Welcome to a special Feast Week edition of the Rauf Report!
There has been almost too much college basketball action to talk about everything, so instead we’ll look at arguably the six most notable, important and/or fun multi-team events (MTEs) over the past week.
I’ll spare you my (full) annual diatribe about how Feast Week, as great as it is, is simply too loaded, and how I think it would be better for everyone involved — fans, teams, MTE organizers — to space these events out more between now and Christmas. I’m certainly thankful, though. (It’s that time of year!) There are so many elite matchups to watch, but I think some opportunities have been mismanaged there.
But I digress. Looking back to the court, let’s dig in on the first part of Feast Week.
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Maui Invitational: Memphis has one of the nation’s best backcourts
Memphis’ run to second place at the Maui Invitational was unexpected to say the least. Some of that was simply that the teams ahead of the Tigers in the bracket were so good. Perhaps just as notably, it has been hard to trust Penny Hardaway teams in these moments. Memphis has a history of coming up short in big spots throughout Hardaway’s tenure, and given the comebacks this team needed to beat Missouri, UNLV and San Francisco, the misgivings were understandable.
Instead, the Tigers used Feast Week to make an incredibly positive statement about their potential this season, and their backcourt play was the loudest part.
PJ Haggerty has scored at least 22 points in five of Memphis’s seven games, including 27 in the Tigers’ 90-76 loss to Auburn in the Maui title game on Wednesday and 22 in Monday’s first-round win over UConn. Meanwhile, backcourt mate Tyrese Hunter was the highest scorer on each of the first two days in Maui with 26 against UConn and 23 in the Michigan State win.
For as up-and-down as Hardaway’s tenure has been, his best teams have had a dominant guard. The 2022-23 AAC championship team was led by All-American Kendric Davis. Lester Quinones and Landers Nolley helped the Tigers win the 2021 NIT and then win an NCAA Tournament game in 2022.
Haggerty and Hunter are easily the best combo he has had. Both excel at creating offense off the bounce, including shots for themselves and open looks for teammates. Hunter is also one of the best perimeter defenders in the nation.
Memphis doesn’t just look like the best team in the American — Haggerty and Hunter look like they can help lead the Tigers to an NCAA Tournament run.
Player’s Era Festival: Creighton is incredibly limited
Creighton’s high expectations for the season have been tempered severely this week, starting with the home loss to Nebraska and now into the Player’s Era Festival. But it’s not just the 4-3 record that is concerning — it’s what’s leading to the losses.
The Cornhuskers found a way to limit Bluejay big man Ryan Kalkbrenner by fronting him in the post and playing a help defender behind. As a result, the preseason Big East Player of the Year favorite only had one shot attempt in the loss.
San Diego State had no problem deploying the same strategy in the Players’ Era Festival opener.
“Just play in front of him and behind him,” Aztecs head coach Brian Dutcher told TBS at halftime. It worked in limiting Kalkbrenner again.
Combating that strategy now falls on Greg McDermott and the rest of the coaching staff to figure out, but Kalkbrenner’s ineffectiveness has highlighted how little help he has on the rest of the roster. Texas Tech transfer Pop Isaacs has been incredibly inefficient, Steven Ashworth is turning the ball over at the highest rate of his career, and no one else is averaging over 9.0 points.
The Bluejays need Kalkbrenner to be a superstar if they’re going to compete at the top of the Big East. Otherwise, Creighton’s struggles everywhere else could lead to a vastly disappointing season.
Battle 4 Atlantis: Indiana doesn’t have it
Following Indiana’s 4-0 start to the season, including a convincing victory over South Carolina, it looked like this year might be different in Bloomington. Instead, it turns out the Hoosiers are a big team that struggles to rebound, turns the ball over too much, and is largely inefficient on offense because of an unwillingness to embrace the 3-point shot.
Essentially, it looks the same as each of Mike Woodson’s first three seasons as head coach.
This year was supposed to be different, though. This is an incredibly talented roster on paper, but Indiana’s 28-point defeat to Louisville on Wednesday indicated that this is the same kind of team as the previous iterations, and it’s running into the same kind of problems. That cycle stems from coaching.
