April 5, 2010


The Impact of it all
by Brian Doyle

With Butler playing for the title, CI checked in with Gary Waters, Head Coach at fellow Horizon League school, Cleveland State.

Waters says that CSU has already felt the impact of Butler’s postseason success.

“We already have two commitments that we might not have had without Butler’s success. Now that kids see that you can compete for a national title out of our league, it has really raised our profile,” said Waters.

As soon as the tourney ends, the next hot topic of conversation will be expansion to 96 teams. The feeling in Indianapolis was that it is inevitable.

Not all are fans.

“I’m not really overly in favor of it,” said Waters. “I think it will somewhat water it down. It’s nice when entry into the tourney really has to be earned.”

Waters thinks Butler has a good chance to win tonight if they can control tempo. No matter how Butler fares, the impact on the Horizon League is being felt in Cleveland. Waters cannot wait to get started on the 2010-11 campaign.

“I am really excited for next year. I think we have a chance to be really good. We are bringing in three guys who can help and maybe four,” said Waters.


Expansion Talk

CI spoke to Mt. St. Mary’s coach Milan Brown to gage his thoughts on expansion of the tourney.

“I feel like I’m caught in the middle a bit. I like the idea of letting other teams be a part of the tournament, but then again, I grew up watching it with 64 teams in, and I think it is special where it is,” said Brown.

Brown pointed out that many people complained when the tourney expanded to 64 teams, and it has worked out well.

What remains to be seen is what impact expansion will have on coaches’ security. In conversations with coaches, most are taking a wait and see approach. Some coaches are concerned that in the power conferences and the higher profile mid-major leagues, expansion could put more pressure on coaches to qualify for the tournament, therefore impacting job security. If you are the head coach at an ACC or big East School or even in the CAA or Missouri Valley and you go two or three years without qualifying, could that put your job in jeopardy?

Lower level conferences, most coaches feel, are likely to remain one-bid leagues, with the occasional two bids.

Regardless of what happens tonight, Butler has brought the topic of parity and the success of mid-major basketball back to the national conversation, in addition to expansion of the tourney.


Best team to not win a Championship?

When coaches weren’t taking sides in the Albert Pujols-Barry Bonds debate, there was a lot of talk about the best team to NOT win a National Championship. Clearly there are a lot of choices. One that seemed to come up a lot was the 1985 Georgetown team. Of course the defending champion Hoyas were stunned by Villanova in the title game.

Remember Villanova made seemingly every shot in that game and beat Georgetown, 66-64. The Wildcats missed a total of 6 shots the entire game and won by a mere two points. The Hoya team was pretty good.

So what is your pick for the greatest team to not win a championship?
 

April 4, 2010


Raise Your Glass
by Brian Doyle

Though the National championship game is still to be played, CollegeInsider.com staff has returned to their respective homes, having completed a successful awards ceremony on Friday afternoon, followed by a reception celebrating the Skip Prosser Award Friday evening. Inside the Madness will wrap up on Tuesday with some final thoughts. In the meantime, let’s cover a few more items from the weekend.

CI’s Joe Dwyer told me that Virginia Tech’s Seth Greenberg has agreed to become the permanent emcee of the CollegeInsider.com Awards Presentation. Greenberg is certainly one of the good guys of college basketball and highly respected in coaching circles. As Greenberg himself has joked, the Hokies have lived “on the bubble” recently. Here’s to hoping that Greenberg will be unavailable to host the awards ceremony one of these years, because he is preparing his team for the national semifinals.

Of Greenberg’s permanent position as emcee, CI’s Joe Dwyer said, “No brainer. Seth has been a CollegeInsider.com since his days at Long Beach.”


Albert or Barry?

Dwyer was the center of a three-day argument, which included former Hawaii coach Riley Wallace. The chairman of the CIT selection committee posed the question, “Who is the better player, Albert Pujols or Barry Bonds?

Dana Altman (Creighton), Ronnie Arrow (South Alabama), Bruiser Flint (Drexel), Bob Marlin (Louisiana Lafayette) Bo Ryan (Wisconsin) were just a few of the many coaches that Wallace questioned. The sampling was about 50/50. Wallace said, “Look at his first seven seasons. Nobody has done what he has done in his first seven seasons.”

Dwyer countered with, “Those seven years are nice, but in the nearly 150 years the game has been played only one player has ever hit over 500 home runs and stolen over 500 bases and his name is Barry Bonds.”

Dwyer also noted the seven MVPs, eight Gold Gloves and a batting title, all of which Wallace scoffed at. Wallace took it to another level when he said that Pujols was perhaps the greatest player of all-time. Dwyer laughed and said, “Riley Pujols isn’t even the greatest Cardinal of all-time.” He asked Wallace, “Do you think Pujols is better than [Stan] Musial?”

And that sparked the argument of who is better, Stan Musial or Willie Mays? To be continued in Houston in 2011.


Real Role Model

I reported in an earlier blog about encountering Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds and Radford’s Art Parakhouski on my flight to Indianapolis. I had a different experience on the flight home. I had a brief encounter with a gentleman who is an executive with the Special Olympics and was returning home from his 22nd consecutive Final Four. Earlier in the weekend, he was at the fan attraction, Bracket Town, coordinating a basketball clinic for the Special Olympians. Perhaps it is appropriate that I did not learn the gentleman’s name, as many of the volunteers and employees toil in anonymity, while NCAA players and coaches participating in the weekend’s festivities are household names. There are certainly many outstanding role models participating as coaches and players in the NCAA, but let’s not forget the thousands of volunteers nationwide, who work with the Special Olympics and other worthy organizations.


Raise your Glass to a Great One

Friday night’s Skip Prosser reception was a special event honoring a special person. What a great sight to see coaches of all ages and from all parts of the country coming together to celebrate the life of the highly respected Prosser. In attendance were Head Coaches from Division I through Division III, assistants and former players, as well as some high school coaches and retired coaches. Prosser’s legacy is one that will live on forever, and the award named in his honor is one that in it short history, elicits a powerful and emotional reaction from the recipient and those present at the awards ceremony.


Picking winners (or not)

The prognostication business is a tough one, especially this year. I can analyze teams just like the next guy, but actually predicting who will win games in this year’s NCAA tourney is a tough task. In a radio interview on ESPN radio out of Billings, Montana on Friday, I shared my thoughts about the four remaining teams. If I was asked to predict winners, my thought was that the experience, size, and athleticism of Michigan State would win out over Butler. I also thought that I would go out on a limb in predicting the second game. Although Duke is more talented, I thought, the toughness and some of the intangibles of West Virginia would prevail over the Blue Devils. Fortunately, in the interview, they did not ask me to predict winners, but it’s been weighing on my mind. So there you go… I am coming clean.

I have a strong feeling about who will win on Monday night….
 

April 3, 2010


The Awards Presentation
by Brian Doyle

Some of the legends of the game, past and present were gathered in a meeting room at the Hyatt Regency-Indianapolis yesterday for the 2010 CollegeInsider.com Awards Presentation. Among those in attendance were Lou Henson, Lute Olson, Hugh Durham, Lefty Driesell, and Ben Jobe, all of whom are honored with awards bearing their names.

Additionally, Jamie Dixon, Tubby Smith, Bo Ryan, Seth Greenberg and a host of others were in attendance as guests and honorees.

Among the memorable moments of the ceremony were Pitt coach Jamie Dixon’s comments, upon being honored with the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award. Dixon gave a moving tribute to one of his mentors, longtime Hawaii head coach, Riley Wallace.

Speaking of Wallce, CI co-founder Joe Dwyer announced that the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament MVP would now be know as the Riley Wallace award. Dwyer said, "if Clint Eastwood were a basketball coach his named would be Riley Wallace."

What a week it has been for Bobby Marlin. On Monday, Marlin accepted the head position at Louisiana-Lafayette, following a great twelve year run at Sam Houston State. Yesterday, Marlin was honored with the third annual Skip Prosser Award, recognizing success on the court and character and integrity off the court.

An obviously surprised and moved Marlin said, “This award means more to me than any coaching honor I could receive.”

Fairfield Atheltics' Director Eugene Doris, who has been countless awards presentations, told Riley Wallace, "it was the BEST," he had ever been to. That was echoed throughout the evening as the CollegeInsider.com Awards Presentation was the talk of the lobby at the Hyatt Regency.


On the lighter side

There were also some lighter moments at the awards ceremony as well.

• Seth Greenberg was masterful as the emcee, even as he had a car waiting to whisk him away to coach in the Reese’s College All-Star game. Greenberg was dignified at the right times, and picked his spots to poke fun at some of his colleagues. At one point Greenberg talked about being follically challenged and made a reference to Lefty Driesell.

• Speaking of Driesell, Len Elmore wondered aloud why his former Maryland coach didn’t run more offense through him in his days as a Terp.

• Pitt’s Dixon acknowledged the value of Pitt’s’ home court advantage, saying, “We got every call down the stretch” in an early season matchup with Wofford at Pitt. Wofford was winning by thirteen in the second half, before falling to the Panthers 63-60. Wofford coach Mike Young was honored with the Hugh Durham Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award.


From Hawaii to Vegas

Former Hawaii Head Coaches Larry Little and Riley Wallace are two of the true gentlemen of the game. Both residing in Las Vegas now, Little and Wallace have been attending Final Fours for years and are both great story tellers and very accessible.

Both Little and Wallace coached at Centenary when Hall of Famer Robert Parish played. Parish was the center of one of the most bizarre NCAA investigations in history. While the NCAA levied one of the harshest penalties in its history on Centenary, the organization also repealed the rule that Centenary allegedly violated shortly after the investigation.

At one point, Little and Wallace might be chatting up an old coaching friend, while the next minute they could be advising a young assistant coach. These guys truly love the game and love to talk hoops with anyone.
 

April 2, 2010


Coaches Convention
by Brian Doyle

CI’s Joe Dwyer had an interesting thought as we were having coffee yesterday morning at the Hyatt Regency in Indianapolis. Why not have the NABC convention at the beginning of the year, instead of at the end? While the beginning of the season is probably not a viable option, the point is well taken. At this time of year, most coaches are exhausted and need some down time. Let’s take the case of new Louisiana-Lafayette coach Bobby Marlin.

After leading Sam Houston State to the Southland-West regular season title, Marlin and the Bearkats went to Katy, Texas for the Southland tourney, which they won, defeating Stephen F. Austin on March 13. They made a quick return to campus, before heading to New Orleans for their March 18 NCAA tourney appearance against Baylor. Sam lost to Baylor 68-59, returning to Huntsville after the near upset, and Marlin’s phone started ringing.

After a stellar twelve year run at Sam Houston, which included 225 wins, Marlin was in demand. Conversations and interviews with the likes of Auburn, Houston, and UTEP followed, with Marlin accepting the position at Louisiana-Lafayette. Marlin was introduced on Monday, March 29 and began the process of putting his staff together, meeting with players, and contacting recruits. There is not a minute to breathe. And in the midst of all of that, Marlin is at the NABC convention.

“It’s been unbelievably busy. We went directly from Katy, Texas for our conference tourney, turned around and came home, then right back out to New Orleans. We came home from there, and have been going non-stop since. It’s a good busy, though. My highest priority, right now, is finalizing my staff,” said Marlin.


The Lobby

There are many interesting scenes in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency. Let’s just look at two.

Virginia Tech’s Seth Greenberg drips with charisma. In the lobby, he is a magnet for coaches, fans, and others and can manage to carry on several conversations, talk on the phone, text and even needle CI’s Joe Dwyer about his wardrobe, all at the same time. Greenberg will be a treat this afternoon, when he emcees CollegeInsider’s awards presentation.

Another interesting site in the lobby was former Duke basketball player and Syracuse football player, Greg Paulus. While Paulus said of his time at Syracuse, “It was a blast,” he also realizes it might be time to move on. He is interested in getting into college (basketball) coaching and is networking and looking for job leads. He shows great coaching promise and should not have too much difficulty landing a job.

Following today’s CollegeInsider awards presentation, a reception will be held to honor the 2010 Skip Prosser Award. The Prosser Award honors not only success on the court, but also integrity and character off the court. Notre Dame’s Mike Brey was the inaugural winner in 2008.

“I was honored to be the first recipient. Skip was really one of the good guys. He was a great role model for young coaches, and it is great to keep his name alive,” said Brey.

For a full list of award winners, go to www.CollegeInsider.com/awards. A full list of award winners will be released after today’s 3 pm awards presentation.
 

April 1, 2010


Welcome to Indy
by Brian Doyle

As I sat on my flight to Indianapolis yesterday morning, I labored to reach my computer bag under my coach class seat. Moving at all was a challenge with my 6’5 frame, as the person seated in front of me had already put her seat in the back position. I had stashed a couple of magazines and books in the bag, intending to catch up on some reading. After pulling a Sports Illustrated out of my bag, my 5:00 am wake-up took its toll, and I dozed off to sleep for awhile. I awoke about thirty minutes prior to our expected landing in Indianapolis, and heard bits and pieces of the conversation taking place between passengers in the row behind me. I heard a voice that sounded somewhat familiar to me say, “I go to Villanova.” Wait a minute, I thought. I turned around, and yes, Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds was seated behind me. This was ironic for two reasons. First, the last time I had spoken to Scottie, I was probably shaking his hand after a high school game. Scottie played for Herndon High School, and I coach at Centreville High School, in the same league as Herndon. Scottie had probably dropped 30 or so on us that night. The other irony is that the SI that I had packed in my bag was none other than the NCAA Tournament preview edition, with Scottie Reynolds on the cover. When I shared that with Scottie, he reacted with typical humility, as if he was unaware that he was on the cover.

Upon arrival in Indy, I joined the rat race of passengers heading towards baggage claim, while Scottie was recognized immediately and stopped to say a few hellos and pose for photos. Scottie and I caught up again a few minutes later. He is in town for various all star and All-American events. As we walked towards the baggage area, he mentioned that he was trying to catch up to Art Parakhouski, the 6’11 260 pound center from Radford, who had been seated a few rows ahead of us. They are scheduled to play in Friday’s Reese’s College All Star Game at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Both players have recently been honored by CollegeInsider.com, as Reynolds has been selected to the Lute Olson All America Team, and Parakhouski similarly selected to the Lou Henson All America Team, honoring the best mid-major players in the nation. Reynolds was also selected by CI as the co-MVP of the Big East and Parakhouski as the Player of the Year in the Big South.

I would take the talent on my plane against any other flights arriving in Indy yesterday.


More Butler

The last time I spoke with Wright State Assistant Coach Mike Winiecki, the Raiders were getting ready to face Butler in the Horizon League Championship game. The Bulldogs and Wright State had played two competitive games in the regular season, so this had the signs of being a good battle for the Horizon crown. Things didn’t go as Winiecki had hoped as Butler throttled Wright State 70-45 to capture the Horizon title. Of course, the Bulldogs have not lost since December 22 at Alabama-Birmingham. I wanted to get Winiecki’s thoughts on Butler’s chances in the Final Four, but I was not sure he would take my call, since my last conversation with him was followed by a 25 point loss. Fortunately, Winiecki doesn’t hold me responsible in any way for that loss, and he agreed to share some thoughts about Butler.

