Green machine

North Texas takes the NIT, Duke returns Mark Mitchell, we recap the Final Four's 3-point and dunk contests and more

Author

Tristan Freeman
March 31, 2023

Fun fact: Of the six D-I men's college basketball teams that were still playing as of Thursday, three represent Conference USA. Even more fun? None of them will be in C-USA after this season.

Even as the final weekend of the 2022-23 season nears, you can't get away from realignment and its impact on the sport, which includes half of the Final Four.

Let's get to the news.

1. North Texas claims NIT title, another for C-USA

There's not much Grant McCasland hasn't done at North Texas.

He's won 135 games in six seasons with the Mean Green, the latest coming Thursday night in the NIT Championship game that was a typical North Texas style, too.

Tylor Perry scored 20 points, including five in the final minute, to seal a 68-61 win over Conference USA rival UAB and claim the program's first NIT title. It was the fourth time the teams had played this season, with North Texas going 3-1. It also makes C-USA 18-2 in postseason tournaments this season, with FAU still to play in the Final Four.

This one could've gone either way. Perry, the C-USA POY, made a steal and a 3-pointer that gave North Texas (31-7) the lead for good with 6:22 remaining. With Perry handling the ball, the Mean Green controlled the rest of the game. The closest UAB (29-10) got was when Jelly Walker made two free throws to cut it to four points with just under two minutes left, but the Blazers couldn't get any closer in a game that featured only 60 possessions.

Anyway, back to McCasland.

It was quite the capper for McCasland, who reportedly agreed to become the next coach at Texas Tech. It's part of a change for both programs, as North Texas and UAB will join the American Athletic Conference for 2023-24.

From a roster standpoint, both teams can remain more than competitive. The Mean Green could return its top five scorers, including Perry, Kai Huntsberry, and Abou Ousmane. The Blazers will lose 22-point scorer Walker, along with several other rotation players. However, the most significant returning piece is coach Andy Kennedy, an elite recruiter who's also won 78 games in just three seasons in Birmingham.

Florida Atlantic is the C-USA program getting all of the attention, but they'll also be in the AAC next season, joining another newcomer (and CBI champion) in Charlotte.

Maybe the American won't be a guaranteed one-bid league after all going forward.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY FAST RECRUIT

Find the perfect fit in the portal

The transfer portal can overwhelm even the most well-staffed college hoops programs. But it doesn't have to.

FastRecruit offers up-to-date info on the players in the portal, including essential info a coach needs to evaluate a player. Plus, it's easy to use on your laptop, tablet or phone, and always available.

Try FastRecruit now, and see the difference it can make when it comes to building a program in today's hoops world.

2. Portal moves: Duke gets Mark Mitchell back

The Blue Devils came into the offseason with several players needing to decide on their future. So far, we know that point guard Tyrese Proctor will return for another season while wing Dariq Whitehead is off to the NBA. The latest move came from freshman Mark Mitchell, who'll return for the 2023-24 campaign.

Mitchell, a former 5-star prospect, averaged 9.1 points and 4.5 rebounds in 35 starts. His biggest impact came on the defensive end, guarding several positions inside and out. Mitchell's offense was inconsistent, but he flashed in a stretch of six straight double-digit outputs in the last month. That included 17 points and eight rebounds in a win over Virginia Tech.

With Mitchell back, that leaves a trio of decisions to be made at Duke: Starting guard Jeremy Roach, defensive anchor Dereck Lively and leading scorer Kyle Filipowski. Depending on what happens with these three, we could have our way-too-early preseason No. 1 team for the 2023-24 campaign already.

Plus, it could mean that the Blue Devils don't have to worry about the transfer portal, which adds more talented players by the day. One of them is Olivier Nkamhoua, a four-year forward from Tennessee. He had one of the most impressive performances in the NCAA Tournament against Duke, scoring 27 points on 10-of-13 shooting.

On the season, Nkamhoua averaged 10.8 ppg and 5.0 rpg as a starter for the Volunteers and is a quality defender. The four-man from Finland showed flashes of being a quality offensive player, as he had four other games with 20-plus points this year. Maybe at a different stop, his potential can be unleashed as a fifth-year senior.

Other notable transfer news

  • A-10 Player of the Year guard Ace Baldwin is one of several players leaving VCU after a coaching change. Jalen Deloach, Jayden Nunn and Nick Kern also are in the portal.

  • Former top-100 prospect Tyler Nickel goes from North Carolina to Virginia Tech.

  • 7-1 center Micah Handlogten averaged 7.6 ppg and 9.8 rpg as a freshman and played a major role in Marshall's turnaround this season. He enters the portal and is from ACC country as a native of Huntersville, North Carolina.

  • Caleb Mills started 54 games in two seasons at Florida State, but the fit never seemed to work. He enters the portal as a fifth-year transfer and is a career 12.8 ppg.

