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Team By Team Facts
Veteran ESPN college basketball analyst and a regular at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, Jay Bilas provides his insights and breaks down the 2017 Maui Jim Maui Invitational.
Q: What are your initial thoughts on this year's field?
A: "It's a fantastic field. With the star power and brand name power of Notre Dame and Wichita State at the top of the list, it is going to be a great tournament. There are also up and coming teams attending that will challenge for national honors by the time the season is over."
Q: Who do you see as the favorite heading into the Tournament?
A: "Wichita State is the favorite. Wichita State has just about everybody back, if not everybody. They were within a bucket last year of doing something extraordinary again. I think Wichita State has the chance to reach the Final Four again. That's how good they are. They are going into a new league, so I think there is going to be a lot of excitement around the program. What will not be new is their level of intensity and level of winning that they've had over the years. I can see this being another 30-win, Elite Eight or further type of team.
Q: Will changing conferences impact Wichita State in any way next year?
A: The conference change will not affect this team at all. The only thing that has a chance to affect it is everything will be different. They are not going to have any sense of familiarity in league play because every road trip in the American is going to be different than what they had in the Missouri Valley Conference. Everybody is a freshman on the road in this one because they haven't played any of these teams. They will be fine, but there won't be that sense of familiarity.
Q: Which team would be your darkhorse?
A: "Michigan, and I don't know you can call them a darkhorse. They are so well coached and so hard to guard because of the way they play and how they spread the floor and their passing. Michigan lost D.J. Wilson from last year's team, but they are going to be really good. That would be one of the teams, aside from Wichita State and Notre Dame, I would be most afraid of."
Q: Whose one player fans should be on the lookout for at the Lahaina Civic Center?
A: Number one on the list would be Bonzie Colson of Notre Dame. He's a unique player because he's really only 6-5, but he's got long arms and impacts the game in so many different areas with his ability to score and block shots, and he's so active on the glass. He's one of the great players in the country and as a senior, he's going to be really hard to stop.
Q: Marquette is coming off a trip to the NCAA Tournament last year, so what do you see for them this season?
A: "Steve Wojciechowski has recruited really well and has done a really good job of building the program back up to where Tom Crean had it. Marquette also has really good returning players and they took a really big step last year by making it into the NCAA tournament. They beat the nation's No. 1 team in Villanova for the first time since 2013, so they are on a real upward swing. This year is going to be the next step. I think Marquette will be a top-20 team all year long and will be a real contender in the Big East. This will be the first of many years under Steve Wojciechowski that will be the case. He's been a winner at every stage of his career – as a player, assistant, head coach, USA Basketball, you name it – and it is not a surprise he's doing the same at Marquette. That upward trend is going to continue.
Q: What does the season have in store for VCU under new coach Mike Rhoades?
A: "I think Mike is going to do a great job at VCU. He's a really good basketball coach. They'll be a little different in the way they play, but they're still going to play up-tempo and get up and down the floor. They are going to be high intensity on defense. It may not be the same type of pressure they used under Shaka Smart, but they still have the same winning DNA; that's in the bricks now. I don't see the results being particularly different with VCU, they are still going to be really hard to beat. They have good talent and they play hard and together. VCU will be a tough match-up for anyone in this tournament."
Q: How can a trip to Maui help both Cal and LSU, who welcome new coaches to the fold this year?
A: "Both Cal and LSU have recruited really well, so they have good players coming in that will help them a great deal. Having new coaches gives a lot of teams new life, and I think (with Wyking Jones and Will Wade), they will both be very representative. When you have this kind of field, it's an opportunity to get a head start and to find out exactly who you are and who you are going to be. Maui has done that a lot. Teams have played against great competition that early and you identify your strengths and weaknesses and gives you a realistic picture of who you really are.
Q: Tell me about your favorite Maui experience and what you would tell one person as to why to attend the 2017 tournament.
A: "There are too many things on my list of why you should come to Maui for the tournament. It's the best tournament in basketball. The setting is unbelievable and the competition is off the charts. The setting makes it as intimate as any high school gym you could be in. To be able to watch championship-level basketball in that setting and then walk outside to stare at the Pacific Ocean, it's unmatched."