As he said previously, Winiecki is very much impressed with the Bulldogs’ intangibles.

“They don’t get enough credit for their toughness,” said Winiecki. “They make pretty good players turn the ball over, and they take great pride in getting stops-more so than high flying dunks. Take a look at their bench after they force a turnover. They really get excited about it.” observed Winiecki.

What about their chances against Michigan State? Winiecki is not about to go against a team that has won 24 in a row, but he can see a couple of potential challenges for Butler.

“Rebounding is going to be a big key. They are a little undersized, so it will be a battle on the boards. They had a little trouble inside against some of the bigger teams in our league, so that might be an issue,” said Winiecki.

The Spartans’ athleticism could also pose some problems, according to Winiecki.

“I think if Michigan State has good spacing and can take some guys off the dribble, that might be a problem,” noted Winiecki.

Butler’s bench came up big against Wright State this year.

“Zach Hahn killed us off the bench three times. Michigan State better watch out, because I think when Hahn sees green and white uniforms, he lights it up,” laughed Winiecki.

Hahn is a 6’1 junior guard, averaging 5 points per game. In three games against the green clad Raiders, Hahn shot 10/12, including 7/8 from behind the arc, 4/4 from the line, and averaged a shade under 10 points per game.

Despite losing to Butler three times, Winiecki and Wright State realize the exposure for the Horizon League is a positive.

“It’s really good for our league. It gives us some national recognition and helps recruiting outside of our region. Those guys work really hard, and they do it the right way,” said Winiecki.

March 31, 2010


Bears Take Title
by Brian Doyle

After travelling back and forth across the country, the Pacific Tigers may have finally run out of gas. Missouri State used a 49-30 second half to defeat Pacific 78-65 in the CIT Championship at Missouri State. Held scoreless in the CIT semifinals, Missouri State’s Kyle Weems exploded for 14 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 assists in leading five players in double figures for the Bears.

Missouri State Coach Cuonzo Martin has now led the Bears to a championship in just his second season at the helm and the Bears seem poised to make a run in the tough Missouri Valley Conference next season.

For Pacific, it has also been a great postseason run, and the future looks bright. Sam Willard has come into his own, and Allen Huddleston was recently named to the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Freshmen All-American Team. Look for the Tigers to once again push for postseason play next year.


More Larranaga

Yesterday, CI spoke with George Mason’s Jim Larranaga about Butler’s appearance in the Final Four. Larranaga also shared some thoughts about the Duke-West Virginia matchup.

“This is an interesting matchup in that it is two veteran coaches who have been there before, and it is a #1 vs. a #2,” commented Larranaga. “West Virginia did a great job defensively against a high powered Kentucky offense, especially with their 1-3-1,” said Larranaga.

Larranaga is not sure the Mountaineers will have as much success in the 1-3-1 against Duke.

“The strength of the 1-3-1 is in protecting the inside. If they do that against Duke, they are likely to make a bunch of threes,” noted Larranaga.

“West Virginia is so physical, so good on the boards, and so tough. This should really be a good matchup,” said Larranaga.


South Bend

CI checked in with a former mid-major coach yesterday in Notre Dame’s Mike Brey. Brey was formerly the Head Coach at Delaware and certainly remembers his days at the mid-major level.

“The talent now is spread so deep across, and at that level, you always feel like you have nothing to lose. It’s a great position to be in when you have a chip on your shoulder each and every night,” remembered Brey.

Brey is looking ahead, as well, as he predicted, “If the tourney expands, it will be even wilder. There are so many good players, and they get started at such a young age. Everyone has workout guys now at a young age, and strength training.”

Brey is excited about the future of Irish basketball. Notre Dame’s late season run certainly left him with a good feeling going into the off-season. “We really got into gear,” said Brey. “After losing Luke (Harangody), other guys emerged, we changed our style a bit, and the kids really bought in,” said Brey. “We are excited about the future. We get Scott Martin back from injury and we have some great kids coming in, including Jerian Grant and Eric Atkins. We learned how to win down the stretch, so we are very excited,” commented Brey.

Brey has some thoughts on the Final Four as well, as the Irish split with West Virginia this season, with both games being decided by two points.

Brey is impressed with the Mountaineers. “I’m really impressed with their length and size. They run their stuff, and you can’t get second shots against them. Now that they have added the 1-3-1, they are even better defensively. They are old, tough, and they believe, and that is a heck of a combination,” observed Brey.
 

March 30, 2010


It Comes Up Everyday
by Brian Doyle

Who better to talk to about Butler’s appearance in the Final Four than George Mason Coach Jim Larranaga? Just four years ago, Larranaga led the Patriots to their improbable Final Four run.

“Honestly, our run to the Final Four in 2006 gets brought up every day in some fashion,” admitted Larranaga.

While Larranaga has not spoken to Butler coach Brad Stevens, he has been in contact with Butler Athletic Director, Barry Collier. “I don’t offer advice,” said Larranaga. “I do answer questions, however. I tell guys to do what you are comfortable doing and not to change much,” Larranaga continued. “In 2006, we embraced the experience and enjoyed the event and the opportunity to tell the George Mason story,” explained the GMU mentor.

As for the Butler-Michigan State matchup, Larranaga has some interesting thoughts, especially having defeated Tom Izzo’s Spartans in the first round of that 2006 NCAA tourney.

“It is an interesting matchup, as Tom Izzo has been there six times, and it is Brad Stevens and Butler’s first time. That experience certainly helps Michigan State, but it also helps Butler that they are playing in Indianapolis. Both teams are terrific defensively, so it is going to come down to guys making plays,” noted Larranaga.

The veteran mentor sees three keys for Butler.

“They need to defend the ‘five second layup.’ Michigan State is so good at getting the ball down the floor, even after you score, and getting a layup. Second, free thrown make and free throw percentage is probably the biggest statistical area to watch. You can’t afford to put Michigan State on the line. Finally, Butler needs to compete on the boards. If they can do those three things, they have a chance to win.”

Larranaga says it is no coincidence that all four teams are strong defensively.

“To get there, you have to be terrific defensively. You are going to have tough nights shooting the ball, but your defense has to be there,” said Larranaga.

Tomorrow, we’ll get Coach Larranaga’s thoughts on the West Virginia-Duke matchup.


Ford Tough

Pacific’s Joe Ford is the 2009-10 Big West Defensive Player of the Year, while Missouri State’s leading scorer, Kyle Weems was held scoreless for the first time in his career in the CIT semifinals. Weems will undoubtedly come out with a chip on his shoulder tonight as the Missouri State Bears host Pacific in the 2010 CIT Championship game. Weems is averaging over 13 points per game, and shooting 41% from three point range. The Weems-Ford matchup will certainly be one to watch. Ford has been described as “the heart and soul of our team” by Pacific Associate Head Coach Ron Verlin. He is the type of experienced player who makes mid-major teams so tough. A fifth year senior, Ford led the Tigers in blocks and steals and was second in offensive rebounds and defensive rebounds, as the 6’6 swingman started every game for Pacific. Missouri State will also have to contend with Pacific’s 6’9 junior, Sam Willard, who is averaging 17 and 11 in the CIT.

Helping Weems on the offensive end for Missouri State, Adam Leonard is also a marksman, shooting 40% from behind the arc and scoring 13 points per game. When Weems and Leonard are on, the Bears are lethal from three point range.

Tonight’s CIT Championship game airs on Fox College Sports at 8:05 pm EST.
 

March 29, 2010


Grin and Bear
by Brian Doyle

Duke, Michigan State, Butler, and West Virginia are not the only teams vying for a championship. On Tuesday night Missouri State (23-12) will host Pacific (23-11) in the second annual CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT).

Missouri State has defeated Middle Tennessee, Louisiana Tech, and fellow Missouri Valley foe Creighton to advance to the championship game, while Pacific has defeated Loyola Marymount, Northern Colorado, and Appalachian State, cross-crossing the country to advance to the championship game.

Former Purdue Boilermaker player and assistant coach Cuonzo Martin has led Missouri State to a turnaround in his second season at the helm. The Bears finished in last place in the MVC last season, with a final record of 11-20 and 3-15 in the MVC. This year’s squad moved up three spots in the MVC standings, within one game of Bradley and Indiana State, and two games of Creighton. With only one senior on the roster, the Bears are looking for big things next season.

“The CIT has been a great experience for our guys to play against a high level of competition and to get a chance to continue to get better,” said Martin.

The Bears are taking full advantage of their extra time together. After practice on Saturday, they were cooking out at Coach Martin’s house and preparing to watch NCAA tourney games together.

“We are grilling in the backyard with all of the guys, and we are really trying to get a feel for the postseason,” said Martin.

The postseason run by MVC champion Northern Iowa hasn’t gone unnoticed by Martin or the Bears.

“They made a great run and have gone about it the right way,” said Martin.

“They have what you need—a good inside-outside combination, and they really play for the name that’s on the front of the jersey,” continued Martin.

The CIT Championship game tips off on Tuesday night at 8:05 pm EST and can be seen live on Fox College Sports.


The Carousel

The domino effect begins now, as the first coaching changes have taken place. Iowa, Seton Hall, and Auburn, among others have made their moves, leaving jobs open at Iona, Siena, and UTEP. Additionally, Hofstra’s Tom Pecora has moved on to Fordham. To date, at least four coaches from traditional mid-majors have moved on. In addition to Pecora, Fran McCaffrey, and Kevin Willard, Sam Houston State’s Bobby Marlin has accepted the same position at Louisiana-Lafayette. Once again, the mid-major schools have proven to be a fertile recruiting ground for coaches. The carousel is certainly not finished, as Cornell’s Steve Donahue, Northeastern’s Bill Coen and numerous others are being prominently mentioned for jobs.

The normal coaching path seems to be mid-major assistant to power conference assistant to mid-major head coach and back “up” eventually to a BCS level head coach. The interesting question for AD’s and presidents is whether anyone will break the mold. Will Siena, Hofstra, Iona, and others go outside the normal path? Hofstra stayed in-house when it hired Pecora, and he built a respected and competitive program.

Some current Division I coaches have not followed the normal path. Tony Shaver at William and Mary and Vermont’s Mike Lonergan both cut their teeth at the Division-III level, though Lonergan did spend time as an assistant at both Colgate and Maryland. La Salle’s John Giannini spent seven years as a Division III head coach prior to moving on to the head coaching position at Maine.

The question for mid-major coaches: Is the grass always greener? Ask Todd Lickliter. He helped lead Butler to national prominence and is now out of a job at Iowa. How about Jim Larranaga? He has had opportunities to move on, most notably to Providence, but has chosen to stay at George Mason. One could make a strong argument that the quality of life at the mid-major level is enough to resist the lure of the big payday at the pressure cooker, win-now BCS level schools.

The postseason is generally referred to as the second season. The third season has emerged as the season of coaching changes. Now that the first dominoes have fallen, the third season is just beginning.
 

March 28, 2010


Uh Oh
by Brian Doyle

For college basketball fans, Butler advancing to the Final Four is great theatre and CBS would concur if the rest of field was represented by Duke, Kansas and Kentucky. If Baylor knocks off Duke today, and that is a real possibility, Butler might be ‘the story’ in Indianapolis. Hello Jimmy Chitwood.

There has been so much talk about the possibility of expansion of the NCAA Tournament and you have to wonder how a Final Four minus all four No. 1 seeds and without any big name programs would affect the NCAA thought process? In the end, the casual follower wants to see the big names. The bottom line is that the middle has caught up with the top in recent years and it’s likely you will see future NCAA Tournament with as many (if not more) top teams exiting in advance of the Final Four.

“It’s fine the way it is,” said Hugh Durham who will be in Indianapolis for the presentation of the 2010 Hugh Durham Coach of the Year Award. Durham, who took Jacksonville and Georgia to the Final Four, believes expansion will lead to even more upsets.

“If you expand to 96 you have to give most of the top teams byes into the second round,” he said. “First round byes are not good for the team with the bye. I think that’s a real disadvantage for the team sitting and waiting for the winner of a game two days earlier.”

Durham makes a great point. Unless the NCAA simply doubled the field, the reality is there will be a number of teams facing a team that has already played an NCAA Tournament game. Clearly advantage to the team with a game under its belt.

As a fan I think it’s great to see Bob Huggins in the Final Four. I think it’s terrific that a program like Baylor, which was on probation when Scott Drew took over, on the verge of joining West Virginia. Ultimately CBS would really prefer the Dukes, Carolinas, Kentuckys and UCLAs of the world to be part of the Final Four and expansion would most likely make it a little more challenging for the name schools.


They got their Guy

Four years Bob Marlin and Tony Barbee were the two finalists for the vacancy at UTEP. Barbee got the job. Four years later Barbee has moved on to Auburn and UTEP has once again passed on Marlin.

It’s a little hard to figure. In the four seasons since UTEP chose the John Calipari assistant over the Sam Houston State head coach, Barbee won 83 games, one CUSA regular-season title and one trip to the NCAA Tournament. Marlin won 87 games, one Southland Conference regular-season title, one SLC Tournament title and one trip to the NCAA Tournament. With all respects to Barbee, Marlin has done a much better job over the last four years. The resources at Sam Houston State are not even close to being comparable to what a coach has to work with at UTEP.

Despite the great work Marlin has done it would appear that UTEP wants a bigger name as they wanted to prolong their search process and the University of Houston, which came calling on Marlin, was still considering former Kentucky head coach Billy Gillispie and former USC head coach Tim Floyd. On the other hand Louisiana-Lafayette identified Marlin as ‘their guy’ and they pursued him heavily. UTEP and Houston’s loss is Lafayette’s gain.

In 12 seasons at Sam Houston State, Marlin won three regular season titles and went to the NCAA Tournament twice and is the second winningest coach in Southland Conference history with 225 victories.

Looks like Gillispie will land in Houston and either Floyd or Kentucky assistant, and former Harlem Globetrotter, Orlando Antigua will get the gig at UTEP.
 

March 27, 2010


One Win Away
by Brian Doyle

Brad Stevens is in his third season at Butler and he’s a youthful 31 years old. Don’t let the boyish looks fool you. Brad Stevens can coach.

It really is quite amazing to think that Stevens has accomplished so much in such a short period of time and now he is one game away from taking the Butler Bulldogs to the Final Four.
I am not waving the banner for Butler but it really is difficult to root against a guy like Stevens.

Despite all of his recent success, which has gone to a different level this season, Stevens has always remained grounded. With some coaches feeling they are above the “mid-major” label, Stevens has maintained his Mid-Major Top 25 voting status since his first year as a head coach. In fact, he has been one of the most dependable and accurate voters on the panel.

