I’m thinking Jontel Evans, Joe Harris, Akil Mitchell, Mike Scott and Sammy Zeglinski will remain special friends for life.
That’s what usually happens with survivors in combat units when they come under fire and/or sustain heavy losses.
By now you probably know that this Cavaliers basketball team will go into action on Friday with the same group that battled through the final two games of the regular season and managed to grab the fourth and final bye in the ACC tournament.
That means, like us, they will watch the NC State-Boston College game closely. The winner is Friday’s opponent at 2 PM.
I’m also thinking that, while this is only Coach Tony Bennett’s sixth year as a head coach in what figures to be a very long career, he will never forget this team.
There are oh so many reasons for that.
Interestingly, three of the four main components, including the giant cog, are not his recruits.
Mike Scott and Sammy Zeglinski were already here, courtesy of departing coach, Dave Leitao. Jontel Evans had signed a letter of intent while Leitao was still coach and elected to honor it after meeting with Bennett.
"Bennettball" is a unique style of play. The fact that Scott and Zeglinski have adapted so well to the concept is testimony not only to their character, but to Bennett’s excellence as a coach and teacher.
It’s very rare that an incoming coach succeeds with his predecessor’s players.
It’s also very rare that a team faces anything close to the adversity this one has.
A quick tally shows three broken bones, two defections and one suspension.
The task in front of this UVA team is daunting.
A week ago, with the expected return of Assane Sene and Malcolm Brogdon, I thought an ACC tournament championship at least a possibility.
Now, as I’ve already written on the sports website I also write for, I think it’d be just this side of a miracle. Or the other side.
The task of winning three games in three days against the ACC’s best would be difficult for any five guys.
Yes, it is a seven man rotation. Of sorts. In the last two games, played with exactly what the ‘Hoos will go forward with, the starting five has scored 133 of of the team’s 135 points.
In many ways, the NCAA tournament figures to be an easier task.
But that’s for next week.
I know I’ve told you that sportswriters and broadcasters are a poor source for opinions but, hey, since I’m not really a "sportswriter," here’s a quick look at the ACC tournament starting today:
Three of Thursday’s games include teams with designs on more than just advancing to Friday.
Depending on where you look or listen, both Miami and NC State are in a mob scene of teams on the cusp of "in or out" of the NCAA tournament.
The third team, Clemson, probably thinks themselves capable of becoming the first ACC team since the league’s most recent expansion to win four games in a row and capture the automatic bid to the NCAAs.
I won’t give you game-by-game selections (the results are too often embarrassing). Suffice it to say I think Florida State is overrated. Most so-called "experts" think them the main challenge to Duke and Carolina.
I disagree.
I continue to believe Miami can be the only real surprise from the ACC. It’s a talent-laden team with an outstanding coach.
Either FSU or Miami could beat a Duke team that has elected to sit Ryan Kelly (due to a minor injury) until the NCAAs. The Dookies are all saying the right things about wanting the rematch with Carolina, but their confidence must be shaken and they now have a ready-made excuse should they be badly beaten again by the Tar Heels.
With Kelly things may have been different. In five of the last eight seasons Duke has lost the season finale to the Tar Heels, they still captured the ACC tournament title. Now it seems relatively less important as a means to obtain a higher seeding in the NCAA tourney than the overall attitude of the team going forward.
I think the Tar Heels are a cut below both Syracuse and Kentucky, but they should reign supreme this weekend.
As for our guys?
I’d like to take the "out" broadcast prognosticators do when they are excused from picking the game because they are going to "call" it.
Here’s what I’ll tell ya: ENJOY every second of watching these guys. They are a very special group of young men.
If the seven guys who will play for Virginia just showed up in the park without knowing each other and ran against the top seven guys from any of the other 11 teams in the ACC, who also didn’t know each other, how many teams do you think they could beat?
And that, fans, is why you should watch and appreciate this edition of the University of Virginia’s men’s basketball team.
The whole is so much greater than its parts.
And it’s a beautiful thing to watch when it occurs.
Catch ya along the way,
Rog
