2023 Asheville Championship Preview - storylines, rankings, and bracket prediction
Storyline of the Tournament
Each team in the Asheville Championship has some primary freshmen/ breakout players that have major expectations and hype around them. For Maryland, it’s freshman DeShawn Harris-Smith. Clemson has a trio of guys in this category, returning Chauncey Wiggins, Dillon Hunter, and RJ Godfrey from their 2022 recruiting class. As for UAB, it’s a duo of high major transfers in Barry Dunning (Arkansas) and James White (Ole Miss). Lastly, Davidson brought in Angelo Brizzi from Villanova and a 3-star freshman in Bobby Durkin this offseason.
Brizzi, Harris-Smith, and Godfrey performed the best in their first games out of these 8 guys, while Wiggins and Durkin played solid roles for their respective teams, and UAB’s Dunning and White didn’t do much.
These breakout guys will be the x-factors among Asheville’s well-balanced playing field, so UAB will need Dunning and White to play bigger roles in this tournament in order to knock off Maryland and Clemson. Clemson has an advantage in this category of the tournament, with 3 guys in the breakout category.
If Godfrey continues to play well, and Hunter or Wiggins have a breakout game, it’ll be tough for anyone to beat them, even if Maryland’s Harris-Smith has a great game. In my eyes, it’s Clemson’s tournament to lose.
The Teams Ranked
1. Clemson
The Tigers came into this season ranked #40th in my rankings, which isn't a terrible place to be. They proved that ranking against a very solid Winthrop team in the first game of their season, led by PJ Hall's 20 point, Ian Schieffelin's 16, and RJ Godfrey's 12. However, Clemson's premier offseason transfer, Joe Girard, only had 3 points, shooting 1-9 from the field.
Though that is worrying, Clemson's deep enough to handle some bad games from their star players, and Girard's experience should lead him to a strong bounce back game against UAB.
2. Maryland
Maryland came into the season ranked #45th in my rankings, but unlike Clemson proving their ranking in their first game, Maryland did not do so well, shooting 18% from 3. This shouldn't discourage anyone, as it's likely first-game jitters, as highly-touted freshman DeShawn Harris-Smith played well, and breakout candidate Julian Reese led the team with 18 points.
If Reese can continue to play well, and Maryland can shoot better from beyond the arc, they will be a tough out.
3. UAB
UAB came into the year as one of the premiere mid-major programs in the country, making last year's NIT championship game. They lost their best player, Jordan Walker, but bring back a solid core including guard Eric Gaines, who should be in for a big year. In their first game of the season, UAB squared off against another premiere mid-major program, Bradley. It was a very hard-fought game, but in the end, UAB lost to a buzzer beater in OT.
That close-game experience could help them in this tournament, and despite the loss, big man Javian Davis had 20 points. Davis' play will be needed in this tournament against Julian Reese and PJ Hall, and if he plays well, UAB has the backcourt to knock off the two teams ranked ahead of them.
4. Davidson
Out of all the teams in this tournament, Davidson had the worst season last season and played the worst first game, as Davidson was down to D-3 Washington and Lee at the half, despite pulling it out in the second half. Their starters shot 4-15 from 3, and without freshman Bobby Durkin making 3 3's, Davidson's overall shooting percentage could have been far worse. However, this game wasn't as bad as I'm making it sound, and Durkin and Villanova transfer Angelo Brizzi both played very well, and their returning core of Grant Huffman and David Skogman looked solid as always.
Despite that, this team likely is one breakout away from competing with UAB, Maryland, and Clemson, and whether or not Davidson will get that breakout is up to them.
Bracket Prediction
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