Clearly Stevens aspires to take his team places normally reserved for the big name programs, but he has continued to maintain a great sense of where he came from. That’s evident when you watch his team play. The Bulldogs don’t take the floor with a sense of entitlement and that is really refreshing.

It’s fairly certain that Butler will finish as the unanimous No. 1 in the final Mid-Major Top 25 of the season and while Stevens has designs on finishing No. 1 in a different poll you won’t see him running from the top ranking in the first poll.


More Top 25

I caught up with Santa Clara’s Kerry Keating to talk more about Stevens and some of the other voters on the Mid-Major Top 25. Keating, who chaired the selection committee this past season, is quick to point out that three of the four mid-majors to advance to the Sweet 16 are represented on the voting panel.

“Saint Mary’s has been one of the top programs over the past few years and Randy [Bennett] has been a voter throughout,” Keating said. He also noted that coaches Cornell’s Steve Donahue, Murray State’s Billy Kennedy and George Mason’s Jim Larranaga have been involved with the voting panel for many years. “I think it’s great to have coaches like Jim Larranaga, who has been to the Final 4, as longtime voters. In the end the strength of the poll lies with the voting panel. When you see a guy like Jim Larranaga or Brad Stevens casting a vote, I think it speaks volumes.”

For what it’s worth, 13 of the 31 voters were part of the postseason this past season. There is no connection between being a voter and obtaining postseason success, but with nearly 50% of the panel in postseason it does cement the fact that there are a lot of excellent coaches casting a weekly vote.


Antonio Knows

In case you haven’t noticed, former Kent State All-American Antonio Gates still knows his college hoops. The All-Pro tight end for the San Diego Chargers, who is a guest analyst for CollegeInsider.com, filled out his bracket and it’s looking pretty good.

He still has three of his four Final Four picks alive, losing only Ohio State. Gates has Kansas State advancing to Indianapolis on Saturday and he has Sunday’s Elite Eight matchups intact, He successfully predicted a Kentucky-West Virginia showdown in the East and Baylor-Duke in the South. I have to be honest, I didn’t see Baylor going on a long run in the tournament but Gates should know a little bit about the Elite Eight, having led Kent State to within one game of the Final Four back in 2002.

He has Kentucky beating Kansas State in the championship game.


Championship Rings

It really was a banner season for Buzz Peterson’s Appalachian State Mountaineers. App State won the Southern Conference North Division and earned a spot in the 2010 CIT. The program has won two postseason games in school history and both of those wins came this past week, including a win over the top-seed in the CIT, Marshall.

Peterson described the CIT as an “awesome experience for our team and the program.” As a reward for a great season, Peterson’s players will each get a ring with the Southern Conference North Division Champions on one side and the CIT logo on the other.

Another Southern Conference program, The Citadel has a CIT banner hanging in McAlister Field House to commemorate their participation in 2009. Pretty cool stuff!
 

March 26, 2010


AARP of Basketball
by Brian Doyle

With Butler and Cornell having played last night, and Northern Iowa and Saint Mary’s going tonight, let’s take another look at the postseason performance of mid-major teams. Top teams in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 continue to fare well in the postseason. Let’s compare the top five in the Mid-Major Top 25 with the ESPN/USA Today top five teams. Going into tonight’s games, Butler, Northern Iowa, Saint Mary’s, Cornell, and Gonzaga have a combined record of 10-2 in the NCAA tourney, while Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, Syracuse, and West Virginia stand at 11-2.

I caught up with Loyola of Maryland Head Coach Jimmy Patsos. Patsos currently serves as a voting member of the Mid-Major Top 25 and formerly chaired the voting panel. When asked about this year’s mid-major success, Patsos echoed the thoughts of many with the quote of the week:

Referring to mid-major teams Patsos laughed, “We are the AARP of basketball. “

“We have all of the juniors and seniors. If we get a good mid-major team that has a lot of sophomores and they stay healthy, you need to watch out for the next two years,” said Patsos.

“The depth is not there,” continued Patsos. “If we have guys go out with injury, we are in trouble. Just look at Siena this year. They had a great team and lost their starting two-guard, Jackson, right before the NCAA tournament. Teams at this level have a hard time recovering from those situations.”


The Journey Continues

What has been an incredible journey for the Pacific Tigers continued last night in Boone, North Carolina, as Pacific defeated Appalachian State 64-56 to advance the CIT Championship Tuesday night at Missouri State.

After the ordeal of trying to get out of Denver for the game, one would think the Tigers would get some rest after their win last night. That is evidently not the case, as CI friend and Pacific Assistant Coach Ron Verlin e-mailed this morning, “It’s 4:30 am, and we are winding off the mountain top. Sam Willard has played great in the CIT for the second year n a row and Joe Ford has been the heart and soul of our team, but Terrell Smith has played well at both ends, Mike Nunnally is being an inside presence, and Demetrece Young has run the team at a very high level.”

The Tigers have some extra motivation and experience in handling adversity.

Verlin pointed out, “Our sports psychologist for the past six seasons, Dr. Fred Mills, passed away in October. He taught the program to make every day a great day, and to look at where we are, make a plan, and get on truckin’. Our program has honored Fred with the coaches wearing pins and the players wearing patches.”

Verlin wrote proudly, “The coaching staff is so proud of this team and how they have handled everything that has been thrown at them, from the three good teams that we have played to how tough and hard the travel has been. Never once have they complained about anything…they are just enjoying the journey and each other.”

The Tigers have not played a home game since February 27, but they have won 7 of their last 8 on the road. One more road game on Tuesday night in the CIT Championship will certainly not phase the Tigers.

Regardless of how the championship game goes on Tuesday, look for Pacific to push for an NCAA bid out of the Big West next year. Appalachian State promises to come back strong next year as well, as they return leading scorer Donald Sims. Sims hit 5/10 from behind the arc last night and leads the nation in three pointers made, while scoring 20 per night.
 

March 25, 2010


Travel-Tested Tigers
by Brian Doyle

After an extraordinary trip from Los Angeles to Colorado to Atlanta to Boone, North Carolina, the Pacific Tigers are finally ready to play Appalachian State in a CIT semifinal game originally scheduled for Wednesday night. My last text message from Assistant Coach Ron Verlin was at 10:45 pm EST Wednesday night and read, “Have not made it yet. About an hour-long trip only lost 1 bag.” After such a trip, this game will be among the biggest challenges the Tigers have faced this season.

With only one player averaging in double figures, Pacific averages 65.7 points per game, led by Sam Willard’s 11.4. Appalachian State, on the other hand scores 75 points per game, led by Donald Sims’ 20.3 per outing. Which team will control the pace? The advantage would normally seem to fall with the home team, especially with Pacific perhaps suffering some fatigue from their bizarre trip. The Tigers have won six straight on the road, while the Mountaineers have tallied six in a row at home.

Two matchups to watch: ASU’s Donald Sims vs. anyone. Sims is coming off 22 and 30 point outings in his two CIT games. Here is another great matchup to watch: Pacific’s 6’9 Sam Willard, averaging 11 and 8 on the season, but 16 and 11 in his last ten games will get to bang heads and other body parts with Appalachian State’s 6’10 285 pounder Isaac Butts, who averages 9 points and 8 boards.


Big Red

In addition to owning a restaurant and scouting for the Los Angeles Lakers, former Kentucky All-American and ten-year NBA player Kevin Grevey provides color commentary for NCAA tourney radio broadcasts. Grevey was in Jacksonville last weekend to witness Cornell’s run to the Sweet Sixteen and would be ready to jump on the Cornell bandwagon if they weren’t set to face his alma mater tonight. Nevertheless, Grevey came away from Jacksonville impressed with the Big Red.

“What they did against Temple and Wisconsin was amazing. Those two were #1 and #2 defensively in the nation. Cornell is not just happy to be there. They are not a stereotypical Ivy League team. Most people would expect to see games in the 40’s and 50’s with a lot of holding the ball and back door cuts,” said Grevey.

“Foote and Wittman are borderline NBA prospects and Louis Dale could play for any Big East or ACC team. They also go ten deep,” continued Grevey.

Grevey is very impressed with Cornell’s offensive execution.

“The way they run their perimeter weave and pick and roll, reminds me of an old school style. The only thing missing is the short shorts and the canvas high tops,” joked Grevey.

Grevey sees tomorrow night’s game as a marquee matchup.

“I think this game will have the nation’s attention. You have two contrasting programs. Somebody told me that Cornell is the seventh oldest team in the country and Kentucky is the seventh youngest. With the game being in Syracuse, you know The Big Red will have a great following, and Kentucky’s Big Blue Nation are the top fans in the country and will follow them anywhere,” said Grevey.

Blue and Red usually square off in election season. There is a special election in Syracuse tonight, and polls will be open late.


Bears await winner

Missouri State has punched their ticket to the CIT Championship game and will host the winner of tonight’s Pacific-Appalachian State matchup next Tuesday in Springfield, MO. The Bears defeated Creighton last night 67-61 to advance.

The Bears are 23-12 and carry only one senior, reserve guard Justin Fuehrmeyer, to go along with seven freshmen and sophomores and four juniors. The Bears appeared to be well positioned to make a run in the MVC last year. Second year coach Cuonzo Martin leads the Bears in his second season after coming over from Purdue. Missouri State has rebounded from an 11-20 season in Martin’s first year and will be playing in their first postseason championship game since appearing in the 1974 NCAA Division II Championship game. The Bears play in the one year old, 11,000 seat JQH Arena in Springfield, which should be a great venue for a championship game on Tuesday night.

March 24, 2010


Planes, Trains & Automobiles
by Brian Doyle

Tonight’s game between Pacific and Appalachian State has been postponed to Thursday night, as Pacific has been snowbound in Denver following their Monday night win at Northern Colorado. I spoke to Pacific assistant Ron Verlin at 12:15 pm EST Wednesday and it appeared that the Pacific contingent was boarding a plane to Atlanta at that time. What a journey it has been. According to Verlin, Pacific’s flight last night was cancelled at around 10:15 pm, at which time the Pacific staff had to scramble to find hotel rooms.

Verlin described what happened next. “We boarded a packed city bus for about eight bucks a pop. They bussed us 18 miles, and we walked the final two blocks to the hotel. We were up at 5 am this morning trying to get a flight, and I think we have one now. We’re mostly concerned with our luggage at this point.”

Evidently, luggage for the group is on several different flights heading to Georgia and the Carolinas. Perhaps the Tigers will end up wearing Appalachian State’s road uniforms on Thursday night. Or maybe they could play “shirts and skins.”

Last week, Verlin had described Pacific as “road warriors” due to their recent success in winning games away from home. Little did he know the phrase would take on a new meaning for the Tigers.

Pacific hopes to arrive in Boone, North Carolina by around midnight Wednesday night. Through it all, Verlin remains optimistic.

“We have great team spirit on this team and all of the players and coaches really enjoy one another. If we get a little rest and a little prep time, we’ll be ready to battle on Thursday night,” said Verlin.

Road Warriors, indeed.


No Stranger to Mid-Majors

Before coaching at West Virginia and Michigan, John Beilein built winning programs at Canisius and Richmond. The veteran head coach is no stranger to mid-major basketball. Asked about the strong showings of mid-major teams this postseason, Beilein commented, “It’s no surprise at all to me. It’s obvious that with people leaving early and so much focus on becoming a pro, it has become harder for the big schools to put together great teams.”

Beilein went on to discuss how the recruiting landscape has impacted basketball in the power conferences. “There are so many early commits nowadays with high school sophomores and juniors. Sometimes you miss with those kids and sometimes you hit the jackpot,” said Beilein. Ironically, this conversation took place while Beilein was in the car on his way to watch some of those kids as Detroit Country Day was facing off against Flint’s Powers Catholic.

Beilein elaborated further on the double edged sword of coaching at a BCS school. While he has access to players he did not have access to in his mid-major days, the competition to sign kids early can sometimes work against coaches.

“I sometimes see kids in their junior year and then again in July, and it is amazing the growth that has taken place,” said Beilein. The opposite can happen as well. “We’ve moved everything up in recruiting. The problem is that you might bank on a kid who looks great as a 6’8 sophomore or junior who will be really good if he gets to be 6’10, but that doesn’t always happen.”

The fact that mid-majors have a better chance of keeping kids for four years makes a difference.

“That can be a great equalizer for mid-majors, with their seniors. Just look at Cornell and what their seniors are doing.” said Beilein. He pointed out, “I haven’t had three seniors on a team since I was at West Virginia.”


Clash in the Valley

Tonight’s other CIT semifinal game between Creighton and Missouri State will go on as scheduled.

For the second consecutive year, two teams from the same conference face off in the semifinals of the CIT, as Creighton hosts Missouri State. Last year, Old Dominion trounced James Madison in the semis. Both teams are young, as Creighton carries three seniors and Missouri State one, with only one senior expected to start between the two teams. This is the rubber match, as the two split during the regular season.

Beilein’s Michigan Wolverines defeated Creighton in overtime in November. Of the Bluejays, Beilein says, “Creighton is one of the best coached teams in America, bar none. They are really talented and still young, and this turned out to be somewhat of a rebuilding year for them, but they are a good team and a great basketball program.”
 

March 23, 2010


Anybody Can Beat Anybody
by Brian Doyle

A weekend of NCAA tourney surprises brought back memories of one of the biggest upsets in tournament history. In 2001 15th seeded Hampton defeated No. 2 seed Iowa State under Coach Steve Merfeld. I turned to Merfeld to help provide some context for all of these upsets. In addition to leading Hampton University to two NCAA tourney appearances in five years at the helm, Merfeld also spent five years as the Head Coach at Evansville.

“In college basketball today, anybody can beat anybody. I don’t think we are too far off from a 16 beating a 1,” said Merfeld. “Parity is great for college basketball,” he continued.

How difficult is it to get ready to play after an emotional “upset” victory? It may depend on the makeup of the team, said Merfeld.

“On that Hampton team, we had three fifth year seniors, and two had NCAA tournament experience before they transferred to Hampton, so it became evident to me that our guys expected to win. We had no problems with just being satisfied with the win over Iowa State,” said Merfeld. The Pirates gave Georgetown a run in their second round game before succumbing to the Hoyas.

Having spent seven years in the Missouri Valley Conference as Head Coach at Evansville and Assistant Coach at Bradley, Merfeld is quite familiar with Northern Iowa. Perhaps the Panther’s string of victories brings back some memories of Hampton’s NCAA win.

“I’m thrilled for their kids and for their program. What they’ve done, starting with Greg McDermott (now at Iowa State) and continuing with Ben Jacobson has been great. They’ve recruited—they’ve recruited toughness, and they’ve developed kids. They expect to win. They are also used to being in close games and winning them,” noted Merfeld.

Here’s to hoping we see Merfeld back on the sidelines before too long. “It’s what I do; it’s who I am. I certainly hope to have another opportunity to lead a program,” said Merfeld.