3. No surprise: Antoine Davis wins 3-point shooting contest

Antoine Davis ended his college playing career as the NCAA's second-leading scorer all-time and the leader in 3-pointers made.

He kept that going in Thursday night's 3-point and dunk competition in Houston.

Davis, who averaged an NCAA-leading 28.2 ppg this season, set the tone in the first round with 25 points, five more than anyone else.

After scoring 18 points to lead everyone in the second round, Davis went up against D'Moi Hodge of Missouri. Hodge set the standard with 16 points and gave Davis another number to shoot for. After a slow start on the first rack, Davis was on fire at the end, making the last shot to score 18 points and the 3-point shooting contest championship.

The dunk contest started slow but cranked it up after the first few dunks. Nike Sibande topped all first-round scores with a 49 after this dunk below.

But after five different dunks in the second round that received a perfect score of 50, Shaquan Jules (Radford) and Kamari Brown (Georgia Southern) advanced to the finals.

In the end, Brown took home the title of Slam Dunk champion thanks to the dunk below. The 6-3 guard averaged 7.2 points and 4.2 rebounds this past season with the Eagles.

4. George Mason turns to a former star

After losing coach Kim English to Providence, George Mason decided to stay within the family for his replacement. Tony Skinn, a Maryland assistant this past season with previous stints at Seton Hall and Ohio State, gets the nod with his first head coaching gig. He played for the Patriots from 2004-06 — including their historic 2006 Final Four run — and was a two-time All-CAA performer

The Patriots are in a unique situation, having to rebuild the roster after losing star big man Josh Oduro. They'll have to see what Ticket Gaines, the lone returning player (for now), does, as well as the three current commits in the 2023 class (Desmond White, Austin Ball and Jordan Marsh). The program hopes to get back to the NCAA Tournament, and they have a man with that history in a George Mason uniform.

Other coaching news:

5. Aztecs' Final Four happening at perfect time

San Diego State made history this season with its first Final Four appearance and the first for the Mountain West.

The conference may not get to relish it very long, though.

Ongoing conference realignment places the Aztecs squarely in the crosshairs of the Pac-12, which still hasn't made any moves to replace the departing USC and UCLA. They're right in the heart of Pac-12 country and have a competitive football program. That the basketball program might instantly be the best in the league is a bonus.

It also puts San Diego State hoops in a position to succeed long-term, including keeping the leader of the program, head coach Brian Dutcher. The Aztecs have made the NCAA Tournament in 11 of the past 14 seasons, including the 30-win campaign in 2020. COVID wiped away their chance to play in the Big Dance, but that team, led by Malachi Flynn, could've also made a deep run.

"For sure, this run by Aztecs basketball isn’t going to damage their hopes. Just making it this far puts bold capital letters on their resume. It also might help keep Dutcher around, who might triple his salary with the shift and remain where he prefers to remain. Recruiting, home and elsewhere, could improve tremendously, what with the Transfer Portal."

Like many non-power conference programs, the constantly moving landscape and fears of what transfers and NIL can do could've had a negative effect. San Diego State (and FAU, too) has proved that it's not all doom and gloom. The program also is in a position to stay a contender, regardless of conference. They will lose leading scorer Matt Bradley and defensive stalwart Nathan Mensah. However, they can return Darrion Trammell, Micah Parrish, Keshad Johnson, and Lamont Butler. And they'll be even more appealing for the transfer portal than they already are.

The Pac-12 may not have a team in the Final four this season. Yet they probably do have a clear rooting interest in the Aztecs.

Finally, Four

Florida Atlantic (35-3) is one of the most surprising Final Four teams in recent memory if we're considering preseason expectations. Yet the Owls lead the nation in wins and have proven themselves against high-quality opponents. So has San Diego State (31-6), which has been knocking on the door of an NCAA Tournament breakthrough for years and finally made it. Who knows when these two will get back to this spot, so they better take advantage of this moment on Saturday night. (6:09 pm ET, CBS).

After all the carnage and No. 1 seeds tossed to the side, UConn (29-8) is now the favorite via analytics and odds-makers. They've won the first four games of this tournament by an average of 22.5 points and haven't had to sweat in the second half. But their opponent, Miami (29-7), already has knocked off a couple of giants in the Big Dance, dropping 89 points to beat Houston and 88 versus Texas to get here. The Huskies have been dominant, yet the Hurricanes might have the offense and firepower to make this a game. (8:40 pm ET, approx, CBS).

Kansas' hoops future

This isn't meant to stir any ill will or create a nonsensical talking point, but after Bill Self's heart surgery last month, the AFTER DARK crew discussed what's ahead for the Kansas coach — and what it might mean for his tenure in Lawrence.

Links as you watch the Anaheim Angels waste a generational talent in Shohei Ohtani.

Thanks for reading The Field of 68 Daily! If you have a news tip or feedback, email us at [email protected].

And don't forget to listen to The Field of 68 AFTER DARK every night at 11 pm ET on Sirius XM radio, or watch it on YouTube and Twitter.