ACC Basketball

Wake Forest head basketball coach Danny Manning was fired after six seasons with the Demon Deacons.

Stadium's Jeff Goodman and CBS Sports' Gary Parrish both reported the news Saturday, and Wake Forest athletic director John Currie later announced the coaching change.

"After a comprehensive review of the men's basketball program, and with the support of president [Nathan] Hatch and university leadership, I have determined that it is time for a change in our head coaching position," he said.

The announcement included a statement from Manning about the decision:

"I am very thankful for having had the opportunity to lead the Wake Forest men's basketball program. I am very proud of the numerous student-athletes I had the pleasure of coaching, especially the student-athletes who earned their degrees. I am particularly thankful for all of the hard work my staff has put in through the years. I am so grateful to the Wake Forest community, who have made Winston-Salem a special home for my family and I from the second we stepped on campus in 2014. I wish the program nothing but success going forward."

Associate head coach Randolph Childress will take over the program on an interim basis.

Manning was a standout forward at the University of Kansas before getting selected with the first overall pick in the 1988 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Clippers.

After a 15-year playing career, he joined the Jayhawks' coaching staff in 2003. He became a head coach for the first time at Tulsa in 2012 and accepted the Wake Forest job in April 2014.

"I first met Danny Manning in college, and our son played for him at Wake Forest. Our family has been beyond fortunate that our son has had Danny Manning as his coach, mentor and role model," ESPN's Jay Bilas wrote on Twitter. "Manning is one of the finest people I've known in this business. First class, always."

The Deacs struggled to find consistent success under the 53-year-old Mississippi native, though.

Wake Forest posted a 78-111 record during his tenure with five losing seasons in six years. It went 19-14 during the 2016-17 campaign to earn an NCAA tournament berth.

Manning previously led the Golden Hurricane to a 38-29 mark across two years at Tulsa with a Conference USA championship and NCAA tournament appearance in 2013-14.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish found their new women's basketball coach.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Memphis Grizzlies assistant coach Niele Ivey will replace Muffet McGraw after the latter retired Wednesday following a legendary career. Wojnarowski noted Ivey spent 17 seasons as a player and assistant coach at Notre Dame before joining the Grizzlies last season.

McGraw released a statement announcing her retirement following 33 seasons:

Ivey will be tasked with replacing a legend.

McGraw led Notre Dame to two national championships (2001 and 2018), NCAA tournament runner-up finishes five times (2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2019) and nine Final Four appearances.

She was also inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.

As if replacing a legend isn't difficult enough, Notre Dame struggled during the 2019-20 campaign with a 13-18 record after Jackie Young, Arike Ogunbowale, Brianna Turner, Jessica Shepard and Marina Mabrey departed for the WNBA.

Ivey has a history of success at Notre Dame, though, dating back to 2001, when she helped lead the team to a national championship as a player. She was also an assistant coach for the 2018 championship run and has been with the program as either a player (two) or coach (seven) for all nine of its Final Four appearances.

"I am thrilled Niele will be the next leader of the Notre Dame basketball program," McGraw said, per Eric Hansen of the South Bend Tribune. "She's one of the best young coaches in the game today, and her success with the Grizzlies has helped make her even more prepared for her new role." 

Ivey became the ninth female coach in the NBA when the Grizzlies hired her as an assistant coach heading into the 2019-20 campaign.

Notre Dame women's basketball coach Muffet McGraw retired Wednesday, the school announced. 

McGraw issued a statement following her decision:

"It has been my great honor to represent the University of Notre Dame these past 33 years, but the time has come for me to step down as your head basketball coach. I want to thank Monk Malloy and Father Jenkins for giving me the opportunity to coach the game I love at a university I love. I have learned much about leadership from the many athletic directors with whom I have served, and in particular, I want to thank Jack Swarbrick for his unwavering support."

Notre Dame finished as the NCAA tournament runner-up in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2019, and it claimed its second national championship in 2018.