A lot of Success

With tournament time, comes the season of coaching changes and constant speculation. No inside information here, but let’s give a nod to some coaches on the mid-major level who have succeeded at multiple schools.

• Gregg Marshall-Wichita State: Marshall developed a powerhouse Big South program at Winthrop and led the Shockers to a 25-10 mark this year.

• Brad Brownell-Wright State: After going 83-40, with two NCAA tournament appearances at UNC-Wilmington, Brownell just completed his fourth consecutive 20-win season with the Raiders.

• Todd Bozeman-Morgan State: Bozeman’s tenure at Cal has been well documented. He has turned Morgan State into a MEAC power, as the Bears completed their third straight 20-win season this year at 27-10.


Questions were Answered

Questions I posed on Monday are answered.

1) With Pacific being tabbed as “Road Warriors” by assistant Ron Verlin, and Northern Colorado boasting a 13-1 record at home, who would win out? Also, could UNC control Pacific’s Sam Willard?

Answer: Pacific continues to thrive on the road as they defeated Northern Colorado 63-59. They will try to continue to live up to their moniker on Thursday in a semifinal game at Appalachian State.

2) Who wins the showdown between Appalachian State’ s Donald Sims entering their game against Marshall shooting 42% from behind the arc, and the Thundering Herd’s three point field goal defense at 31%?

Answer: Sims answered loudly, shooting 4/10 from three point range and scoring 30, as the Mountaineers shot 47% from the three point line in beating Marshall 80-72.

3) Will the home court and experience of Creighton be enough to cool off a hot Fairfield team?

Answer: A resounding yes, as the Blue Jays win their 19th straight in the Omaha Civic Auditorium, beating Fairfield 73-55. After scorching George Mason for 9 threes and 32 points, Fairfield’s Mike Evanovich was held to one three pointer for three points.

4) Can Louisiana Tech continue to overcome injuries to its top two scorers, Kyle Gibson and Magnum Rolle?

Answer: No. With Rolle limited to 13 minutes, and Gibson out, Tech ran out of gas in the second half, as Missouri State rolled 69-40.
 

March 22, 2010


Tweet This
by Brian Doyle

Tonight’s quarterfinal CIT matchups pose some interesting questions:

Pacific at Northern Colorado: There is more than one UNC that can play basketball. The University of Northern Colorado is 25-7 and 13-1 at home. At the same time, Pacific Assistant Ron Verlin points out, “We have become road warriors. The best thing about this year’s team is that we have played our best basketball on the road. We are looking forward to playing a good Northern Colorado team that has been very good at home.”

Who wins the battle of a team playing well at home vs. a team of “road warriors?”

Can UNC handle Pacific’s 6’9 junior Sam Willard? Willard has come on very strong lately and led the Tigers to a first round win over Loyola Marymount with a career game of 23 points and 17 rebounds.

Appalachian-State at Marshall: App State junior guard Donald Sims scores 20 points per game, shooting from behind the arc at a sizzling 42% clip, while the Thundering Herd’s three point field goal defense stands at 31%. Who wins that battle?

Fairfield at Creighton: Will the home court and experience of Creighton be enough to cool off Fairfield, as the Stags come off the biggest postseason comeback in Division I history? Creighton is in its thirteenth consecutive season of postseason play, while Fairfield is in its first since 2003. Additionally, Creighton has won 18 consecutive games at their former home, Omaha Civic Auditorium, which is hosting the CIT game, because Creighton’s current home, Qwest Center Omaha is currently booked. All-time, the Blue Jays are 433-155 at the Auditorium.

Louisiana Tech at Missouri State: Can Tech continue to overcome injuries to its top two scorers, Kyle Gibson and Magnum Rolle? Gibson has been ruled out and Rolle will be a game-time decision. The Bulldogs will need a big game from sophomore Ola Ashaolu, who recorded his 10th double-double in their first round CIT victory over Southern Miss. Missouri State is 16-2 at home, and shot over 60% from the field in their first round win against Middle Tennessee.


The Top 25

Picking up where we left off on Friday with our discussion of CollegeInsider.com’s Mid-Major Top 25…The Top 10 have accumulated an NCAA tourney record of 11-6, with the top 4 teams currently unbeaten at 8-0, all advancing to the Sweet Sixteen. The fact that Butler, Northern Iowa, Saint Mary’s, and Cornell had good seasons is not a shock, but who would have predicted all four of them advancing to the Sweet Sixteen. Once again, kudos to Santa Clara’s Kerry Keating and his panel of voters in the Top 25, as they got it right!

Tweet This

Speaking of Cornell, let’s give some credit to CollegeInsider.com’s Angela Lento. Two of Lento’s Twitter posts after Cornell’s 79-70 victory over Harvard on February 19th were prophetic.

Her first tweet: “Ryan Wittman had 27 points but Louis Dale was best player on the floor in Cornell's win tonight at Harvard.”

That tweet was followed by: “Cornell's Louis Dale will become a recognizable name in the NCAA Tournament. He is the key to a possible run for Cornell in March.”

Recognizable, indeed, as Dale has scored 26 and 21 in the Big Red’s two victories. In fact, Lento had a back and forth on Twitter with a well known ESPN personality, who claimed Cornell’s Jeff Foote would be the key to a Big Red run, with CI’s Lento countering with Dale.

Lento knows her hoops. Over the last four games, Dale has stepped up big time, averaging almost 21 points per game, 8 over his season average of 12.6. In that same time Ryan Wittman is scoring 20, 2 over his average (17.8), and Foote is scoring 12.7, right at his season average (12.4).

The question now is not “Who is Louis Dale,” but rather, “Can Kentucky contain him?”
 

March 21, 2010


Surreal Saturday
by Brian Doyle

I didn’t see Kansas getting knocked out in the first weekend, but how about the mid-majors! Through the first three days of the tournament mid-majors have done more than just hold their own. The top three teams in the Mid-Major Top 25 are all on their way to the Sweet Sixteen and the No. 4 and No. 5 ranked teams have a chance to join them.

“This might a year when you have two, three or even four surprises in the Final Four,” said CollegeInsider.com’s Kyle Macy who also does the play-by-play for ‘The Big Blue Network,’ which covers Kentucky basketball. Macy also does NCAA tournament games for Westwood One Radio.

“If you don’t play well you are going to lose,” he added. “It sounds simple but in the past there were teams that were head and shoulders above the rest and they could survive a subpar effort until the later rounds. I don’t think that is the case this season.”

Macy went to talk about the great job Northern Iowa did defensively but he noted that Kansas didn’t play particularly well either. On the other hand Macy’s Alma mater has certainly come to play. Kentucky has left nothing to chance in wins over East Tennessee State and Wake Forest. The Wildcats jumped on both opponents early and were never really challenged.

“They’ve been impressive,” Macy said about Kentucky. “They have come to play. With the talent they have they will be tough to handle if they keep playing like this.”

Looking at the slate of games on Sunday Macy commented that he would expect the surprises to continue on Sunday.
 

Looking Back to 2009

The quarterfinals of the 2010 CIT tip off on Monday evening. There are some intriguing matchups. Buzz Peterson and Appalachian State, which should be among the favorites next season in the Southern Conference, travels to Huntington, WV to face Marshall. The Thundering Herd are in the postseason for the first time in 22 years... Pacific will visit Northern Colorado, which is looking for its 26th win of the season. They picked up win 25, a school record, in the first round against Portland... Louisiana Tech is on the road against Missouri State in a match up of two teams that figure to be among the best in their respective leagues next season... And Fairfield, fresh off its record-setting comeback, will be in Omaha to face Creighton. With a win on Monday, Creighton can win consecutive postseason games for the first time in men’s basketball program history. Pretty amazing considering the Jays are in the postseason for the 29th time.


One year again the quarters produced a memorable 75-foot buzzer beater, courtesy of Bradley’s Chris Roberts. So what’s next for a tournament that last week produced the greatest comeback in Division I postseason history? We will see what unfolds on Monday, but until then I thought I would take a look back on some of the moments from the 2009 tourney.

March 20, 2010


Four-Letter Words
by Brian Doyle

The first round of the NCAA Tournament is in the books. We had some mild surprises, but not real shockers. Even the Georgetown loss wasn’t stunning. Although I thought ‘Ohio’ might a four-letter word of a different type for one member of the CollegeInsider.com hierarchy. Co-founder Joe Dwyer did tell me before the tournament that he wouldn’t be surprised if Georgetown was playing Kansas for a trip to the Final Four or if they got (as he put it) ‘smacked’ in the first round. I caught up with Joe to get his take on the Hoyas present and past.

“Two things held Georgetown back,” he said. “Inconsistency has been a big part of it. They have had games in which they have been bad offensively for long stretches followed by stretches of offensive brilliance. Too many highs and lows. The other thing most don’t realize is that they have no seniors. To be honest I think Coach Thompson has done a really nice job.”

While Ohio’s win didn’t come as a real stunner to most who have followed the Hoyas closely, it was a surprise to most fans. Less than 3% of those who signed up for the ESPN bracket challenge picked Ohio to beat the Hoyas. When asked about Ohio before the tournament began, Dwyer compared their season to that of Georgetown.

“They were also great at times and average at times,” he said. “They found a nice rhythm late in the season. I think they won four of five heading into the MAC Tournament. They certainly had a nice rhythm going on Thursday night. When you shoot 58% you are going to beat a lot of people.”

A hot shooting night reminded me of another NCAA Tournament game involving Georgetown. While I learned that ‘Ohio’ wasn’t such an offensive word to Dwyer, it turns out ‘Nova’ is. “They shot 79% from the field that night,” he said referring to the 1985 National Championship game against Villanova. “It was basketball’s version of the perfect game.”

The 2010 NCAA Tournament is clearly one to forget for Georgetown followers, but there have been plenty of memorable moments over the years. I asked Dwyer for his Top 3 moments and players.

Top Three Georgetown Moments:

3. “Beating Carolina to advance to the Final Four in 2007. They rolled the Tar Heels in overtime. It was a long wait between Final Four appearances so that was sweet.”

2. “Coach Thomson hugging Fred Brown in the closing moments of the 1984 National title game (against Houston). After making that ill-advised pass to James Worthy in’82 (National Championship game) he came back to lead Georgetown to a National Championship. That was a cool moment.”

1. “The second half of the 1984 National Semifinal against Kentucky. Georgetown trailed by 5 or 6 points at the half but the second half was all about Georgetown defense and Michael Graham. He dominated Kentucky’s Mel Turpin and Sam Bowie. I can still see him rocking the rim and then pointing to Pat Ewing as he ran back up the floor.”

NOTE: Michael Graham was a freshman on the 1984 National Championship team. As Dwyer went on to say, “he really emerged late in the year as a force in the paint.” Graham transferred the following season the District of Columbia. Dwyer joked that had he returned, the result of the 1985 title game might have been different. “Georgetown lost by 1. Graham would have done something to change at least one possession,” he laughed.

Three Favorite Hoyas All-Time:

3. “Gene Smith was a spark plug on that ’84 title team. He wasn’t much of a scorer but he really got after it defensively and helped set a tone. He turned an ankle in the win over Kentucky and couldn’t go in the championship game, but he was a key component on that team.”

2. “Michael Graham was a force. He had one of the more dominating performances by a freshman, in the Final Four, ever. I actually considered shaving my head in high school as a salute to Graham.”

1. “Sleepy Floyd. He was just smooth. On that ill-fated pass by Freddie Brown (in 1982), Floyd was open in the corner. He would have made that shot.”

NOTE: It was Floyd that gave Georgetown the lead, late in that game, before Michael Jordan hit the game winner to give Dean Smith his first National Championship.
 

March 19, 2010


Mid-Major Power
by Brian Doyle

Santa Clara Coach Kerry Keating and his voting panel for the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 seem to be spot-on with their latest poll. In their poll, found at http://www.collegeinsider.com/mmpoll/, teams ranked #1, 2, 3, 7, and 9 all won on day one of the NCAA tournament. Additionally, teams ranked 12, 15, 22, and 23 have already notched postseason victories as well. There have been eight losses as well, two in the NCAA tourney. Perhaps most impressive, however, is that every single team in the current poll is playing in the postseason this year.

“The coaches on the voting panel have done a great job and that’s pretty evident when you look at the results on Thursday,” said Keating. “For those who follow the Mid-Major Top 25 all season, they are certainly not surprised that Murray State beat Vanderbilt.”

Murray State has been ranked in the Top 10 since early January.

Playing today in the NCAA tourney are #4 Cornell, #5 Gonzaga, #6 Siena, #8 Oakland, #10 Wofford, #18 Morgan State, and #25 UC Santa Barbara. Vermont (25-9) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (18-15) are not currently ranked in the Mid-Major Top 25 and play today. The Catamounts are certainly strong candidates to be ranked in the final poll on April 5, as they were among the top teams listed under ‘others receiving votes.’ Other mid-major teams receiving votes in the latest poll have also fared well, most notably Ohio upsetting Georgetown, while Robert Morris and Montana narrowly missed upsets of Villanova and New Mexico, respectively. Lehigh gave Kansas a scare, while East Tennessee had their hands full with Kentucky.

Let’s see what day two of the NCAA tourney brings, not to mention the NIT and CIT. Early returns, however, indicate that teams ranked in the Mid-Major Top 25 are certainly capable of significant postseason success. After one day, the Top Ten stand at 5-0 in the NCAA tourney. We will certainly take another look in the days ahead.


Don't forget about us

Playing in the CIT on the same day as the NCAA tourney seems to provide a certain level of excitement. The first two days of the NCAA tournament are like national basketball holidays, so the adrenaline was flowing in Ruston, Louisiana last night as Louisiana Tech hosted Southern Miss in the final first round match-up of the CIT, with the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs coming out on top 66-57.Field goal percentage once again tells the story, with Tech shooting a scorching 56% from the field compared to 36% for the Golden Eagles. Tech was led by sophomore G/F Olu Ashaolu with 18 points on 8/11 shooting. Ashaolu also grabbed 10 rebounds to record his tenth double-double of the season. Freshman Darius Redding, averaging 10 minutes and 2.5 points, came off the bench to fill in for injured starters Kyle Gibson and Magnum Rolle, with 13 points on 6/9 shooting, while grabbing 8 boards in 33 minutes of action.

Sure it wasn’t the NCAA Tournament, but it’s still special to play on the same day as the Big Dance.

“You could not have told our kids they weren’t playing in the NCAA Tournament,” said Andy Fox, assistant coach at The Citadel. Last season the Bulldogs played Old Dominion, in the CIT, on the first Thursday of the NCAA Tournament. After watching NCAA Tournament games all day the players boarded the bus for their game against the Monarchs.

“Seeing everyone else playing gave them a great feeling of playing in the postseason. They felt like they were part of the action. It was a special day for them.”

The Bulldogs will travel to Missouri State on Monday. Second round CIT pairings have been set and can be viewed at http://www.collegeinsider.com/tournament/2010.html.


