The Legacy of Coach Nolan (ch2k8)

[nolan887]

NATIONAL CHAMP CROWNED: FIGHT ON, TROJANS, FIGHT ON
April 7, 2014

As much as we would all have liked to see a slug-fest battle-to-the-end offensive shootout down to the wire type game, we settled for a complete blowout. The USC Trojans embarrassed the Florida Gators in an 18 point win in the national title game. Some say it was just a boring finish to a boring tournament. Many are already looking forward to next year's NCAA Tournament and hoping to see some upsets and buzzer beaters in the later rounds. USC deserves all the credit in the world, not only did they win the National Championship, but they also knocked off Michigan State, #1 in the country and #1 overall seed in the tourney on their way to the final game. USC Coach Tim Floyd will likely be announced as Coach of the Year later this week when yearly awards are handed out. He must have done some great coaching as USC averaged 93 points per game in the tournament with an average margin of victory of 24 points per game. USC was hands down the most prolific offensive team in the entire field of 64, and ended up coming out on top.

[nolan887]

2013-14 SEASON WRAP UP

Orlando, FL - With the NCAA Tournament finished, yearly awards have been announced around the league. Most notably, Coach Nolan, who coached his UCF Knights from last to first in C-USA, claimed the regular season and conference tournament titles, and led his #4 ranked Knights to the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament did not receive Conference Coach of the year. The Knights had one of the best seasons in school history, but did not play well enough to be recognized on a national level.

NCAA Champions: USC Trojans 31-6 (13-5)
NIT Champions: Alabama Crimson Tide (def Butler 69-67 in Championship game)
Player of the Year: C - Chauncey Munir, Sr, Texas A&M - 22.1 PPG, 5.2 RPG
Mid-Major Player of the Year: C - Richard Wente, Sr, Troy - 24.8 PPG, 6.8 RPG
Coach of the Year: Tim Floyd, USC
Defensive Player of the Year: C - Deantoine Minoff, Jr, Michigan State - 7 RPG, 1.2 SPG, 1.7 BPG
Big Man of the Year: C - Chauncey Munir, Sr, Texas A&M - 22.1 PPG, 5.2 RPG
Freshman of the Year: SG - Elmore Salow, Fr, Florida - 7.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 4.4 APG, 1.8 SPG
First Team All-American:
PG - S Goodson, Sr, Memphis
SG - I Whelchel, Sr, Michigan State
SF - L Anthony, Sr, Arkansas
PF - D Reed, Sr, USC
C - C Munir, Sr, Texas A&M
Second Team All-American:
PG - Z Blackenship, Sr, Illinois
SG - G Bridgewater, Sr, UCLA
SF - C Silva, Sr, Missouri
PF - T Rodgers, Sr, Vanerbilt
C - K Zachery, Sr, UConn
Freshman All-American:
PG - D Shavies, Michigan State
SG - E Salow, Florida
SF - N Crosswhite, Kansas
PF - P Grove, Villanova
C - S Graham, LSU

Conference USA Awards:
Coach of the Year: John Calipari
Player of the Year: C - Jarryd Watts, Sr, Tulsa - 21.7 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 2.5 BPG
Freshman of the Year: PF - Aaron Videnov, Houston - 6.6 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 1.6 BPG
First Team All-Conference:
PG - S Goodson, Sr, Memphis
SG - A Nelke, Sr, Tulane
SF - M Jelenic, Jr. UTEP
PF - K Kleinzweig, Sr, UCF
C - J Watts, Sr, Tulsa
Second Team All-Conference:
PG - G Corrigan, So, Houston
SG - A Draughan, Sr, Southern Miss
SF - M Cunningham, So, Houston
PF - P Shannon, Jr, UCF
C - T Braun, Jr, Marshall
Freshman All-Conference:
PG - T Benson, UTEP
SG - S Thues, Tulsa
SF - S Esterkamp, UTEP
PF - A Videnov, Houston
C - V Winkfield, Southern Methodist

[Deuce2223]

That is the first time I have ever seen a Final 4 made up of the 4 #1 Seeds.. That was crazy.. Good to see the Pac-10 representing...


You got totally screwed not winning CUSA Coach of the Year. You won both the Regular Season Title and Conference Tourney..

BOO BOO BOO BOO BOO BOO BOO the Voters...

