V-MAIL | Dec. 5, 2003
Q: Do you think Wake Forest can repeat as ACC regular-season champion this season? If so, do the Demon Deacons need Duke and North Carolina to stumble in anyway? -- Art Hlywa (Southbury, Conn.)
VITALE: Nobody in the ACC has beaten Wake Forest! Wake is capable of being right up there with Duke and North Carolina. The Demon Deacons have a shot, but a lot depends on their performance inside. They'll miss gamer Josh Howard, who was able to finish off a lot of teams at the end of games. There's something about this team I really like. They have character, good perimeter play and Eric Williams can be a factor in the three-second area. Skip Prosser needs a healthy Vytas Danelius, who has been bothered by a foot injury.
Q: After Jameer Nelson's performance at Coaches vs. Cancer, is it too soon for you to take off your Golden-Dome blinders and admit that Nelson (and not Chris Thomas) is the best point guard in the country? -- Drew (Wyomissing, Pa.)
VITALE: We'll have to wait for the entire year to go by because there are a lot of good point guards. Certainly, when you look at Nelson's body size and performance, he rebounds well for his size, he's electric and there's no doubt he's the real deal. Look at Nelson, Thomas, Raymond Felton, Dee Brown, Anthony Roberson, Chris Duhon ... there are so many quality point guards out there.
Q: How do you think Indiana's strength of schedule compares to that of other major teams? Indiana's preconference schedule includes (among others) Vanderbilt, Xavier, Wake Forest, Missouri, Notre Dame, Butler, Kentucky and Temple. I would think this has to be one of the toughest preconference schedules in the NCAA. Does any other team's schedule come close? -- Gene Monteith (Indiana)
VITALE: Not to take away from the Hoosiers, but I think that Michigan State's schedule is as tough as it gets, facing the likes of Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, Oklahoma and UCLA.
Q: What are your first impressions of the job Oliver Purnell is doing at Clemson? He has shown early success on the recruiting front but can he carry that success over on to the basketball court? Thanks and enjoy the season! -- Breeland (Charleston, S.C.)
VITALE: Clemson's program should start moving upwards. They lost a lot of heartbreakers last year and I felt bad for Larry Shyatt. Chris Hobbs and company can create problems. Give Purnell some time to recruit his type of player, and to improve the talent level from top to bottom. He knows how to put a winner together. Look at what happened at Dayton, and he left Brian Gregory a nice group of talent.
Q: How in the world can you not have Dee Brown on any of your five preseason All-American teams? I know these are all great players, but Brown certainly belongs among the top 25 players in the nation. His stats are almost identical to Raymond Felton's last season, and Brown clearly outplayed him in their only matchup. Felton is a great player and deserves his spot too, but I just don't see how you can have him on a team and not Brown! Please explain. -- Andrew (Moscow, ID)
VITALE: There are a number of very good point guards out there. I would be more concerned about the postseason All-Rolls Royce teams. Brown is certainly a candidate for honors and his matchup with Felton was a test.
Q: What was the deal with Kentucky's preseason ranking? It seems like they should be closer to No. 1. I understand the effects of losing Keith Bogans and Marquis Estill, but Arizona lost even more than they did (Luke Walton, Jason Gardner and Anderson). Kansas lost All-Americans' Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich. Yet, both Kansas and Arizona are ranked ahead of the 'Cats. Going undefeated in the SEC last season and being ranked No. 1 for most of last season merits a better ranking than ninth, doesn't it? -- Ben Cowgill (Lexington, Ky.)
VITALE: Everyone wants to get higher and higher in the rankings, and the preseason voting really means zilch. It supplies some interest to the sport, but we have a postseason tournament that really counts. I like this Kentucky team and the SEC still goes through Lexington. When you look at the league, LSU, Auburn, Mississippi State are teams to keep an eye on. The Wildcats will be a smaller and quicker team and Gerald Fitch is off to a great start.
Click here to send a question for Dick Vitale for possible use on ESPNEWS.