2009 Tournament MVP

Frank Hassell’s workmanlike performance in leading Old Dominion over Notre Dame brought back memories of last year’s CIT. Hassell’s 15 points and 9 boards yesterday resembled his break out performance in last year’s postseason.

Last year, Hassell posted double-doubles in his final three CIT games, culminating with an 18 point, 15 rebound performance in the championship win over Bradley. His dominating play in the finale earned him tournament MVP honors.

Hassell’s blue collar work yesterday is a good sign for ODU. He epitomizes the “grind-it-out, defend and rebound” approach upon which ODU thrives. Hassell’s 9 points and 6 boards per game this year were a little lower than expected, but keep in mind, the Monarchs have only one double digit scorer in Gerald Lee. What they have, however, is the ability to defend and rebound with anyone, as five players average at least 4 rebounds per game.

Postseason basketball sometimes turns into a half court, possession by possession game. That plays right into ODU’s hands. The Monarchs, led by Hassell’s toughness look well positioned to play a couple more games.
 

March 18, 2010


Player of the Year Award
by Brian Doyle

As tournament play heats up, and great players make great plays, it is appropriate to consider what players will gain postseason accolades. On the mid-major level, CollegeInsider.com sponsors the Lou Henson National Player of the Year Award, honoring the top mid-major player in the country. I recently spoke with La Salle University coach, Dr. John Giannini, a member of the Selection Committee for the Lou Henson Award.

Though not a big fan of the term “mid-major,” Giannini did acknowledge the need to recognize players at that level. “There are good teams and good players everywhere,” said Giannini. “I do recognize, however, that TV is saturated with BCS level schools. People do not get to see these kids a lot, so anything that draws attention to those players is a good thing,” continued Giannini, who directed the Maine Black Bears prior to taking the helm at La Salle.

Though not willing to divulge his selection for the Henson Award, Giannini described the decision as very difficult.

“The vote was incredibly difficult. There were at least eight players that would be great choices,” said Giannini. Giannini explained that he cast his vote based on “the individual, his team, and his off-the-court achievements.”

Having coached with Lou Henson from 1987-89, Giannini is especially honored to be associated with the award. “I am proud to have coached with him, and I have always had great respect for him. His accomplishments will rank up there with the best of all time. Coach Henson loved the game and proved that through his longevity, including revitalizing the New Mexico State program at the end of his career,” said Giannini.

What about the La Salle Explorers this year? After being picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic 10, the Explorers stumbled to a 12-18 record, including 4-12 in league play. There should be an asterisk next to that mark, however. According to Giannini, La Salle led the country in “points lost due to injury.” La Salle lost 2,800 career points to injury, with Indiana State placing second in that dubious category at 2,100 points lost. Giannini pointed out that La Salle only had its projected starting lineup together for four games this season. The future looks bright as La Salle has signed two point guards rated in the Top 50 by Scout.com. According to Giannini, the only other school that can make that claim is Duke. Expect the Explorers to discover success in 2010-11.

With tonight’s matchup between Southern Miss and Louisiana Tech as the only remaining first round CIT game, there have already been some outstanding individual performances. Let’s take a look:

Block party: In a losing effort on Tuesday night vs. Creighton, South Dakota’s Tyler Cain, though having an off night offensively, was a force on the defensive end with 7 blocked shots to go along with 9 rebounds. Somewhat overshadowed by Fairfield’s comeback was the game George Mason’s Mike Morrison put together. Morrison blocked 6 shots to go along with a career high 25 points and 9 boards. Fairfield’s Anthony Johnson was also a defensive force, blocking 4 shots to go with his 25 points and 11 rebounds.

Some other outstanding efforts:

March 17, 2010


An Amazing Night
by Brian Doyle

This is why they call it madness. In a tournament that is quickly turning into an annual highlight reel, the CIT saw history made again last night. After building a 19 point lead at the half, which grew to 27 with 16 minutes to play, George Mason was outscored by 32 through regulation and overtime in losing to Fairfield 101-96 in a first round CIT game in Fairfax.

The 27-point comeback is the biggest in Division I postseason history.

Impressions from the night...

March 16, 2010


Taking a page from ODU
by Brian Doyle

George Mason University’s basketball staff is well aware of the path Old Dominion University took to this year’s 26-8 record and CAA regular season and tourney titles. One year ago, the Monarchs were preparing to tip off against The Citadel in a first round battle in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). Now, ODU is headed to New Orleans to face Notre Dame in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Though Mason wrote the book on mid-major success in the postseason, they are willing to follow the lead of their CAA partners, by using the CIT as a way to gain valuable post season experience for their youngsters in hopes of making an NCAA run next year. The Patriots have only one senior, Louis Birdsong, and carry eleven freshmen and sophomores. GMU opens CIT play at home tonight against Fairfield.

I caught up with GMU Assistant Chris Caputo after practice last night. “We have a lot of postseason experience as a program, but not so much with this young group,” noted Caputo. “We look at this opportunity like ODU did last year. This is a great opportunity to get our young guys some postseason experience—to learn what it takes to win in the postseason,” continued Caputo.

Though George Mason would certainly like to duplicate ODU’s CIT championship, they realize they will have their hands full with a 22-10 Fairfield team. For the Stags, 6’8 senior Anthony Johnson was named First Team All-MAAC and MAAC Defensive Player of the Year, after averaging 15.7 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks. Additionally, freshman guard Derek Needham was selected as the MAAC Rookie of the Year, after leading the Stags in both scoring (16.3) and assists (5.2).

Fairfield is coached by former Boston College assistant Ed Cooley. Cooley was recently named a finalist for the first annual Ben Jobe Award, sponsored by CollegeInsider.com. The award honors the top minority head coach in men’s Division I basketball.


Coaching Legend

My phone conversation yesterday with coaching legend Jim Phelan was intended to be a discussion of the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award. What I quickly realized was that even after coaching for 49 years at Mt. St. Mary’s and coaching in more college basketball games than anyone else in history, Coach Phelan still loves to talk hoops. In our less-than-ten-minute conversation, Coach Phelan managed to commend the coaches of Murray State, Northern Iowa, Butler, Cornell, Temple, and Kansas, to break down Mt. St. Mary’s season, and to summarize his philosophy on coaching.

When asked what it was like to have a national coach of the year award named in his honor, Coach Phelan described how special it was, while also demonstrating his great humility, as he said, “When I learned they were going to name the award in my honor, I asked myself ‘how in the world did that happen?’

Phelan said that great coaches “need to have a great knowledge of the game and a lot of really good players. You have to do things that are fundamentally sound. You can win some games with gimmicks, but not over a long period of time.” Phelan continued, “The worst thing you can do is to assume that your players know what to do. You have to recruit hard and keep coaching them.”

He coached them hard for 49 seasons at Mt. St. Mary’s, and still loves the game.
 

March 15, 2010


It's Time to Dance
by Brian Doyle

When I spoke to Pacific Assistant Coach Ron Verlin on Friday afternoon, the Tigers were just hours away from a Big West Conference semifinal matchup against Long Beach State, hoping to advance to the championship game. The now 20-11 Tigers, however, were upset by Long Beach 68-61, ending their hopes of an NCAA tourney invite in this one-bid league.

Instead, Pacific, along with Portland, will be making a repeat appearance in the second annual CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. Last year, Pacific hosted two games, defeating Portland and Idaho, before losing on the road to Bradley in the semifinals. Following the seven point loss to Long Beach, the Tigers welcome the opportunity to continue their season at Loyola Marymount on Wednesday. Pacific entered last year’s CIT, with a record of 19-12 and reached the coveted twenty win mark in the tourney to finish at 21-13. Of last year’s appearance in the CIT, Coach Verlin said, “The CIT was a great experience. We had the opportunity to host two games and then to take the trip to Bradley. The whole experience really helped us going into this season.”

Last year’s CIT gave five seniors the opportunity to extend their careers by a few weeks with three games of post season tournament basketball. Pacific has only three seniors this year, Joe Ford, Lavar Neufville, and Michael Nunnally. While the CIT still provides them with the chance to extend their careers, it also provides a great opportunity for the younger Tigers to gain more valuable postseason experience. Among the beneficiaries of this experience will be 6’9 junior Sam Willard. Averaging 11 points and 8 boards on the season, Willard has averaged 16 and 9 over his last 8 games. According to Verlin, Willard “has been playing awesome over the last few weeks.”

The chance to keep playing in is invaluable to players like Willard, who should benefit tremendously from the additional practice time and postseason game experience, while the trio of Pacific seniors will be playing each game like it could be their last.


On a Roll

Winning streaks are not very common at this time of year. All of the conference tournament champions are on winning streaks of at least three games by virtue of winning their tournaments. Other than that, almost every team is on at least a one game losing streak, due to their elimination in conference tournaments. The longest current Division I winning streak belongs to the Butler Bulldogs, who have won twenty straight as they prepare to face off against UTEP in the NCAA tourney. Two teams follow Butler with thirteen game streaks. Wofford is riding high, as they earned a #13 seed and a matchup with #4 seeded Wisconsin. What is unprecedented is that a team with a current thirteen game winning streak is not headed to the NCAA or NIT. As CollegeInsider has reported numerous times throughout the season, the CIT awarded an automatic bid to the Great West, which as a new Division I conference has not yet earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tourney. The University of South Dakota Coyotes are in the midst of the second best winning streak in the country, and have earned that bid to the CIT. The awarding of the automatic bid to the Great West may have initially seemed risky to some. The bid could not have worked out any better, however, for the Great West, South Dakota, and the CIT. It would have been a crime for a team with a thirteen game win streak to have nowhere to go. The Coyotes get to test their mettle at Creighton on Tuesday.

Coach Dave Boots is very excited about the opportunity. “It’s been a great run for us. We’ll learn a lot from this whole experience. It will help us in the transition phase we are in. It will help us both in the near future and in the long run as we keep building our program,” said Boots.

The CIT will provide a great opportunity for South Dakota’s Tyler Cain to step into the limelight. Cain earned Great West Conference Player of the Year honors by averaging 15 and 10 on the season, to go along with three blocks per game. Of the 6’8 Cain, Coyotes Coach Dave Boots said, “When we played at Kansas State and Marquette, they both thought he could play for them. He plays at a high level, and he is a force at both ends of the floor.”


NCAA Tournament Surprises?

Now that postseason brackets are out, let the prognostication begin. This could be a very interesting postseason for teams traditionally covered by the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. While the chances are always slim for another George Mason, there are some intriguing first round NCAA matchups. We won’t talk about the Butler’s and Gonzaga’s of the world right now, but let’s look at some other intriguing first round NCAA tourney games.

• Northern Iowa-UNLV: The Panthers come in at 28-4, looking to knock off the Runnin’ Rebels.

• Murray State-Vanderbilt: The Racers are 30-4 and boast six players averaging between 9.5 and 10.6 ppg

• Cornell-Temple: Some think the Big Red rate higher than the #12 seed. Cornell has won 7 in a row and 15 of 16, while shooting 43% from behind the arc, but face a tough Temple squad.

• Siena-Purdue: The Saints are accustomed to winning games in the NCAA tournament, and bring a highly experienced first five back to the dance.

• Sam Houston State-Baylor: In a battle of the Lone Star State, both teams stand at 25-7 and put up more than 75 points per game.

• Old Dominion-Notre Dame: Last year’s CIT champ won both the regular season and tourney titles in the CAA.
 

March 14, 2010


Sorting it all Out
by Brian Doyle

Finally it’s Selection Sunday. The CollegeInsider.com staff will be filling out their NCAA Tournament brackets like countless others but there is still that matter of another tournament.

It has been a busy couple of weeks and Riley Wallace and his selection committee are now in the process of making final decisions. According to Wallace things are starting to take shape.

“We have a few spots remaining and a handful of teams being considered,” said Wallace. “We will have to wait to see what the NIT selection committee does today. Otherwise we are in very good shape.”

Teams still on the board include teams squarely on the bubble for the NIT. The NIT selections will shape the CIT field. Wallace talked about some of the happenings that have changed his selection committee’s thought process as to the teams that will ultimately participate in the second-year tournament.

“Houston winning the Conference USA tournament probably pushed someone out of the NCAA tournament and into the NIT,” he said. “That would then push someone out of the NIT and possibly onto our radar. And many regular season conference champions lost in their tournaments so they have taken someone’s spot in the NIT.”

For the second straight year CollegeInsider.com’s Dave Adelman has drawn the assignment of trying to figure out how the NIT will shape up. It’s helpful information to Wallace and the committee as they try to sort things out.

Here is how Adelman sees the NIT field:
 

So while the bracketologists are sorting out the NCAA picture, Wallace and company have invented a different analysis strategy. As Wallace explains another key component in selection the field is location.

“Geography does come into play,” said Wallace. “We have made no secret that part of our model is to keep some geographical stability. The closer we can keep teams to home the better. Last year James Madison played three games in CIT. They played one home game and took two short bus trips (to Liberty and Old Dominion). We are not going to select a team just because they are down the road from another team, but we do take location into consideration.”

Yesterday there were less than 30 teams still remaining on the board. Wallace said that list has shrunk to roughly half as the final spots are close to being filled. But as Wallace explained today is a good news / bad news day. The good news is the field will be set today. The bad news is that there will be some tough calls to make.

“We are going to have to tell some deserving teams that we don’t have a spot in the tournament for them,” said Wallace. “That’s difficult. We make it a point to call each coach back to tell them personally and that is never easy. In the end we just can’t take everybody, but there will be 16 teams in postseason that would not have been in postseason just a couple of years ago.”


Welcome to the Postseason

While most college basketball fans were glued to the action in New York, where the Big East Championship was being decided, a small contingent took in the action in Orem, Utah where the inaugural Great West Conference championship was playing out.

Regular season champion South Dakota jumped to a 16-point halftime lead, but Houston Baptist came roaring back in the second half and tied the game at 82 all with just over two minutes remaining. USD responded with some clutch shots and went on to win the title, 91-86.

After the game USD coach Dave Boots got a congratulatory call from CollegeInsider.com’s Joe Dwyer.

“He was genuinely excited,” said Dwyer. “I think it’s lost on a lot of people what a big deal this is for a program like South Dakota. This is not about the CIT as much as it is USD. Coach Boots and his kids are going to play in postseason and that's pretty cool.“

Dwyer makes a good point. For South Dakota this is their Big Dance. Tuesday or Wednesday this week the Coyotes will have a chance to win and advance. I can tell you that I have been told by countless coaches from around the country, all season long, how great it is that the Great West has that opportunity.

It’s a great thing. Congratulations South Dakota!.
 

March 13, 2010


Selecting the Field
by Brian Doyle

A little over twenty-four hours from now the field for 2010 CollegeInsider.com Tournament will be unveiled. Three teams have already announced that they have accepted invitations. Appalachian State, Creighton and George Mason will each host first round games next week. Selection committee chairman, and longtime head coach at Hawaii, Riley Wallace likes the way things are unfolding.

