Off The Burner 1.14.24

Welcome to Off the Burner – a semi-regular stream of consciousness about college hoops.

VJ Edgecombe announces his decision tonight.

The five-star guard is set to make an announcement this evening at HoopHall. My official prediction:

Discord members got wind of a possible commitment to the Bears late Friday night.

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Coaching Carousel Stock Watch!

The coaching carousel never rests and we’re getting to the point in the season where tangible intel is starting to make the rounds. Here are some coaches trending up and down:

Trending Up

Dustin Kerns (Appalachian State): Kerns has the Mountaineers sitting at 13-4 (4-1 SBC) with wins over Auburn and James Madison. The Tennessee native and Clemson alum should be a hot name this spring if he can get App State to their second NCAA tournament appearance in four seasons.

Bucky McMillan (Samford): Bucky Ball! The Bulldogs have rattled off 15 straight wins after starting the season with losses to Purdue and VCU. Yesterday they dropped 134 points on VMI and look like a serious threat to win back-to-back SoCon titles. Samford has a tough test on Tuesday though, heading to Cullowhee to face Western Carolina.

Bryce Drew (Grand Canyon): I touted Grand Canyon as this year’s Charleston/FAU and Bryce Drew is making me look smart (rare). The Lopes are 16-1 (6-0 WAC) and their three-headed monster of Ray Harrison, Tyon Grant-Foster and Gabe McGlothan is showing no signs of slowing down. Drew has the Lopes on track to reach their third NCAA tournament in four seasons, making him a prime candidate for a high major job this spring.

Trending Down

Mike Boynton (Oklahoma State): The Cowboys’ slide continues, as they’ve lost three straight to open Big 12 play. Unfortunately, the schedule doesn’t get any easier with Kansas, Kansas State and TCU on deck. Oklahoma State is staring down the barrel of a third straight season without the NCAA Tournament, which could lead to the end of Boynton’s tenure in Stillwater.

Billy Lange (St. Joseph’s): After a sparkling 10-3 non-conference slate, St. Joe’s has lost three straight games to open A10 play. Any chance of an at-large bid is out the window and the Hawks will need to win the conference tournament to make the dance. Lange’s tenure has been mired by inconsistent play with talented rosters. Will this be the end of his run in Philly? The jury is still out on that, but he needs to turn it around soon to avoid another spring on the chopping block.

Andy Enfield (USC): The Trojans are 8-9 (2-4 P12) and just blew a 16-point lead in a loss to Colorado last night. It feels premature to say he’s on the hot seat, but this team is too talented to have that record. Enfield has elevated USC’s basketball program during his tenure, there’s no question about that. Can he take them to the next level and compete for a championship? That’s the question looming in Los Angeles, especially with a much tougher road through the Big Ten next season.

Mit Shah single-handedly saved Wake Forest.

Wake Forest alum Mit Shah (’91) announces transformational $5 million commitment in the continued effort to create a World Class Student-Athlete Experience.

📰: https://t.co/pNhZbjzpz9#GoDeacs 🎩 pic.twitter.com/cNtLFlI5T4

— Wake Forest Men’s Basketball (@WakeMBB) January 11, 2024

Want to take your coach off the market? Give him $5M to play around with. Mit Shah’s commitment to Wake Forest’s basketball program has nearly silenced any rumors that Forbes is looking to leave Winston-Salem. Will there still be the occasional whisper in agent circles? Sure. But Forbes’ biggest gripe was about funding and NIL and Shah swiftly took care of that. Forbes is one of the best coaches in the country and if given the proper resources, he can turn Wake Forest into a perennial ACC power.

Burner Ball is sponsored by prepscouting.net. Prep Scouting is a NCAA Certified Scouting Service used by over 100 men’s college basketball programs since 2010.