McGraw retires with 936 victories, sixth-most among all Division I coaches. She led the Fighting Irish to 31 20-win seasons, 24 straight NCAA tournament appearances and nine Final Fours. She also coached 22 All-Americans and 20 players who went on to play in the WNBA.

In 2017, she became the 13th female coach inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. 

The school announced Niele Ivey will succeed McGraw.

Ivey was a member of the 2001 national championship-winning squad. She worked as an assistant under McGraw for 12 years before accepting a role on the Memphis Grizzlies' staff last August.

The Fighting Irish labored through a difficult 2019-20 season.

They opened the year as the No. 16 team in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 14 in the Coaches Poll, a preseason outlook that didn't take into account how difficult it would be to replace so many key players from a year ago.

McGraw watched three players (Jackie Young, Arike Ogunbowale and Brianna Turner) get selected in the first round of the 2019 WNBA draft. Another two (Jessica Shepard and Marina Mabrey) were off the board in the second round.

Not surprisingly in retrospect, Notre Dame went 13-18, a drop of 22 wins from 2018-19.

The season was not befitting of McGraw's massive legacy on the sideline. She steadily built the Fighting Irish into a national powerhouse and one of the best programs in college basketball over the last decade.

The infrastructure is in place for the Fighting Irish to return to the national title conversation.

Leading scorer Destinee Walker is leaving, but she's the only regular starter out the door. The school has four of the top 50 recruits in HoopGurlz's player rankings for 2020.

Ivey's time as a player and coach at Notre Dame should ease in the transition as well.

However, Tennessee is an example of how difficult it can be to replace a legend.

The Lady Vols reached the Elite Eight in three of their first four seasons following Pat Summitt's retirement in 2012, but Holly Warlick, a longtime assistant under Summitt, was unable to get them back to the apex of women's basketball. Tennessee fired Warlick last March and hired Kellie Harper.

Ivey is facing a tall task to carry on the postseason success the Fighting Irish enjoyed under McGraw.

Four-star forward Dontrez Styles announced his commitment to the North Carolina Tar Heels during a video call with 247Sports' Evan Daniels on Saturday:

Styles disclosed that the opportunity to play under Hall of Fame head coach Roy Williams was one of the deciding factors.

"It's close to home," he continued. "My parents can come watch me play. I feel like that's the best place for me to develop and get to the next level."

Styles is from Kinston, North Carolina, and 247Sports ranks him as the best in-state 2021 prospect. The 6'6", 205-pounder received 14 total offers and selected UNC over the likes of Clemson, Maryland, NC State and Pittsburgh.

"Some people say [North Carolina] came a little late, but for me, I know how Coach Roy comes a little slower anyway," Styles added to Daniels. "We've developed a great relationship over the past three weeks. It's been great just getting to know the coaching staff."

Daniels evaluated Styles on March 31 and projected him to become a Power Five starter:

"Styles is a versatile combo forward that plays with tremendous energy. Styles is quick off his feet, and an impressive all around athlete. At this stage, Styles is in between forward spots, although defensively he can guard both positions in college. He's a tremendous rebounder that uses his athleticism well in the paint.

"He plays hard, competes and attempts to block everything in the paint. He plays a tough, physical brand of basketball. Styles is a straight line driver and his ball handling and long-range shooting are areas for improvement. That said, he has gained confidence as a shooter from mid-range."

Per MaxPreps, Styles averaged 19.7 points and 11.0 rebounds across 30 games as a junior at Kinston High School in 2019-20.

Styles becomes the Tar Heels' first commit in the 2021 class.

North Carolina star Cole Anthony declared for the 2020 NBA draft after wrapping up his freshman year with the Tar Heels.

Anthony announced his decision on Twitter:

Whereas most of the top prospects stated their draft intentions long ago, Anthony took his time. He announced March 24 he was delaying his decision due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic:

In his most recent mock draft, Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman projected Anthony as the No. 6 overall pick to the New York Knicks.