“Dana Altman, Jim Larranaga and Buzz Peterson are all excellent coaches,” said Wallace. “They each have a track record for success and their teams deserve to be a part of the postseason. “

Creighton finished fourth in the Missouri Valley, despite the loss of star player P'Allen Stinnett who was suspended on Jan. 25 for the remainder of the season. George Mason also finished fourth, out of the Colonial and Appalachian State won the Southern Conference North Division, losing to Wofford in the SoCon tournament championship game. On Twitter Buzz Peterson noted that it’s just the fourth postseason appearance in the history of the program.

Last season there were no such announcements until Sunday night, but Wallace explains that things have changed a lot in the past twelve months.

“Last year a lot of people were unfamiliar with the CIT and that’s understandable,” he said. “It was the first year for the event. Now it’s hard to find a coach who doesn’t have something great to say about the CIT. There is a lot more interest this year. We will have some tough decisions to make this weekend.”

Wallace has been in regular contact with the members of the selection committee over the past couple of weeks. On Saturday the discussions will get a little more serious as they attempt to narrow down the field.

“A week ago there were over 50 teams and earlier this week we had 40,” he said. “Now we have less than 30 still on the board. We will select the field from this list.”

Wallace spoke at length about how much he has enjoyed, first serving on the committee last season and now, overseeing the entire process. He laughed that his days have been spent either on the golf course or on the phone and more often both simultaneously. On a few occasions he has been awoken by a call at 5:00 a.m. by a coach unaware that he’s on West Coast time.

“I am going to wake up sometime so why not crack of dawn,” he laughed.

We'll have more from Riley on Sunday.


Manifest Destiny

Tonight the Great West Conference championship game will be contested in Orem Utah. The top two teams in the conference will vie for a spot in the CIT. South Dakota (21-9) will face meet Houston Baptist (12-20) but 9-2 in the Great West. A lot of people have scoffed at the idea that a team with such a record would be able to get a bid to the CIT, but co-founder Joe Dwyer thinks it’s a great idea.

“It’s usually the guys that never played ball that are the most critical,” he said. “Until this year the teams in the Great West were room service for the high majors. They would show up hand over a win and leave. This season they have known from day one that they can play for a championship and participate in postseason. Sure it’s not the tournament they would want to be in, but it’s postseason. Anyone who doesn’t think that’s a good thing for those kids is just lost.”

Dwyer has no illusions that the CIT rivals the tradition-rich NIT. He likens the CIT to a pre New Year’s Day bowl game, explaining that it’s understandably not a national draw, but for the fans, coaches and players involved it is a big deal.


Basketball or Snowboarding?

So what is it like to be involved with running a tournament? Clearly it’s all business, everyone working quietly in their cubicles, barely having a moment to stop and breathe. Right? Wrong.

“It’s definitely not would people would expect,” said CollegeInsider.com’s Matt Drake. “We spend a lot of time on the phone, a lot of time watching games and very little time taking ourselves seriously. Let’s be honest it’s not like we are working on the space shuttle program or searching for caves for the Taliban. What we do beats digging holes.”

Drake has been involved with CollegeInsider.com since the beginning. For years he served as a columnist, but his sole duty now is that of chief scout with Dwyer. Drake basically has the job that any basketball junkie would covet -- He gets paid to simply watch games.

Drake actually spends little time in the office, pointing out that he can watch a game anywhere. That’s the case for CI’s other key “game watcher,” David Adelman. The former assistant at Loyola (Chicago) and Duquesne, now runs www.playhardhoops.com, which he runs out of Chicago. Needless to say Adelman doesn’t check in often at the Boston office, but he can attest to Drake’s observations.

“It’s actually pretty funny,” he said. “The last thing it looks like is a basketball operation. Guys wearing skull caps and Ed Hardy gear. It looks more like the waiting area at a snowboarding event. But at the end of the day there is more basketball knowledge among that group that you’ll find anywhere.”

So if you’re at the Final Four and you happen to be in the lobby at the Hyatt Regency in Indianapolis and you see some folks that look like they should be carrying a skate board rather than a basketball, it’s likely they work for CollegeInsider.com.
 

March 12, 2010


Good Old Fashion Rivalry
by Brian Doyle

In a rivalry that spans 212 games, today’s Patriot League championship matchup between longtime rivals Lafayette and Lehigh will be boiling hot. The third seeded Lafayette Leopards travel to Bethlehem for a 4:45 pm tipoff and an NCAA tournament bid at stake. Games between these two are always intense, emotional battles, but this one figures to be off the charts. Never before in the storied rivalry has an NCAA bid hung in the balance. As the home team and top seed, Lehigh would seem to be the favorite. Just three weeks ago, however, Lafayette defeated Lehigh 90-75 at Lafayette, hitting a remarkable 16-29 from behind the arc. When the two teams met at Lehigh in January, the Mountain Hawks prevailed 75-57.

In speaking with coaches around the league, sentiment leans towards Lehigh being very difficult to beat at home today. One Patriot League assistant coach commented, “Lafayette would have to really shoot it well to win today. It’s tough to beat Lehigh at their place, plus I think they are a little better at each spot. It will be a great atmosphere, though, and Lafayette will travel well.”

I caught up with Lafayette assistant Pat Doherty yesterday before practice. “The preparation is going well, and the kids are excited. There is not much these two teams don’t know about each other,” said Doherty.

Asked about the two regular season games, Doherty noted, “Both games were really emotional. Down there, they really got out in transition. As Coach Jones (American University) said, Lehigh has great ‘spurtability,’ and they showed it in that game. Here we shot the ball extremely well, hitting 16 threes.”

Doherty also commented that Lehigh does not really have any weak links in their starting group and that freshman CJ McCollum is a “special player in our league.” McCollum is the first Patriot League player ever to be named the league’s Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year. The 6’3 McCollum is averaging 18.9 points and 4.9 rebounds, gaudy stats for a freshman.

The 213th matchup between these two promises to be a great one.


Totally Insane

Spartanburg, South Carolina is going crazy over the Wofford Terriers. In the words of Head coach Mike Young, “It’s nuts. It’s insane, all in a great way. It’s great for the college, it’s great for the city, and it’s great for these kids. I wake up each morning and pinch myself.”

Young has led Wofford to its first ever Southern Conference Championship and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Terriers are in the midst of a thirteen game winning streak as they await their fate on Selection Sunday.

Of his squad, Young said, “We’ll guard, we won’t turn the ball over, we’ll take great shots, and we’ll rebound. We have good players who realize they are part of something bigger than themselves.”

Asked how he is managing the craziness of this week, Young commented, “I’m new to this. I don’t know that I am handling all of it well. This is a different deal, but we practice yesterday and we’ll come back on Sunday, and our kids will really narrow their focus and attack the next challenge.”

With only two seniors on the team, Young and the Terriers may have to get used to playing in the postseason.


Skip Prosser Award

In addition to being named the Southern Conference Coach of the Year, Young was named a finalist for the 2010 Skip Prosser Award, sponsored by CollegeInsider.com. The award was established last year to recognize a coach who not only achieves success on the court, but also demonstrates great character and integrity. Making his nomination even more special is the fact that Skip Prosser’s son Mark is on Young’s staff at Wofford.

“Just to be nominated is a thrill,” said Young. “I knew Coach well. He was one of those rare guys that you never heard a bad word about.”

Young recalled, “I hired Mark Prosser out of college, and whenever I saw Skip, he would always thank me for hiring his son. He was a fabulous coach and an even better man. Looking at the other names on that list…it’s just very rewarding and a real thrill to be nominated.”

This year’s Skip Prosser Award will be presented on April 2 in Indianapolis.
 

March 11, 2010


Springboard to Bigger Things
by Brian Doyle

With “Selection Sunday” approaching, the Old Dominion Monarchs are enjoying a few days of rest and relaxation before they get back to practice and preparation. ODU earned the Colonial Athletic Association’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with their victory over William and Mary on Monday night. Old Dominion finished with a CAA record of 15-3 and an overall mark of 26-8. One can make a strong argument that the Monarch’s march to the CAA title and NCAA tourney began last March during the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT).

According to ODU Assistant Coach Jim Corrigan, “The CIT helped us tremendously. Last season we had one senior, two juniors, and the rest freshmen and sophomores, so it was a great opportunity for us to get some postseason experience. Playing in the championship game in that environment at Bradley was a great growth experience.”

ODU defeated The Citadel, Belmont, and James Madison in the first three rounds of the CIT, before beating Bradley in the championship game. The Monarchs came into the 2009-10 season with tournament championship experience fresh in their minds.

Currently, ODU is on spring break, so players are on a short break from school and hoops and will reconvene on Friday for practice before learning their NCAA tournament matchup on Sunday. As for their plans next week, Corrigan said, “We’ve always prided ourselves on rebounding and defense, so we’ll continue to do that next week.”

The Monarchs are hoping last season’s post season CIT success will serve as a springboard to further success in March this year.


The Reason we are here

Shortly after beating IUPUI to win the Summit League Tournament, Oakland head coach Greg Kampe called CollegeInsider.com to thank them for inviting the Golden Grizzlies to the 2009 CIT. According to Kampe it was a big of a reason for his team’s success in 2010.

“There is no question that playing in the CIT last year helped us to get to the NCAA Tournament this season,” Kampe said. “Our kids got a taste of what it’s like to play in the postseason and what it takes to win. Twelve months later we are headed to the NCAA Tournament.”


Mid-Major Elite

In recent years, the Siena Saints have been regular members of the mid-major elite. Consistently ranked in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, Siena just played in their fourth consecutive MAAC championship game, winning their third straight. The Saints bring an impressive resume to the NCAA tournament, as they have won 27 games, including 38 straight at home. The Saints have won NCAA tourney games each of the last three years. Is this the year they win a second or third tourney game? They are certainly experienced and battle tested.

Assistant Coach Adam Chaskin says that experience carried them through a MAAC championship game against Fairfield that saw them trailing by as many as 15 in the first half, only to go on and win in overtime. “We were down by 11 at the half and by the second media timeout, it was tied. Our overall experience and our seniors had a lot to do with that. They know how to handle all situations,” said Chaskin.

Experience alone does not carry the Saints, however. According to Chaskin, Siena is the first team in conference history in which all five starters have received some form of All-Conference recognition. Siena has the Player of the Year in Alex Franklin, another pro prospect in Edwin Ubiles, who scored 27 in the championship game, a center in Ryan Rossiter who averages a double-double, Ronald Moore at point guard, who leads the nation in assists and ranks 25th all-time in the NCAA, and Clarence Jackson at the two-guard, averaging 14 points and shooting 36% from behind the arc.

Experience is great, but talent plus experience can be a lethal combination.


Tinkle Time

How about the comeback by Montana last night? Wayne Tinkle’s team overcame a 20-point halftime deficit, on the road at Weber State to win the Big Sky Tournament. Anthony Johnson had 42 points to lead the way. After the game, Tinkle explained the reason for the uninspired first-half performance.

“We sent the bus back to hotel at halftime and went and got our real team,” Tinkle said. “We got some imposters there in first half. There wasn't much fight on either end.”

It was nothing new for Tinkle’s team as they had rallied back to beat Weber during the season.

“We had something to draw on,” he said. “We were down ten here earlier in the year and ended up going eight. If my math is right, that's an 18-point swing. We did it before, and we can do it .”

And they did.


Tickets Punched

Two more teams have made their postseason plans, as Robert Morris defeated Quinnipiac last night in the NEC Championship game at Quinnipiac. With the win, RMU locked up their second straight NCAA tourney appearance, while Quinnipiac will advance to the NIT. As is the case in many postseason games, field goal percentage tells a big part of the story. Though they shot only 41% from the field, RMU held Quinnipiac to 35% from the field, including 23% from behind the arc. The fact that the Colonials did this on Quinnipiac’s home court makes it even more impressive. As the adage says, defense wins championships.
 

March 10, 2010


I am Sam
by Brian Doyle

With the Southland Conference tournament set to tip off tonight, I had the opportunity to speak with coaches of the top two seeded teams.

Sam Houston State enters the tourney as the No. 1 seed with a 22-7 overall mark and a conference record of 14-2. The Bearkats won their first eleven conference games this season, before stumbling a bit in their last five games, going 3-2. That finish is deceiving, however, as their two losses were both in overtime on the road. “Sam” is getting healthy at the right time as starting center Antuan Bootle returns from injury after missing the last six games.

Bearkat mentor Bob Marlin feels his squad is ready, but understands the unpredictability of mid-major conference tourneys. “Our guys are excited about being the No. 1 seed, and they are ready to play. We’ve reached one of our goals, which was to secure the No. 1 seed, but we have another goal, which is to win a championship,” said Marlin. “At the mid-major level, there is usually not a huge difference between the No. 1 and No. 8 seeds. All are capable of winning, and we usually get everyone’s best shot,” noted Marlin. “Nicholls (No. 1 Nicholls State) is playing their best ball right now,” commented Marlin. Like many coaches this time of year, Marlin mentions defense and guard play as keys. “We need to be solid defensively,” said Marlin. “Our guard play has been good all year, so that needs to continue.”

Sam Houston has a lot of weapons, as guards Ashton Mitchell and Corey Allmond were both first team All-Southland selections, and junior forward Gilberto Clavell was selected the conference “Newcomer of the Year.”


Southland Challenger

On the other side of the bracket, No. 2 Stephen F. Austin (21-8/11-5) is trying to overcome injuries. Starting point guard Eric Bell (5’3/150) continues to miss time due to a concussion, while backup center Will Reinke just went down with a knee injury. “We’ve lost our smallest guy and our biggest guy,” laments head coach Danny Kaspar.

Kaspar knows Sam Houston is in a different situation, saying, “They are the favorite. They are healthy, and they are senior laden.” The Lumberjacks are not, however, overlooking their first opponent, University of Texas-Arlington (UTA). “They’ve got Haynes, and that makes them very dangerous. He had 35 the other night,” noted Kaspar. UTA senior guard Marquez Haynes scores almost 23 points per game, shooting 42% from three point range, to go along with 4 assists and 4 rebounds per game.


Familiar story in Burlington

For the sixth time in eight years, Vermont has advanced to the finals of the America East. The Catamounts will host fourth seeded Boston University on Saturday, by virtue of their semifinal victory over New Hampshire on Sunday. BU knocked off top seed Stony Brook to advance to their first championship game since 2003. Vermont is lead by do-everything senior Marqus Blakley a three-time America East Defensive Player of the Year honoree to go along with three consecutive First Team All Conference Selections. The versatile Blakley is a walking stat sheet, as he led the America East in steals (2.6) and blocks (1.9) and was second in scoring (17.4), rebounding (9.1), and field goal percentage (54.1%), while coming in a distant fourth in assists (3.7).

