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Weekend Brunch: San Diego State needs mileage out of Maui Invitational, Shaheen Holloway bullish on Al-Amir Dawes, Florida State

A new offseason means a new weekly column post NBA Draft Deadline!

Check out below for this week’s installment of “Weekend Brunch”, which started a year ago and is published every Friday in June, highlighting all the latest happenings in the world of college basketball.

Buon Appetit!

A La Carte

San Diego State has to get mileage out of the Maui Invitational
The Aztecs have the chops to be the best non power conference team in college basketball next season not named Gonzaga, but their seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament may ultimately hinge on how well they perform in the 2022 Maui Invitational during Thanksgiving Week. In addition to San Diego State, five of the eight teams in next season’s Maui Invitational — Creighton, Arkansas, Arizona, Ohio State, and Texas Tech — are all currently ranked in the ROTHSTEIN 45. The other two teams in the tournament? Cincinnati and Louisville. That means that the Aztecs — who return seven of their top eight scorers from last year’s team that finished 23-9 and lost to Creighton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament — need to move the needle during Thanksgiving Week in Maui. Non-conference scheduling for elite non power conference teams has been like trying to get blood from a stone over the past few seasons as multiple power conferences have moved to 20-game league schedules. In addition to the three games that it will play at the Maui Invitational, San Diego State also has a home game against BYU on its schedule next season as well as a road game against Stanford in Palo Alto. Neither of those teams are currently projected to make the 2023 NCAA Tournament. The Aztecs are currently ranked 16th in the ROTHSTEIN 45.

Shaheen Holloway bullish on Clemson transfer Al-Amir Dawes
March Madness’ breakout coaching star — Holloway — is back at Seton Hall — his alma mater — after leading St. Peter’s to a Cinderella Run to the Elite Eight. He’s extremely high on Dawes, a 6-2 guard who was a multi-year starter at Clemson before transferring to the Pirates this spring. “I think he can have a breakout season,” Holloway said of Dawes this week on the College Hoops Today Podcast. “He averaged around double figures for the past few seasons in one of the best conferences in the country. He should be really good in the backcourt next to Kadary (Richmond).” Dawes averaged 11.3 points last season and has shot better than 39 percent from three-point range in each of the past two seasons. Seton Hall is currently ranked 28th in the ROTHSTEIN 45.

Florida State looking to return to vintage form
The Seminoles looked like arguably the best team in the ACC on Jan. 22nd. On that day, Leonard Hamilton’s squad had just wrapped up a regular season sweep of Miami — who advanced all the way to the Elite Eight two months later — and just four days earlier, had beaten Duke by a point in overtime. At 13-5 overall and 6-2 in ACC play, another high NCAA Tournament seed seemed more than likely in Tallahassee. Then Murphy’s Law hit the program. Following that win over Miami, the Seminoles would lose five of their top nine scorers — Malik Osborne, Anthony Polite, Naheem McLeod, Caleb Mills, and Cam Fletcher — to season-ending injuries prior to the start of the ACC Tournament. Florida State would finish at just 17-14 overall, but is set to return four of its top nine scorers — Mills, Matthew Cleveland, Fletcher, and McLeod — from a year ago — with both Mills (12.7 points) and Cleveland (11.5 points, 4.6 rebounds) boasting All-ACC potential. 6-6 sophomore Jalen Warley also returns and Hamilton has added quality depth in freshmen Baba Miller and Chandler Jackson along with a pair of transfers in Darin Green Jr. (UCF) and Jaylen Gainey (Brown). The 6-4 Green made 87 shots from three-point range last season. Florida State is currently ranked 25th in the ROTHSTEIN 45.

On The Side

  • Oregon incoming freshman Kel’el Ware is averaging 16.7 points and 7.7 rebounds through three games for Team USA at the FIBA U18 Americas Championship. A consensus five-star prospect, the 7-foot Ware could form a formidable frontcourt combination in Eugene next season alongside N’Faly Dante.
  • Xavier is set to return 71.2 percent of its scoring from last season — the most in the Big East.
  • UCLA will play two games on the East Coast this December. The Bruins will face Maryland in College Park on Dec. 14th and then play Kentucky a few days later at Madison Square Garden as part of the CBS Sports Classic on Dec. 17th. Mick Cronin’s squad is currently ranked sixth in the ROTHSTEIN 45.
  • LSU’s Adam Miller (knee) has been cleared for all individual work and non-contact activity, Matt McMahon told College Hoops Today earlier this week. The 6-2 Miller is a former Top-30 recruit who missed all of last season due to injury. Miller averaged 8.2 points two years ago at Illinois prior to transferring to LSU.
  • The Big 12 is planning to stay at 18 league games in men’s basketball when the league moves to 14 teams during the 23-24 season. BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF will all join the conference in 2023 while both Texas and Oklahoma are slated to remain in the Big 12 prior to joining the SEC in 2025.

Where To Eat

Cassiano’s, 930 3rd Avenue.
New Yorkers always talk about pizzerias that have “the best slice in the city”, but when you eat at Cassiano’s that phrase does not feel like hyperbole. The plain cheese slice is divine and the real standout on this menu is the Drunk Grandma Slice, which features a dynamite vodka sauce that sits on top of a sicilian pie. Take out is probably the best way to experience this fantastic find in the heart of Midtown East.

Leftovers