North Carolina entered the 2019-20 season reasonably high expectations. The Tar Heels were eighth in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 and 11th in the Coaches Poll.

Anthony shouldn't shoulder too much blame for the team's 14-19 record, but the nearly two months he missed because of a partially torn meniscus coincided with UNC's downturn.

The dynamic guard averaged 18.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists while shooting 38.0 percent from the floor and 34.8 percent from beyond the arc.

Having a famous athlete for a parent doesn't guarantee a successful career in a given sport. Being Greg Anthony's son obviously provided some advantages for Cole, though. The elder Anthony was a star at UNLV and had an 11-year career in the NBA.

The Undefeated's Marc J. Spears provided a look into their relationship in April 2019 and how it impacted Cole's development:

"Greg Anthony says his son has also embraced his repeated talk about being a leader on the floor, finding joy in not only his own success but also the success of his teammates.

"'He doesn't mind constructive criticism, and he understands where he can get better,' Greg Anthony said. 'Part of it is his goal of wanting to be a great player.'"

Cole can't match his dad's collegiate accolades. Greg Anthony was a national champion with the Rebels in 1990 and helped them reach the title game in 1991.

Like his father, though, Anthony has the potential to enjoy a lengthy career in the pros.

This year's draft class is generally considered to be fairly weak, lacking a standout player or players who could single-handedly change the direction of a franchise.

Last July, Wasserman examined the biggest flaws for some of the top draft-eligible stars and zeroed in on Anthony's floor game:

"Lottery teams looking for a new lead guard will be closely scouting Cole Anthony, a dynamic scoring ball-handler who needs work on his shot selection, decision-making and overall floor game. 

"Though skilled, athletic and capable of carrying an offense with one-on-one shot creation and shot-making, he can get carried away with over-dribbling and hero ball."

That assessment proved adept. Anthony scored a lot of points at North Carolina but didn't shoot very efficiently. He turned the ball over 3.5 times per night, too, which doesn't bode well for his first year or two at the next level. Incoming guards often struggle early on adjusting to the speed of the NBA.

Although he might have benefited from spending at least another season at North Carolina, Anthony's choice is understandable. The 19-year-old is likely to be a lottery pick this summer, so he could only climb so much higher on 2021 draft boards.

Duke forward Matthew Hurt is forgoing the 2020 NBA draft to play his sophomore season for the Blue Devils in 2020-21, he announced on Thursday:

Hurt averaged 9.7 points and 3.8 rebounds in 20.5 minutes across 31 games (21 starts) as a freshman for No. 11 Duke in 2019-20. 

Duke has lost freshman guard Cassius Stanley, freshman center Vernon Carey Jr. and sophomore point guard Tre Jones to the 2020 draft:

Junior guard Alex O'Connell also left Durham to transfer to Creighton:

Hurt was Duke's fourth-leading scorer behind Carey (17.8 points per game), Jones (16.2) and Stanley (12.6). The former 5-star recruit committed to Duke as the top-ranked Minnesota prospect and second-best power forward prospect in April 2019. 247Sports' Brian Snow likened him to Philadelphia 76ers forward Tobias Harris.

The Blue Devils finished at 25-6 and second in the ACC when the NCAA canceled the remainder of the season on March 12 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

North Carolina Tar Heels guard Cole Anthony spent his Tuesday passing out meals to health care workers at Harlem Hospital in New York City:

Anthony previously announced on March 24 that he would be delaying his decision on whether to enter the 2020 NBA draft or return to UNC because his "biggest concern right now is trying to figure out how I can help during this crisis":

New York has become the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States with 202,365 confirmed cases and 10,834 deaths, per CNN. 

Anthony missed most of his freshman season with a partially torn meniscus in his right knee suffered in December. The New York native still led the Tar Heels with 18.5 points and 4.0 assists per game across 22 games (20 starts).

The NCAA canceled the remainder of the college basketball season on March 12 as a preventative measure against COVID-19.