Vermont coach, Mike Lonergan feels good about the Catamounts chances. “We have the best player in the league, and we are at home,” commented Lonergan. “Blakley is a freak athlete, but he is also our best passer and our best weakside defender. He changes the game at both ends. He is also coming off a bad game, which I hope is a good thing for us,” noted Lonergan.

Lonergan is not crazy about the long layoff between the semifinals and the finals, but he knows it goes with the territory. “I don’t really like the layoff, but it brings great publicity to our league, and the buildup in town is great. We are a little antsy to play, though,” said Lonergan.

This is Vermont’s third championship game in five years. They lost the first two, so Lonergan is hoping the third time is the charm.


Tuesday Night

When I speak to coaches about their postseason chances, most say something along the lines of, “We have to make shots.” Two teams made shots last night:

- Instead of round three of a heavyweight fight last night at Hinkle Fieldhouse, the Horizon League championship game between Butler and Wright State turned into an early TKO for Butler last night, as they destroyed the Raiders 70-45. Butler appears poised to make some noise in the NCAA tourney, as it logged its nations' best 20th consecutive victory. Shooting played a big role as the Bulldogs scorched the Raiders at a 52% clip, including 9-19 from three point range and 92% from the field. Conversely, Wright State limped to the finish line, shooting 35% from the field, including 2-20 from three point range.

- In Sioux Falls South Dakota, senior Derick Nelson propelled Oakland to its 11th straight victory with a career high 36 points to go along with 9 boards, as the Grizzlies advanced to their second NCAA tourney. Nelson was on fire, shooting 15-23 from the field, including 3-8 from behind the arc.
 

March 9, 2010


Honoring Coach Olson
by Brian Doyle

With the postseason upon us, it is also awards season - - a time to recognize the players and coaches who have excelled this year. In a year of such great parity in college basketball, selection of player and coach honorees will be especially challenging. I had the honor to speak with Coach Lute Olson last night about the new Lute Olson National Player of the Year Award, sponsored by CollegeInsider.com. A 2002 inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the former Head Coach at Arizona and Iowa is indeed honored by the award.

“It’s a real honor,” commented Olson, “I am very appreciative to CollegeInsider.com for what they have done in naming the award after me.”

Asked what qualities he would consider in looking at potential Player of the Year candidates, Olson said, “In my career, I have always found that when you start with good people, they will find a way to be successful. To me, both ability and character are very important, so a Player of the Year winner would have to be someone of both great character and great ability.”

While Olson did not want to speculate on the identity of a potential award winner, he did mention a few players who caught his eye this year. “I like the two guys from Kansas, [Sheron] Collins and [Cole] Aldrich, and Scottie Reynolds from Villanova. I have also enjoyed watching Andy Rautins from Syracuse. There are so many players that can be considered for this award. I am sure it will be an outstanding player with great character, who has made great contributions to his team,” said Olson.

The Lute Olson National Player of the Year Award will be presented on April 2 at the Final Four in Indianapolis.


Round Three

Butler and Wright State face off tonight at Hinkle Fieldhouse for the Horizon League crown. Butler brings an unbeaten regular season conference record of 18-0 in the game, but look for Wright State to give them all that they can handle. “We are in a good state of mind,” said Wright State assistant coach Mike Winiecki. “Our kids have taken a real business-like approach. We are familiar with the surroundings, with Hinkle Fieldhouse, and I feel like our kids are ready, “continued Winieicki.

Butler defeated Wright State by twelve in both previous games. “They were both great games. We feel like we saw their “A game” both times,” commented Winiecki.

“We need to keep them out of the lane and not let them shoot layups. They shot something like 58% from the field combined in their two wins against and 39/42 from the line. That’s incredible shooting, so we need to make them score from outside the paint,” continued Winiecki.

While Gordon Hayward and Matt Howard get a lot of attention, Winiecki says Butler is strong from top to bottom. “I don’t think people give them enough credit for being so mentally and physically tough. Everyone knows about Howard and Heyward, but Willie Veasley and Zach Hahn have killed us. I think Veasley is 14-15 from the field against us and Hahn is 6-7 with five threes,” observed Winiecki.

It should be a good one at Hinkle Fieldhouse tonight.


Monday night notes:

• In the CAA last night, 2009 CIT Champion Old Dominion continued to rule the Colonial, as they prevented William and Mary from gaining their first ever NCAA tourney berth. ODU is a force to be reckoned with in March, while W&M’s outstanding season will undoubtedly be rewarded with an opportunity to continue playing. While there has been a call in Virginia for an at large bid, that seems unlikely for the Tribe.

• A little further south, another team did earn its first ever trip to the dance. The Wofford Terriers will proudly represent the Southern Conference, after winning their 13th straight, defeating Appalachian State in the title game. Mike Young has done an outstanding job at Wofford.

• After playing second fiddle to Gonzaga for years, it’s nice to see St. Mary’s earn the West Coast Conference automatic bid, as the Gaels did so in convincing fashion with an 81-62 victory over the Zags. The win snapped a nine game losing streak against Gonzaga.

• Siena continued its dominance of the MAAC, coming from thirteen points down to beat Fairfield. Siena wins the MAAC for the third consecutive season, equaling a program record with its 27th victory and 38th straight home win.
 

March 8, 2010


Peaking at the right time
by Brian Doyle

I’m not sure that even the most ardent college hoops fan can answer this one:

What team wrapped up its conference regular season title over the weekend and has won 11 consecutive games and 14 out of 15, as they prepare to begin conference tournament play this week?

Even if I told you they were in the Great West, could you guess?

The answer is the University of South Dakota. The Coyotes defeated Houston Baptist on Saturday to wrap up the regular season title and finished with good measure on Sunday night with a win over New Jersey Institute of Technology. Yes, New Jersey Institute of Technology is in the Great West Conference, but that’s a story for another time. In the inaugural season of Men’s Basketball in the Great West, South Dakota (20-9/11-1) is making their mark, before they leave for the Summit League after next season. As a first year league, the Great West does not yet have an automatic bid to the NCAA tourney, but the conference tournament winner will receive an automatic bid to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.

The automatic bid was great news for the league. South Dakota Coach Dave Boots commented, “It’s great. It means everything to us to be eligible for postseason play. It gives you a great outlook, but we don’t talk about it too much—we really focus on our next game.”

Great West Commissioner Ed Grom concurred, “We are pretty fortunate that CollegeInsider.com took a risk on us, because nobody knew what kind of ball we’d be playing. It’s pretty balanced, and we are very pleased that it gives our athletes something to play for.”

The Great West tourney tips off on Wednesday.


Coach Carter

The MEAC begins tournament play tomorrow night in Winston-Salem, and though Morgan State is clearly the “class of the league,” according to South Carolina State coach Tim Carter, a number of teams have what it takes to pull off the upset.

“Anybody can beat anybody in our league,” said Carter. “North Carolina A&T, Norfolk, Delaware State are all capable, and Maryland-Eastern Shore is the hottest team in the league.”

Prodded to include his Bulldogs in the conversation, Carter admitted, “If we are hitting shots, we are as good as anybody.”


Coaching Legend

Speaking of Coach Carter, he is on the selection committee for the inaugural Ben Jobe Award, sponsored by CollegeInsider.com. The Jobe Award is presented to the top minority Head Coach in Division I Men’s Basketball in honor of the longtime college coach, who accumulated over 500 victories in 31 years.

South Carolina State’s Carter is honored to be on the voting panel.

“Coach Jobe actually coached at South Carolina State for a time. The award represents a guy who did things the right way, was a pioneer, and treated people right. He accomplished great things in a difficult time in our history.”

Respect for Jobe is universal and extends to the NFL. San Diego Chargers' Director of Player Development, Arthur Hightower is also a member of the selection committee. Hightower spent time as an athletic administrator at the University of Maine, the University of Houston, and the NCAA, before joining the Chargers.

“I played football at a Historically Black College, Florida A&M, so I am familiar with all that Coach Jobe has done for black athletes,” said Hightower. Hightower continued, “I am very honored to be on the panel, and I look forward to helping to select a coach who exemplifies all of the qualities of Coach Jobe.”

Despite his NFL position, Hightower professes love for hoops even pointing out that Charger tight end and Future Hall of Famer Antonio Gates recently had his Kent State basketball jersey retired.

And Gates is not the only Charger eyeing March Madness. Pro Bowl WR Vincent Jackson starred in football and basketball at Northern Colorado, which will be in action in the Big Sky Tournament on Tuesday. Jackson’s Bears have never been to the postseason at the Division I level. Teammate Shaun Phillips didn’t play basketball at Purdue but he recently confessed to being a college basketball junkie on Twitter.


Sunday Hoops

• In the CAA, William & Mary will compete tonight for its first ever NCAA tourney appearance, as it faces off with 2009 CIT champ, Old Dominion. Both teams had their hands full in semifinal games, as ODU defeated VCU in overtime, and W&M beat Northeastern by two.

• Mt. St. Mary’s had its 11 game win streak snapped at the hands of Robert Morris, which will face off against Quinnipiac in a battle of top seeds on Wednesday.

• After winning two tourney games, sentimental favorite Loyola Marymount fell to top ranked Gonzaga, setting up a much anticipated battle between the Zags and St. Mary’s tonight.
 

March 7, 2010


Grind and Reward
by Brian Doyle

Today is the calm before the storm. Several conference tournaments have reached the semifinal round. Aside from the Missouri Valley Conference, no bids to the NCAA Tournament will be handed out on Sunday. I thought I would take advantage of that fact and spend the day taking in all the action, but not before I caught up with former Detroit-Mercy head coach Perry Watson who is a member of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament selection committee.

According to Watson the vibe for the CollegeInsider.com Tournament is different. What a difference a year makes. Last season many athletic administrators were unsure what the CIT was all about. That’s simply no longer the case.

“Coaches are familiar with CollegeInsider.com but I think it was an unknown to a lot of athletic directors,” said Watson. “Anytime you introduce something new it is going to be met with some resistance. I think some administrators wanted to take a wait and see approach but we expected that.”

Nobody actually turned down a bid to the inaugural CIT, but schools like Arkansas-Little Rock and VMI issued statements that it would be either NCAA or NIT. That hasn’t been the case this season.

“I have heard from a lot more coaches and athletic directors then I did a year ago,” said Watson. “They all tell me they have done their homework and heard nothing but really positive things about the CIT.”

Like the other members of the selection committee, Watson keeps in regular contact with Riley Wallace (chairman) and other members of the committee. Watson took Detroit to the NCAA Tournament twice but he also had very good teams that didn’t receive any postseason opportunities. And that is why he signed on to serve on the CIT selection committee.

“What a lot of fans and media don’t understand is the grind of the season,” said Watson. “It’s tough when you have a good season but you realize it’s over and there will be no postseason. Listen we know that teams are not starting their seasons with a goal of making the CIT. Coaches are all goal-oriented and quite often our goals change. If the NCAA and NIT aren’t possible the CIT is the parachute for so many deserving teams.”

In 2001 Watson’s team didn’t get a ticket to the NCAA tournament but the Titans were invited to the NIT. That team won three straight road games and advanced to Madison Square Garden for the final four. That experience is why he loves what the CIT is all about.

“I was an assistant coach at Michigan when the Fab 5 went to the Final 4,” said Watson. “When [Detroit] won at UConn in the 2001 NIT those kids were just as happy as the Michigan kids were. In the end it’s about deserving teams playing the game they love. Once the game starts they want to win. Sometimes I think people think a tournament like the CIT isn’t important. It may not be important to them but it is certainly important to those kids on the court.”
 

March 6, 2010


Next Stop NIT?
by Brian Doyle

Somebody once said that behind every successful man there is a good woman. Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg likes to say that Angela Lento is the brains of the operation at CollegeInsider.com and with the 2010 CIT just over a week away from tipping off it is busy times in tournament central for Lento and company.

“The phone rings a little more frequently and we drink a little more coffee in March,” laughed Lento.

Her primary responsibilities are behind the scenes, taking care of the business aspects of the tournament but she does get a chance to lobby for teams she believes are worthy of inclusion. What coaches should know is that five of the six teams she has made a case for have already secured no worse than an NIT bid.

“I oversee the Mid-Major Top 25 voting process each week so I follow the smaller conferences very closely,” she said. “Throughout the season coaches on the voting panel will ask about teams outside of their region. That’s been the case since the Top 25 started over a decade ago so I have to be up to speed.”

Riley Wallace, who chairs the selection committee, said in early February Lento had presented good arguments to have Kent State, Quinnipiac, Stony Brook, UC Santa Barbara and Wofford. Each has since won their respective regular conference titles. The sixth team on her list is Harvard.

“Coming into the season Harvard’s all-time win total for one season was 19,” said Lento. “With one game remaining (at Princeton tonight) they are 21-6. Tommy Amaker has done a phenomenal job and Jeremy Lin is a terrific player. Harvard deserves a spot in the NIT.”

Lento admitted that Amaker’s team doesn’t have any marquee wins (beat Boston College, George Washington and William & Mary) and their RPI is hovering around 100 but she’ll point out that they have spent five weeks ranked in the Mid-Major Top 25.

There are so many dynamics involved when selecting teams for the NIT and there is no doubt there will be many teams with better profiles. So what are their chances? Well she’s been right so far. Why not six-for-six?


Third Time's a Charm?

Cornell made it official last night, with a blowout win at Brown. The Big Red is headed back to the Big Dance for the third straight year. Steve Donahue, who received the Jim Phelan Award mid-season honors, has a veteran team and should be a tough out in the dance.

"They have eight seniors and they play with a lot of poise and toughness,” said Kansas head coach Bill Self. “Steve [Donahue] has done a really nice job. That team is so well-coached.”

Ryan Wittman has been getting attention since he began his career four years ago and the big presence of 7-foot Jeff Foote has proved dominant in the Ivy League, but the key to Cornell’s success over the course of the next couple of weeks rests with senior floor leader Louis Dale.


The Great Northwest

Seattle University has very quietly built a pretty good case for a spot in the postseason. Last season Seattle finished 21-6 but many of those wins came against non-division I opponents. This season the Redhawks have a full DI slate and some impressive wins.

Seattle has beaten Cal State Northridge, Fresno State, San Jose State, Utah and Weber State. And they beat Oregon State by 51 points in Corvallis.

Seattle heads into the regular season finale at Utah Valley at 16-14 and they are a few possessions away from 19 or 20 wins. SU lost by one to Denver and Wofford (Southern Conference Champions) and by two against Idaho. They also went right down to the wire with Oakland (Summit League Champions) and Loyola Marymount, which is enjoying its best since the Hank Gathers’ era.

“That’s a very good team,” said Oakland head coach Greg Kampe. “Cameron [Dollar] has done a really nice job and they have an excellent player in Charles Garcia.”

It’s not likely the NIT will have a place for Seattle but it’s a pretty impressive first season for head coach Cameron Dollar. He should get some attention for national coaching honors and junior Chuck Garcia should garner some All-America mentions.


