International Players' Anthem

Foreign tours are happening across the world — what do we make of them? Also, the ACC threw a Hail Mary, and Mizzou reeled in a quality recruit.

Author

Riley Davis
August 08, 2023

There was only a little bit of conference realignment news yesterday, so we’ll start today by looking at some actual basketball!

…and then hit on some realignment happenings.

Let's get to it.

1. Foreign tour foray

Numerous high-profile programs started foreign tours this week, ushering in social media highlight clips and overreactions. Here’s a look at the most significant notes.

Kansas

The Jayhawks closed their tour in Puerto Rico yesterday with an 87-81 loss to the Bahamian National Team. The defeat came just two days after KU beat the same squad, 92-87 (one notable roster addition to the Bahamas for Monday: Eric Gordon, who didn’t play over the weekend). Nevertheless, the Kansas faithful don’t have much to worry about — the Bahamian team is well-regarded, and it features two NBA players, Buddy Hield and Gordon.

Of particular note in the final: Dajuan Harris poured in 23 points (3-of-3 from 3) after scoring only six in the first two games combined. Bill Self ran the offense primarily through his senior point guard, but Hunter Dickinson also had some nice flashes when asked to play-make:

Creighton

Trey Alexander might be college basketball’s most underrated returner. The junior combo guard nearly doubled his scoring average last season and increased his 3-point percentage from 28.1 to 41.0. Plus, he’s turned in some impressive outings in the postseason.

If Creighton’s Bahamas trip gives any indication, Alexander could be in store for an All-American campaign. He scored 31 points and grabbed 11 boards in the Jays’ 76-62 win over BC Kaunas Zalgiris (Lithuania) on Sunday.

Illinois

Panic time in Champaign? The final outcome of the Illini’s game against the Madrid All-Stars, an 84-73 win, won’t necessarily worry their fans. But the shooting splits might. Illinois shot just 3-for-25 from beyond the arc and 17-for-31 from the charity stripe in its Spain tour opener. This comes a season after the team hit 30.8% of its 3s — a number that ranked 335th in the country.

On the bright side, Dain Dainja looked ready to build off of his solid 2023 campaign. He scored 16 points and grabbed 15 boards in 19 minutes.

Maryland

Maryland’s international competition wasn’t so competitive. The Terps faced little resistance in their Italy tour, winning their three games by an average of 45 points. It’s tough to discern too much from such lopsided affairs, but Maryland fans should feel encouraged by the play of freshmen Jamie Kaiser and Deshawn Harris-Smith.

Kaiser, a 6-6 smooth-shooting wing, averaged 15.7 points, while Harris-Smith stuffed the stat sheet, much like he did for Team Takeover on the EYBL circuit last year. He notched a 10-point, seven-rebound, five-assist performance in Game 1 and a nine-point, nine-rebound, 4-assist effort in Game 3. Those two, plus returners Jahmir Young and Donta Scott, make Maryland a dark horse contender in the Big Ten.

Quick hitters:

  • Tennessee freshman DJ Jefferson threw down a vicious dunk in the Vols’ Italy tour.

  • UConn beat French and Spanish teams by a million.

  • Dayton shared a nice highlight compilation from its time in Barcelona.

  • Breakout coming for Marquette’s David Joplin — he scored 28 points in the Golden Eagles’ second win on their Italy tour.

2. What about the ACC?

Lost in the craziness of Big Ten and Big 12 expansion was Florida State declaring its intentions to leave the ACC. Now, there is a massive $120 million roadblock in the way of its exit, thanks to the conference’s Grant of Rights (the Noles reportedly might partner with a private equity firm to raise that capital), but FSU’s public stance puts more pressure on the league to enact a change.

The only problem is … there aren’t many moves left to make. From an ACC fan’s perspective (read: mine), the conference’s “powers that be” have been far too passive over the past few years as mass conference realignment has appeared imminent.

And now the ACC seems to be applying a Band-Aid when it needs open-heart surgery. In a last-ditch effort to preserve the league, it is pursuing a couple of Pac-12 schools that are on the outside looking in.

In the immortal words of JoJo: “It’s just too little, too late.” With all due respect to Stanford and Cal, they probably aren’t the conference saviors that ACC leadership is looking for — especially in terms of football. (Which, as has been repeated ad nauseam, is the main revenue driver.) The Golden Bears haven’t made a bowl game since 2019, while the Cardinal’s drought extends to 2018; and Andrew Luck ain’t walking through that door.

The move presumably does little to satisfy Florida State or any of the other programs expressing discontentment. In May, seven ACC schools made headlines when news broke that “they had been working behind the scenes for weeks” at either “increasing revenue” for themselves or “mak[ing] a clean break to form their own conference.”

Nevertheless, there's still uncertainty surrounding the viability of the plan of the “Magnificient 7” (FSU, Clemson, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Virginia and Virginia Tech). But the long-term future of the league is still in a precarious position.

3. Gates’ big get

What do you do when your team finishes 180th in defensive efficiency on KenPom? You go out and land one of the best defenders in the high school ranks.

Yesterday, Dennis Gates and Missouri landed a commitment from Marcus Allen, a 4-star 6-6 power wing in the class of 2024.

Gates beat out the hometown Miami Hurricanes, among others, for Allen’s services. As of now, he projects as a multi-year player, but his stock will continue to rise.

And… He might not be the last 4-star to choose the Tigers this week.

Locally sourced

Duane Simpkins is a DMV guy, from his prep playing days at DeMatha, to a starting role at Maryland, to a recent stint as an assistant at George Mason. Now, he gets to stay in DC and assume his first role as a head college coach at American. He discusses what that means to him and what’s ahead for the Eagles.

Links as you discover more clips from the Bama Boat Brawl:

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