The Louisville Cardinals reportedly added another piece to their backcourt for the 2020-21 season Sunday.

According to Jeff Goodman of Stadium, San Francisco graduate transfer Charles Minlend chose the ACC program after considering teams such as Gonzaga, Butler, Arizona, BYU, Arkansas, Indiana and Mississippi State.

Goodman suggested the Cardinals "came out of nowhere" since they weren't even in his previous top-seven choices.

It is another success for Louisville when it comes to graduate transfers this offseason, as Carlik Jones came to the Cardinals from Radford. Before Jones and Minlend made their decisions, Lucas Aulbach of the Louisville Courier Journal suggested the program "needed a guard in a big way" with David Johnson and Josh Nickelberry as the only returning options from last season.

That means Minlend should have the opportunity to compete for playing time after impressing as a high-volume scorer for the Dons.

He averaged double-figure scoring totals in each of his three seasons with San Francisco, including the 2019-20 campaign when he posted 14.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists a night while connecting on 41.6 percent of his field-goal attempts and 30.3 percent of his three-pointers.

Minlend scored more than 20 points in five games this season, including when he poured in 22 points in a February loss to Gonzaga and 21 points in a West Coast Conference tournament victory over Pacific.

The 6'4" playmaker can also provide a rebounding boost from the backcourt and is athletic enough to stay with ball-handlers on the other side.

While playing in the ACC will represent a significant step up in level of competition, he will have plenty of opportunities to prove himself as a capable scorer after lighting up the scoreboard a number of times with the Dons.

There will be no Zion Williamson in the 2020 NBA draft. Nor will there be an RJ Barrett, Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr. or Luka Doncic.

Put simply, there are no players among this year's cohort on whom experts and draft analysts can put a finger and say, "He's going to be an impact player from day one." Instead, both front-office executives and draftniks alike will be poring over film—especially with all in-person workouts prohibited amid the coronavirus pandemic—hoping that whenever the 2020 draft is held, they'll be selecting the next Jayson Tatum, not the second-coming of Markelle Fultz, Anthony Bennett or Josh Jackson.

In a draft class as unpredictable and lacking in depth as this, scouting is an inexact science. None of what were thought to be the top available prospects—Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, James Wiseman and Cole Anthony—had particularly impressive 2019-20 seasons.

Dayton's Obi Toppin, meanwhile, shocked college basketball with his Naismith Award-winning season, leading the Flyers to a likely No. 1 seed had the NCAA tournament been held. But was it a fluke? Was his competition in the Atlantic 10 too weak? Those are exactly the questions that executives around the league are going back and forth over.

Three prospects—Edwards, Ball and Wiseman—have been most often discussed as potential No. 1 picks. But a fourth, Anthony, could sneak into the top three or four, especially with the teams projected to be picking in those spots needing guards.

LaMelo Ball, PG, Illawarra Hawks

The youngest Ball brother has arguably the most potential of anyone in the draft, but he also brings the most question marks. His lone season overseas, which he opted for when his NCAA eligibility was unlikely, answered some questions but left others still unknown.

He proved that he can play at the professional level, sure. But he's yet to be in a system that doesn't completely revolve around him. He didn't shoot well, especially from the three-point line, and he did nothing to shed his reputation as a below-average defender.

For the Cleveland Cavaliers, one of a handful of teams who will likely be drafting in the top five, bringing in another ball-dominant guard like Ball with Darius Garland and Collin Sexton on the roster might not make sense. According to Cleveland.com's Chris Fedor, the organization considered drafting Damian Lillard the year after it selected Kyrie Irving but worried about clogging its backcourt. Instead, the Cavs took Dion Waiters. In Fedor's words, "Whoops."

The team still doesn't know what it has in Garland and Sexton, and if someone like Wiseman is available, particularly with Tristan Thompson's contract expiring this year, it would seem to make sense to bolster the front line instead of adding another guard into the mix.

But as Fedor points out, the Cavaliers don't want to repeat their mistake of not selecting a guard because they've already got one, and there's not a single player on Cleveland's roster with Ball's playmaking ability.

