace and pressure the perimeter since they lack size on the interior. If you recall, this is the team Creighton big man Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 49 points against, yet Fennell’s gameplan allowed UTRGV to remain close until the final minutes.
The best part might be that the Vaqueros aren’t celebrating the moral victories that come with close losses.
“As good as those teams and coaches are, we have really good players too,” Fennell said postgame after the Wisconsin loss. “I feel really confident in their ability to step on the floor with anybody and compete. They’re able to give anybody a game, but we’ve got to get to the point where we’re finishing games. We’ve been in striking distance in all three of these. That’s the next step for our program and myself, starting with myself. I have to do a far better job leading us to a point where we can finish these games.”
Four players are currently averaging double-figure points for the Vaqueros, headlined by senior Hasan Abdul Hakim. This team will likely slide back out of the national limelight given it has no more power conference or KenPom top-100 teams left on its schedule. But this team has proven it can be dangerous and will be one to monitor between now and March.
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