Baha Mar Championship: Virginia is going to struggle
While Tennessee, Baylor and St. John’s all showed out well, Virginia was very clearly the fourth team here.
The Cavaliers lost to eventual champs Tennessee by 22 and St. John’s by 25, and never really threatened in either game. It was the first time since 2008 the Wahoos were blown out like that in back-to-back games. Their stout defense and plodding pace have continued under Ron Sanchez, but the lack of offensive options was painfully obvious in both games.
Virginia’s offense was rarely explosive under Tony Bennett, but it always had players that could create out of structure: Ty Jerome, Kyle Guy, DeAndre Hunter, Malcolm Brogdon, Justin Anderson, London Perrantes, Reece Beekman. This team doesn’t have anyone like that, and it shows:
Unfortunately for Sanchez, that’s not all.
“We have to continue to focus on eliminating losing [plays],” Sanchez told reporters after the St. John’s loss. “For us, that means getting back in transition and eliminating easy baskets. We have to do a much better job on the glass. And…we have to take care of the basketball a lot better. Those incisions are going to hurt you, so we have to do a much better job in those three areas.”
These issues may not have a quick fix. Dai Dai Ames is Virginia’s only real ball handler. Blake Buchanan wasn’t a good rebounder last season, and the only other true big, freshman Jacob Cofie, must be stronger. Meanwhile, Isaac McNeeley is a great shooter but doesn’t really create or shoot off the dribble, instead relying on others for open looks. And no one is putting stress on opposing defenses.
Virginia may still rack up a decent number of wins this season, but this week made it clear that the Cavs are a long way behind the ACC’s top tier.
Fort Myers Tip-Off: Tre Donaldson is Michigan’s most important player
Michigan’s up-and-down season continued in Fort Myers as Dusty May continues to figure out his team’s best lineup combinations. One thing that remained apparent this week: Point guard Tre Donaldson is the most important player on this Wolverines team.
Donaldson has been Michigan’s best playmaker, most efficient shooter and overall leader, and he plays his best when his team needs it. When the game against Virginia Tech looked dicey, Donaldson spearheaded a 23-11 run with eight points and two assists, completely flipping the game.
His value also shows in Michigan’s overall efficiency. When he’s on the court, he makes the Wolverines significantly more efficient and impactful in just about every category:
Michigan needs Danny Wolf to be good, and Roddy Gayle has been the team’s most productive guard. Both those things must continue for Michigan to hit its ceiling, but no one has the same kind of overall impact on the Wolverines’ success as Donaldson does.
Charleston Classic: Yeah, Drake is that good
The Charleston Classic was supposed to be a showcase event for teams like Miami, Nevada and VCU, potentially giving the champion a significant boost in both at-large resume and national notoriety.
One team did earn those spoils — it just happened to be Drake.
The Bulldogs started out with a convincing victory over Miami and then knocked off FAU and Vanderbilt on their way to the title, winning all three games by double digits.
Drake endured plenty of turnover this offseason after Darian DeVries took the head coaching job at West Virginia (taking his son, two-time MVC POY Tucker DeVries, with him).
Ben McCollum quickly put together a roster filled with transfers — many from lower levels, including a handful that followed McCollum from Northwest Missouri State. McCollum turned that program into a Division II powerhouse, but it was unclear how this group would perform at the D-I level. As a result, Drake finished finish in the MVC preseason polling, a mark this team now seems sure to outperform.
One of those NWMSU transfers, Bennett Stirtz, has already become a star. He played every single minute in Charleston and currently leads the Bulldogs in both points and assists (18.3 ppg, 6.3 apg) while leading the country in minutes. Two other NWMSU transfers, Daniel Abreu (15.2 ppg) and Mitch Mascari (14.3 ppg), have proven to be elite contributors as well.
This kind of dominance can help put a mid-major in the at-large conversation come tournament time. The Bulldogs still have one more nonconference game against a power opponent in Kansas State, and then the Missouri Valley race looks to be a dogfight between Drake and Bradley.
After the MVC earned an at-large bid in 2021 and nearly got another last season, Drake looks poised to make its own run in 2025.
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