James Wiseman, C, Memphis

The fact that Wiseman, who runs counter to the league's shift to big men who can score away from the basket, is a potential No. 1 pick says so much about the uncertainty in this year's draft. He's been thought of as an elite prospect for quite some time, but his almost nonexistent single season at Memphis didn't answer many questions for a player who poses a number of them.

In his three games with the Tigers before he was held out because of potential NCAA infractions regarding his recruitment, the 7'1" Wiseman averaged 19.7 points and 10.7 rebounds per game on 76.9 percent shooting. Only one of those games, though, came against high-major competition, and the lack of available in-person workouts makes him even harder to dissect.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle's Connor Letourneau, the Golden State Warriors—one of the teams expected to be in contention for the No. 1 pick—are high on neither Ball nor Wiseman. At the same time, Cleveland isn't in desperate need of a big man after acquiring Andre Drummond, and both the Atlanta Hawks and Minnesota Timberwolves already have established centers.

Depending on where the draft lottery lands, another team could trade up to select Wiseman, but right now it's too unclear to see who that might be.

Cole Anthony, G, North Carolina

Once thought of as a near-consensus top-two pick in this year's draft, Anthony has also drawn a lot of questions about where exactly he fits in the top tier of this class.

A litany of injuries overshadowed his lone season at North Carolina—both his own and his teammates—and he was asked to carry a large scoring load even for a player of his caliber. And his stats suffered; he averaged 18.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, but he did it on just 38.0 percent shooting.

He's yet to actually declare for the draft, but according to the New York Post's Zach Braziller, his stock right now is volatile, ranging from the top five or six picks to the low teens.

One scout told Braziller that this season raised some questions about his efficiency and need to constantly have the ball in his hands, while another dismissed his performance this season, pointing to the lack of talent around him. Tar Heels head coach Roy Williams at one point this season called his team "the least gifted team I've ever coached in the time that I've been back here."

That Anthony chose to return to the team after having arthroscopic knee surgery when other top-flight prospects have chosen not to won't go completely unnoticed, and ESPN's Jay Bilas noted to Braziller that teams can see what kind of talent—or lack thereof—he was playing with.

It seems unlikely that he'll go ahead of Ball or Edwards, the two top guards in this year's class, but other high-lottery teams like the New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons, Timberwolves and Chicago Bulls need guards. And in a draft whose deep position is exactly that, Anthony might just make sense.

Follow Keegan on Twitter, @ByKeeganPope.

North Carolina guard Cole Anthony is one of the more divisive players heading into the 2020 NBA draft.

"I've gotten the complete spectrum," ACC Network analyst Cory Alexander said of the player's draft stock, per Zach Braziller of the New York Post. "Some people love him, and some people would not want him on their team for whatever reason."

Though he hasn't yet declared for the draft, Anthony is considered a likely lottery pick after averaging 18.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game during his freshman season.

Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman listed the point guard as the No. 7 overall player in the 2020 class.

Considering his production on the floor and the fact that he entered the year as the No. 4 player in the 2019 recruiting class, per the 247Sports composite rankings, there are plenty with high expectations for the 19-year-old. 

"I thought he was a top-five pick before the season, and I haven't really changed my mind," ESPN's Jay Bilas said. "I can't imagine that he wouldn't be taken in the top 10." 

However, Braziller noted that while some have Anthony coming off the board within the top five picks, others have him going in the late teens.

"I just don't think he wins you games," one scout said.

Anthony was limited this season by a knee injury that cost him seven weeks of action, while the Tar Heels struggled with and without him in the lineup during a 14-19 campaign. He was inconsistent, shooting just 38 percent from the field overall while totaling five points and six turnovers in his final game, a loss to Syracuse.

There were also bright moments, including his 34-point debut in a win over Notre Dame.

This could keep his draft stock a highly debated topic if he decides to forgo the final three years of his eligibility.