[nolan887]

Quote: Originally Posted by Deuce2223

That is the first time I have ever seen a Final 4 made up of the 4 #1 Seeds.. That was crazy.. Good to see the Pac-10 representing... You got totally screwed not winning CUSA Coach of the Year. You won both the Regular Season Title and Conference Tourney.. BOO BOO BOO BOO BOO BOO BOO the Voters...

haha yea i know. and i beat calipari both times we went head to head. kinda sucks. i'm more pissed off about my loss still. it was one of those games when i almost threw my controller through my tv. every time kansas drove down to the bucket one of my players would just run over and foul him for no reason at all. the pac-10 was beastly this season. usc won it all and was 3rd in their conference if that tells you how much talent they have. looking forward to another solid season, hopefully i can fill the void left by Kleinzweig down low.

[nolan887]

Question for anyone/everyone following:

Would you rather a post for each round of the NCAA tournament like I did or just a final post with the entire bracket filled out? Either way works for me, just wanted some input.

[nolan887]

NOLAN SHAKES THINGS UP A BIT TO START OF THE NEW SEASON

Orlando, FL - Although Coach Nolan led his UCF Knights to a 30 win season, regular season conference title, conference tournament title, and 2nd round NCAA appearance, he was not at all happy with the contributions made by his assistant coaching staff. Before Nolan inked his new 2 year deal with the Knights, he dropped both of his assistant coaches calling them "useless." Nolan picked up Kelenna Forney to help out with recruiting, a task he performed alone last season to poor result, and Red Agudio who will be in charge of watching game tape and scouting recruit games.

Losses and Additions
The Knights graduated three Seniors at the end of last season including point leader and terror in the paint Kody Kleinzweig and 3-point specialist Dominik Hill. With only two signings this past off season, the Knights will look to bench players from last season to help fill the void. The Knights add a 6'-10" center from New Zealand and an additional guard to their roster. This season, Nolan cut many players who saw limited playing time last year in an attempt to open up scholarships for next season to help build a team worthy of a National Championship.

Starting Lineup:
PG #33 J Bone, 5'-9", 164 lb (Orlando, FL) 72 OVR Junior
SG #14 N Simmons, 5'-10", 188 lb (Miami, FL) 69 OVR Junior
SF #24 N Cassler, 6'-9", 236 lb (Orlando, FL) 67 OVR Sophomore
PF #45 P Shannon, 6'-9" 242 lb (Jacksonville, FL) 71 OVR Senior
C #40 M Boyce, 6'-10", 227 lb, (New Zealand) 66 OVR Freshman

Bench:
G #12 G Logie, 6'-6", 190 lb (Charleston, SC) 65 OVR Freshman
G #32 L Gardner, 6'-2", 217 lb (Coral Springs, FL) 57 OVR Junior
G #11 F Cooper, 6'-4" 199 lb (Des Plaines, IL) 53 OVR Freshman (RS)
F #54 A Ross, 6'-9", 247 lb (San Antonio, TX) 65 OVR Junior
F #42 E Carlson, 6'-8", 227 lb (Jacksonville, FL) 58 OVR Junior
F #55 R Rios, 6'-9", 234 lb (Cape Coral, FL) 55 OVR Freshman (RS)

Transfer:
G #22 C Poole, 6'-5", 199 lb (Tucson, AZ) 71 OVR Junior [Air Force]

Conference USA Projections
The Knights were projected to finish dead last in their conference last season and stunned all of the critics by going 15-1 in conference play. UCF won not only the conference title, but the conference tournament as well. This year, the critics have no faith in the Knights again. With the losses of Kleinzweig and Hill, two of their top offensive players, the "experts" are picking the Knights to finish second to last in the division.

Projected Standings:
1. UTEP Miners
2. ECU Pirates
3. Memphis Tigers
4. Houston Cougars
5. Rice Owls
6. Marshall Thundering Herd
7. Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles
8. Southern Methodist Mustangs
9. Tulane Green Wave
10. Tulsa Golden Hurricane
11. UCF Knights
12. UAB Blazers

Schedule Released
With the critics at it again, Coach Nolan decided to try to mix it up a little bit this year by playing much tougher opponents in non-conference play. "We played a lot of poor teams last year and people doubted us going into conference play. This year we have some tough competition and nobody will be able to question our toughness and dedication to the game of basketball." The Knights will be kicking their season off against the Florida Gators who were the runners up in the NCAA tournament last season. Florida returns all five of their starters from last season and will be a very hard team to beat for the Knights. The Knights also have games scheduled against two Big East foes: their rival USF Bulls and the WVU Mountaineers.

