University of Virginia Library

Timeout

The ACC's
Second Season

With Bill Berno

Over the years, the Atlantic Coast Conference has
established itself as the outstanding basketball league in the
East, if not in the entire nation, because ACC coaches
consistently out-recruit non-league competitors.

This year has been no exception. In fact, 1973 might be
remembered as theconference's best recruiting year ever.
Thirty-three prospects were captured by the seven conference
schools, and nearly all of them promise to be future stars.

Even before the final buzzer of N.C. State's ACC
tournament victory, the coaches were preparing for the
upcoming recruiting wars, sometimes called the "Second
Season." Now that the smoke has cleared, UNC's Dean Smith
has been declared the winner in the opinion of most experts.

SMITH, WHO ALWAYS LURES GREAT PLAYERS TO UNC
came through with a fantastic catch. Four All-Americans were
signed by the Tar Heels, including 6-10 Tom LaGarde of Detroit,
Mich. LaGarde was one of the country's three best big men.
Joining him will be 6-11 Jeff Compton, a 260-pound mountain
of rebounding power; 6-8 Bruce Buckley, two-time All-Met
choice from Bladensburg, Md.; and 6-5 guard Jimmy Smith of
Lake Worth, Fla. 6-1 playmaker John Kuester of Benedictine in
Richmond and 6-5 Walter Davis round out the group.

Norman Sloan looked at his 27-0 Wolfpack and saw only one
weakness – lack of a good backup man for Tom Burleson. Sloan
solved his problem by signing 6-10 Mike Buurma, Ohio's Class
AA Player of the Year, and 6-11 Billy Lake of Carmel, Ind.
While he strolled through the Midwest, Norm also picked up 6-9
Ken Gehring in Akron and Bruce Dayhuff, a 6-2 guard from
Walkerton, Ind. Finally, he nailed down JC transfers Phil
Spence (6-8) and Morris Rivers (6-1).

WHILE THE RICH GO RICHER' THE POOR ALSO DID
well. Our own Cavs brought four excellent players into the
fold early but lost out in later attemps to sign Lake and a
couple other blue-chippers. However, Coach Bill Gibson is very
satisfied with his talented quartet. 6-9 center Ray Morningstar is
heir apparent to the center spot, 6-8 Ed Schetlick will add depth
at forward, and guards Bill Langloh and Mark Newlen will help
fill the void left by the departure of Barry Parkhill. Langloh
played in three post-season tournaments and was chosen the
Most Valuable Player in each.

Carl Tacy continued to scour the junior colleges for talent to
build Wake Forest into a title contender. Tacy was denied a
bona fide center, but signed JC transfers Cal Stamp, a 6-8
forward, and 6-7 Haley Hall, also a cornerman. From the high
schools, Tacy gained 6-1 Skip Brown, from Kingston, Tenn.,
Don Mulnix, a 6-8 forward coming east from Denver, Colo., and
guard Charlie Ryan from Philadelphia. Recently, he has also got
6-6 forward Jerry Schellenberg of New Albany, Ind.

Clemson's Tigers landed only one highly-touted player, but
he's a big one. Wayne Rollins is the tallest ACC recruit at 7-1
and he played excellent ball during his high school days in
Cordele, Ga

MARYLAND'S CELEBRATED RECRUITING WIZARD,
Lefty Driesell, had the toughest time of all. The Terp mentor
spent most of his time going after DeMatha's magnificent
Adrian Dantley, who decided to attend Notre Dame in the fall.
Driesell was left with only one signee, 6-8 Wilson Washington of
Norfolk.

Duke's Bucky Waters suffered through a miserable recruiting
campaign. He landed four players, but there really isn't a great
player in the group. Tate Armstrong is a 6-3 guard from
Houston, Texas who must help replace graduated Gary
Melchionni. Mark Crow, 6-7 forward from Richmond, and
Randy Abernathy, another guard, are also important in Waters's
plans.

THUS THE BATTLE LINES ARE FORMING for another
ferocious season of ACC basketball. N.C. State will be
hard-pressed to defend its title against North Carolina and the
rest of the league. An added incentive for the Wolfpack will be
their eligibility for the NCAA tournament, should they survive
the ACC battle. Last year, as everyone knows, they played
under the handicap of an NCAA probation.

North Carolina could win easily if the Tar Heel youngsters
develop. Superstar LaGarde and Co. could give Tar Heel vets
like Bobby Jones enough help to take UNC to the NCAA's.