Off The Burner 12.11.23

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

A note on the Juwan Howard incident.

Rumors circulated the twittersphere last night about an incident that occurred between Michigan head coach Juwan Howard and strength coach Jon Sanderson. I’ve been able to confirm through a few independent sources that there was a heated altercation between the two over accountability in the program. Whether or not it got physical is still up in the air, but the incident was significant enough that Sanderson didn’t travel with the team to Iowa over the weekend.

Michigan’s administration is currently reviewing the matter and I’d expect we’ll see a public statement in the coming days. Howard is already on a zero-tolerance policy stemming from a handshake line scuffle with Wisconsin in 2022. Under normal circumstances this incident would be written off fairly quickly, but Howard’s history makes this a bigger deal than it probably is.

Memphis should be ranked.

The Tigers went into College Station and picked up a huge road win over Texas A&M yesterday. David Jones and Jahvon Quinerly combined for 53 points to lead Memphis. Given all the distractions surrounding the status of Jordan Brown, Penny Hardaway deserves credit for navigating his team through adversity again. Memphis and drama seemingly go hand-in-hand, but this year’s Tigers are learning to thrive in the chaos.

Memphis is 7-2 with wins at Missouri, VCU and TAMU. They also beat Michigan and Arkansas on a neutral floor. Their losses aren’t bad either – on a neutral floor to Villanova and at undefeated Ole Miss. After their win against Arkansas, I called for Memphis to be ranked and here I am again beating that drum. David Jones has been otherworldly to start the season, averaging 20pts and 6.6rebs through nine games. When he and Quinerly are both on, this team is near impossible to stop. Penny has his best roster yet and all they’re missing right now is frontcourt depth.

About that frontcourt depth…

Nae’Qwan Tomlin’s recruitment is moving quickly.

As expected, Tomlin is heavily sought after and the list of teams willing and able to land him is shortening by the day. Teams I’m hearing that are in pursuit of Tomlin the most: McNeese, Memphis, Miami, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Pitt and West Virginia.

Multiple sources told me Tomlin was in Memphis following his graduation this weekend. The Tigers were obviously in College Station, but he may be lined up to start a visit early this week. Tomlin’s NIL price is quite high and he’s looking to join a contender for his final three months in college. McNeese is surprisingly (perhaps unsurprisingly) the highest bidder at the moment, but their pedigree may be what keeps him from going there.

The way this is going, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s wrapped up by the end of the week. One team is about to get a major injection of talent right before conference play begins.

Seven undefeated teams remain.

I had the great Andrew Weatherman run the numbers to figure out which team is most likely the last one standing.

James Madison and Arizona are the two most likely to finish the season unbeaten. Human nature is also undefeated though, so there will certainly be a bump in the road somewhere.

There’s a chance this list gets cut down to three or four by the end of this week. Arizona faces Purdue in Indianapolis. Baylor plays Michigan State in Detroit. Clemson plays at Memphis. Houston plays Texas A&M in San Antonio. Ole Miss gets a talented Cal team in San Antonio.

There’s no prize for being the last unbeaten, but it certainly helps the resume knowing you’re racking up wins early on.

Rivalry games are awesome.

We saw a bunch of rivalry games this weekend with big time implications. Xavier ended Cincinnati’s unbeaten run in the Crosstown Shootout. Utah did the same to BYU in the Holy War. Washington got a huge win over Gonzaga and Rutgers got a major bounce-back win over Seton Hall.

There’s something to be said about beating your rival when they’re having their moment. This is what college sports is all about. The history, pageantry and unadulterated vitriol between schools. Conference realignment has threatened those things, so it’s up to the coaches to make common sense scheduling decisions. Football will likely see the worst of it thanks to a shorter season and bigger consequences from game to game. Basketball has a chance to carry the mantle and keep the burning hatred alive between regional foes. If your rival changes conferences, keep them on the schedule. It’s great for the sport.

Follow @trillydonovan on X (Twitter). Stay tuned to burnerball.com to keep up with all things coaching carousel and transfer portal.

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.