In an attempt to build up some reputation for his program, Coach Nolan plans to make regular rivalry games every year against Florida, Florida State, Miami, USF and UNF. All five of the schools are in close proximity and all five fight for recruits every season. Nolan will also take on his old school the USC Upstate Spartans again this year. Other notable opponents on this years roster are Army, UNLV, Wofford, UC Davis, and UALR.

2014-15 Schedule:
red denotes conference games
11/1 @ #1 Florida
11/5 @ Army
11/8 v UNLV
11/12 v USCU
11/15 v Wofford
11/19 @ Miami
11/22 @ Florida State
11/26 @ South Florida
11/29 v North Florida
12/10 v UC Davis
12/12 v UALR
12/17 @ West Virginia
1/7 @ ECU
1/14 v Rice
1/17 @ UTEP
1/21 v UAB
1/28 @ #11 Memphis
1/31 v UTEP
2/3 @ Rice
2/7 v Tulane
2/11 @ So. Methodist
2/14 v Houston
2/18 v Tulsa
2/21 @ Marshall
2/25 @ Tulane
2/28 v ECU
3/4 v So. Miss
3/7 @ Houston

Potential UCF Knights
The Knights only have two scholarships available this year, so recruitment will be tough as it was last year. Making cuts this season will surely open up more scholarships for next season, but Coach Nolan must deal with what he has at the moment. The only graduating senior on the team this year is Pearson Shannon. With Shannon leaving and the cuts made, Nolan should have plenty of scholarships to give out next season. The areas of concern for this year are finding a potential replacement or bench depth for Shannon and also finding one or two more guards to become an outside threat for the Knights. With the departure of Hill, UCF looks very week in terms of three point shooting this year.

Pre-Season Recruits:
G Fernandez Grundy, 5'-10", 160 lb (Richmond, VA) 5*, #6 OVR, #3 PG, Mr BB Virginia, McDonald's All-American
F Julian Mundz, 6'-10", 213 lb (Albany, GA) 3*, #360 OVR, #23 PF
F Edward Whitehead, 6'-7", 199lb (Fayetteville, NC) 3*, #399 OVR, #69 SF
C Cartier Berry, 7'-1", 244lb (Orlando, FL) 2*

Pre-Season AP Top 25
The Florida Gators, UCF's first opponent of the season, are returning all five starting members of their lineup. Coming in 2nd place last season no doubt lit a fire in their belly, and they will be out for blood this year. The Gators start the season off ranked as the #1 team in the country. The only other pre-season ranked team on the Knights' schedule is conference foe Memphis. UCF dispatched the Tigers in both of their match-ups last season, the latter being for the conference tournament win.

NCAA Basketball Rankings - AP Top 25
RK	TEAM	RECORD
1	Florida Gators	0-0
2	Pittsburgh Panthers	0-0
3	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	0-0
4	Texas Tech Red Raiders	0-0
5	Saint Louis Billikens	0-0
6	Oregon Ducks	0-0
7	Arizona Wildcats	0-0
8	Illinois Fighting Illini	0-0
9	Arizona State Sun Devils	0-0
10	Seton Hall Pirates	0-0
11	Memphis Tigers	0-0
12	Vanderbilt Commodores	0-0
13	Michigan State Spartans	0-0
14	Iowa State Cyclones	0-0
15	California Golden Bears	0-0
16	Maryland Terrapins	0-0
17	Wisconsin Badgers	0-0
18	Syracuse Orange	0-0
19	Mississippi State Bulldogs	0-0
20	Georgetown Hoyas	0-0
21	USC Trojans	0-0
22	Indiana Hoosiers	0-0
23	Xavier Musketeers	0-0
24	Clemson Tigers	0-0
25	NC State Wolfpack	0-0

[superjames1992]

LOL at UCF being picked 11th in C-USA...

Good luck this season!

[Deuce2223]

Good luck trying to land Grundy. Landing a 5* AA would be huge. You got my support every game excpet the UC Davis game

I would've scheduled USF to play the Aggies in my legacy, but after I got done putting in all the teams with players on it from the boards, I only had 1 game left and that went to UCLA my legacy rival. I have beat them every year so far.

I am not sure what I am going to do next year with 5 incoming player. I will need to more to a confernce in which has more non-conference games available I guess. Maybe the WCC..