"Duke won the national championship last year, and two other A.C.C. teams — Syracuse and North Carolina — will make up half of this year’s Final Four.
That kind of A.C.C. dominance may become the norm for the next few seasons. With a kaleidoscope of talent — from elite recruits to juniors, seniors and postgraduates — the A.C.C. has served notice that it is built for the short and long run.
“There’s so many kinds of systems and styles and the talent and the depth,” Bennett said of the conference. “It battle-tests you. It can break you a little bit at times, but you see a lot, and it does toughen you up.”
What’s encouraging about the approach to building programs at several A.C.C. universities — especially Virginia — is an emphasis on recruiting players who will remain in the program for three to four seasons. I care less about the basketball than I do about ending the obscene practice of having players on campus for a total of five months.
Over the last seven years, Bennett has become a much-needed antidote to the one-and-done model espoused by John Calipari and Kentucky. Bennett preaches building upon pillars, recruiting players just below the radar and then keeping them, helping them improve and — ideally — reaping the reward. On Sunday, it almost worked, until Syracuse ended the Cavaliers’ run with a 68-62 win in the Midwest Regional final.
Virginia is an older team, starting two seniors, a junior and two sophomores.
Syracuse was an even match, starting three seniors, a junior and a freshman.
“We haven’t ever been in a spot where we could recruit one-and-done players,” Bennett said. “I so enjoy watching these guys develop, and that’s made our team strong. I think if you’re going to get one-and-done players, you’d better be able to back that up and do it year after year.”
More here: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/28/sports/ncaabasketball/the-acc-rules-the-final-four.html?smid=tw-nytsports&smtyp=cur&_r=0
That kind of A.C.C. dominance may become the norm for the next few seasons. With a kaleidoscope of talent — from elite recruits to juniors, seniors and postgraduates — the A.C.C. has served notice that it is built for the short and long run.
“There’s so many kinds of systems and styles and the talent and the depth,” Bennett said of the conference. “It battle-tests you. It can break you a little bit at times, but you see a lot, and it does toughen you up.”
What’s encouraging about the approach to building programs at several A.C.C. universities — especially Virginia — is an emphasis on recruiting players who will remain in the program for three to four seasons. I care less about the basketball than I do about ending the obscene practice of having players on campus for a total of five months.
Over the last seven years, Bennett has become a much-needed antidote to the one-and-done model espoused by John Calipari and Kentucky. Bennett preaches building upon pillars, recruiting players just below the radar and then keeping them, helping them improve and — ideally — reaping the reward. On Sunday, it almost worked, until Syracuse ended the Cavaliers’ run with a 68-62 win in the Midwest Regional final.
Virginia is an older team, starting two seniors, a junior and two sophomores.
Syracuse was an even match, starting three seniors, a junior and a freshman.
“We haven’t ever been in a spot where we could recruit one-and-done players,” Bennett said. “I so enjoy watching these guys develop, and that’s made our team strong. I think if you’re going to get one-and-done players, you’d better be able to back that up and do it year after year.”
More here: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/28/sports/ncaabasketball/the-acc-rules-the-final-four.html?smid=tw-nytsports&smtyp=cur&_r=0