CIT Update

As expected the pace has really picked up since conference tournaments began this week. Riley Wallace said the interest level has easily doubled from last March.

“Last year I think there was a lot of uncertainty,” said Wallace. “We felt that a major advantage for the 2010 tournament was having the 2009 tournament under our belt. Coaches and athletic directors speak with their peers and they have heard nothing but great things about last year’s tournament. There are a lot of very good basketball teams interested in participating in the CIT this season. There will be some tough decisions to make.”

Wallace and the selection committee will be handing out 15 invitations. The Great West Conference already got an official invite when the league was awarded an automatic bid last September. Teams from power conferences and teams with losing records will not be considered.
 

March 5, 2010


The Golden Grizz
by Brian Doyle

I had a refreshing conversation with Oakland University Coach Greg Kampe on Thursday afternoon. In this day and age, you would expect the coach of a Division I Men’s Basketball team who had just been named the Coach of the Year in his league to be “tweeting” or in a press conference, or maybe deep into video study or even at practice. No, when I spoke to Coach Kampe on the phone, he was filling his car up with gas, and it sounded like he bought a couple of grape sodas, as I heard him talking to the cashier. When I asked him about his Summit League Player of the Year, Keith Benson, he replied, “Oh, did they name that today?” I confirmed that and told him that he had been named Coach of the Year, which was met with a sarcastic, “Oh, great.” Kampe was clearly not overly impressed with himself, despite leading the Grizzlies to a conference record of 17-1 and an overall mark of 23-8.

The Grizzlies open play on Saturday against eight seeded UMKC. Asked about the keys to success in the tournament, Kampe said, “We have to guard. That’s our calling card, and we can’t lose that. I think the most telling stat in the post season is field goal percentage. We can score, but we have to guard. Every possession can be the difference of winning a championship or not.”

Another great asset for Oakland has been their depth. “The strength of our team is our depth. You don’t go 17-1 in the league unless you are deep,” commented Kampe. That depth took a bit of a hit as Kampe indicated sophomore guard Drew Maynard went down with an ankle injury and is not expected to play on Saturday. It’s a safe bet that Benson’s 17 and 10, along with fellow first team all-league choice Johnathon Jones will lead the Grizzlies on their march towards the championship game.

Hopefully Kampe has fueled up for a long post season drive.


Resurgence at LMU

I also caught up with Jamie Zaninovich, Commissioner of the West Coast Conference. Zaninovich is in Las Vegas for the conference tournament, which opens today. One of the great stories of the year in the WCC is Loyola Marymount’s season. The Lions finished at 16-14 overall and 7-7 in the league. Thursday marked the 20th anniversary of the passing of Hank Gathers. This year has been a season long celebration of that 1989-90 team that made a memorable NCAA tourney run, after Gathers died during a WCC tournament game. Gathers’ well known teammate, Bo Kimble will be inducted into the WCC Hall of Honor on Saturday. The anniversary season has been highlighted by victories at USC, Notre Dame and a home win over Gonzaga.

The Lions 16-14 mark follows a 3-28 season and a 5-26 season. The last winning season for LMU was 2003-04, when they finished 15-14.

Zaninovich is thrilled with his league this year. “Most experts feel like we are a two-bid league, and we feel like we have an opportunity to get two more teams into post season play. To get four teams in some combination of the NCAA, NIT, and CIT would be a great accomplishment for us. That would mean fifty percent of our teams move onto post-season play,” said Zaninovich. While Gonzaga and St. Mary’s are the clear favorites in the tournament, Zaninovich thinks the neutral site of Las Vegas could have an impact this year. “Vegas is great for our tournament, and I think the neutral site might really kick into gear this year, with the balance of our league. I expect the tournament to be very competitive,” noted Zaninovich.

Gonzaga and St. Mary’s are indeed prohibitive favorites, but don’t sleep on the sentimental choice of Loyola Marymount, playing with the spirit of Hank Gathers on their side.


From Peoria to the Sunshine State

The Atlantic Sun tourney is proving why postseason basketball is so exciting. On Wednesday night, Kennesaw State upset top seeded Lipscomb, and Thursday night saw more upsets as ETSU defeated Campbell and Mercer beat Belmont. This leaves No.2 Jacksonville as the favorite, with the with the other three top seeds eliminated.

Speaking of the Atlantic Sun, Ken Kavanagh is the Athletic Director at Florida Gulf Coast University. The Eagles were not eligible for postseason play this year as they go through the NCAA reclassifying process. Kavanagh came to FGCU from Bradley, where as AD he saw the Braves host games all the way through the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) last year, eventually losing in the championship game to Old Dominion. Bradley’s experience in the CIT has made Kavanagh a big proponent of the tournament, now in its second year.

“It’s a great opportunity for kids to play beyond the regular season,” said Kavanagh. “The CIT provides an opportunity for young teams to get themselves ready for the next season and is also a great chance for seniors who might otherwise be hanging up their shoes after their last conference tournament game.”


The SoCon Hunter

With the Southern Conference tournament opening today, Davidson finds itself in a different position than it is accustomed to from the “Curry years.” Wildcat assistant coach Jim Fox noted, “When we were the favorites, we would hate the tournament, because anything can happen.” As a #3 seed, Fox said, “We love the tournament now! We are the hunter and not the hunted.”

In a nice twist, if Davidson gets by Elon in today’s first round game, Steph Curry will be in town with the Golden State Warriors to play the Charlotte Bobcats on Saturday night. Tentative plans are in place for Curry to watch Davidson and then for Davidson’s players to watch the Warriors-Bobcats matchup later Saturday night.

Coach Fox also thought it was curious that he hadn’t much contact with members of the CI staff since the New York Yankees won the World Series.
 

March 4, 2010


Assuming Leadership Responsibility
by Brian Doyle

As Mt. St. Mary’s prepares to play St. Francis (PA) in the first round of the Northeast Conference (NEC) tournament tonight, Milan Brown has much on which to reflect. Every season is a journey, but this season is different. This season has been like a roller coaster, and the Mountaineers are still climbing.

The 2009-10 season began with high expectations following an NCAA tournament appearance in 2007-08 and a CollegeInsider.com Tournament bid last year. The Mount had been on the roller coaster before, as last season they endured a six game losing streak to go along with an eight game winning streak. That was nothing compared to this season, however. With a tough early season schedule including the likes of Georgetown, Old Dominion, Vermont, Siena, and Pittsburgh, all on the road except for Siena, Mt. St. Mary’s staggered to a 5-14 mark, including a nine game losing streak. The Mountaineers competed well in some of those games, losing by two to Vermont and by three in overtime to Siena. Nevertheless, Brown and his team stood at 5-14 after losing at Long Island on January 23.

That seems like ages ago…Of those days, Brown said, “We were on the road a lot early with a tough schedule. We came close at times, but we just could not get over the hump. We kept plugging away when we got home, and it’s amazing what hard work and confidence can do.”

Mt. St. Mary’s has put those days in the rear view mirror, as they have not lost since that January day, winning ten in a row to climb back to a respectable 15-14 and a #3 seed in the conference tourney.

When asked about the turnaround, Brown can pinpoint when it began. “We had lost at St. Francis (NY) and Jean Cajou (junior guard) came to my hotel room and told me he was going to be a leader for our team,” Brown recalled. “He took responsibility. He said ‘you will not have a team that will work any harder than this team will.’ Once he said that and backed it up, our seniors became like the bouncers. When Jean says something, they back him up. It gave a lot of our guys the freedom to just play and not worry about having to play the role of leader.”

Mt. St. Mary’s lost their next game on the trip at Long Island and has not lost since. Even after that last loss, Brown and his staff could start to see the changes.

“We got to the locker room after the Long Island game and we could hear Jean getting after his teammates. By the time I went into the locker room, I just had to worry about the X’s and O’s,” said Brown.

In addition to Cajou’s leadership, Brown credits the family atmosphere that is emphasized in their basketball program with leading them through the tough times.

“We are a family more than we are a basketball team or program. We have been through some tough times this year. Jean has family in Haiti, so we went through some tough times then. We have also had two of our guys have deaths in the family this season. This season has been tough and great all at the same time,” reflected Brown. “Our closeness as a basketball family has been the only way we have survived all of these situations.”

Brown feels as if he has grown along with his team on this journey. “This is a year that has personally helped me to become a better coach. We were predicted to be a better team and we were losing. You really learn a lot about yourself in those situations.”

Recently, Brown has been asking his team, “What do you want the Mt. St. Mary’s story to be?”

No matter how the season ends, it is undoubtedly a winning story.


Looking for the Opportunity

Just down the road from Mt. St. Mary’s, Jimmy Patsos is trying to prepare his Loyola Greyhounds for their #8-#9 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) matchup against Manhattan. In an interesting twist, Loyola closed out their regular season with a 71-59 win over the Jaspers in Baltimore on Sunday. The winner of Friday’s game will face top seed Siena on Saturday. Siena sits at 24-6 and is No. 6 in the latest Mid-Major Top 25 poll.

According to Patsos, earning the opportunity to play Siena would be a great opportunity for his squad.

“We really hope to have the opportunity to play Siena in front of a packed house and on TV,” said Patsos. “It would especially be great for all of our young guys to play in that environment, since we want to be in the same position as Siena in a year or two.”

To defeat Manhattan, Patsos hopes to contain their guard tandem of Third Team All-MAAC Selection Rico Pickett (17.1 ppg) and Darryl Crawford (14.8 ppg). “Those two guards are as good as any guards in our league,” observed Patsos. Patsos also believes a tournament win over Manhattan would be big because of their success over the last decade. “Manhattan might be the best team in our league from 2000-2010. A tournament win over them would mean a lot.”


Wild Wednesday

It didn’t long to get a big time surprise. In the opening round of the Atlantic Sun Tournament Kennesaw State (13-19) stunned No. 1 seed Lipscomb (17-13). It’s the first time the No. 8 seed has beaten the No. 1 seed in the A-Sun in nine years. It was Kennesaw’s first-ever division I postseason game of any kind. Fortunately for Lipscomb their season is not over. They are officially the first time in the NIT’s field of 32.

Bucknell was surprised by Holy Cross in quarterfinal action in the Patriot League. The Bison were the No. 2 seed and playing at home. Holy Cross (9-21) will now travel to Lafayette (18-12) on Sunday.


Off the Board

UC Santa Barbara (18-9) was a team of interest for the CollegeInsider.com Selection Committee. But last night the Gauchos came off the board. By beating UC Irvine UCSB clinched the No. 1 seed in next week’s Big West Tournament, thus assuring themselves of no worse than a trip to the NIT. Bob Williams has a really nice team, which should be getting more attention in the Mid-Major Top 25 (just 5 votes in the most recent Top 25). Orlando Johnson is worthy of Mid-Major All-America status. He has scored in double-figures in every game this season.

The 2010 Big West Champions should be contenders for the foreseeable future. UCSB sophomores Orlando Johnson, James Nunnally, Jaimé Serna, Will Brew, and Greg Somogyi have scored 1,223 of 1,755 points accounting for 70% of the scoring. Freshmen Lucas Devenny and Chris Brew have also been solid contributors. Add them to the equation and you 74% of the team's total scoring coming from first or second year players.
 

March 3, 2010


Is Something Bruin in the Atlantic Sun?
by Brian Doyle

How would you like to finish in first place and be rewarded by having to play the host school for the conference tournament? That was the hand dealt to the Bruins of Belmont, which will face host Mercer in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Sun tournament.

“Win three games and we are in the NCAA Tournament,” said head coach Rick Byrd. “But this is as a tough a road to the NCAA tournament as we have ever had.”

Belmont faced some challenges, during its run of three straight A-Sun tourney titles, but nothing like this. Byrd’s team will open with Mercer. If they win its likely they will face Jacksonville in the semis. Should they win again they would face East Tennessee State, Campbell or top-seeded Lipscomb.

“Our league is as strong from top to bottom as it has ever been,” said Byrd. “You hear coaches say that a lot but it is certainly true in the Atlantic Sun. When we first entered the league programs like Georgia State, Central Florida, Samford and Troy were all very good but the rest of the league wasn’t nearly as strong. Now I think the bottom has really closed the gap on the top in the league.”

Last week one member of the CollegeInsider.com Selection Committee told me there were three or four teams the committee was giving consideration too. By virtue of getting the No. 1 seed, Lipscomb guaranteed themselves no worse than a trip to the NIT. That leaves teams like Belmont, Campbell, Jacksonville and perhaps even East Tennessee State with realistic hopes of playing participating in the CIT should they fail to win the A-Sun tournament.

“It’s a big deal for us knowing that we have a real opportunity to keep playing,” Byrd said. “Obviously our goal is to get back to the NCAA tournament, but it’s great for programs like Belmont to know there is a realistic chance of playing more basketball in the coming weeks.”

After three trips to the NCAA and one to the NIT (2004), Belmont got its first-ever postseason win in last year’s inaugural CIT. The Bruins notched a convincing 92-76 win at Evansville and led Old Dominion by 10 with five minutes remaining in the quarterfinals, before falling to the eventual CIT champs.

Sure it wasn’t the Big Dance, but on a smaller scale it was a big deal for Belmont basketball program. So much so that Byrd’s longtime friend and country music star Vince Gill took some fans on his tour bus for the game at Evansville.

“It was a great experience for us,” said Byrd. “When we lost in the Atlantic Sun Tournament we knew we had a really good chance of getting invited to the CIT and just knowing we had a chance is a really big deal for mid-major teams.”


Winning Nine or Dressed to the Nines?

Not often does a team have a nine game losing streak and a nine-game winning streak in the same season. But that’s exactly what Mount St. Mary’s has done. The Mount, preseason favorites to win the Northeast Conference, will take a nine-game winning streak into the first round of the NEC Tournament on Thursday. It’s currently the fifth longest winning streak in streak in college basketball.

Head coach Milan Brown joked that the streak has put him in the conversation for top coach in the NEC. No, not NEC Coach of the Year but the league’s most stylish.

“After the start we had to the season getting a bid to the Runway to the Fashionable 4 seemed like the only likely possibility,” laughed Brown. “Now that we have turned things around I’d both a trip to the postseason and a good seed in the fashion tournament. I am looking for a double-double.”

At one point this season Brown’s team was 5-14 and in 10th place in the league. Not a good spot considering only the top 8 make NEC Tournament. Nine wins later the Mount is 15-14 (12-6 in NEC) and the No. 3 seed. They rallied to beat Robert Morris on Saturday to keep RMU from winning the NEC regular season title.

Brown has styled his way into the fashion tournament almost every year and even advanced to the Elegant 8 in 2008 before falling to Villanova’s Jay Wright. He’s looking for a breakthrough.

“It’s hard to match up against a guy like Jay Wright,” laughed Brown. “2008 was a great year because we went to the NCAA Tournament and because I managed win three matchups on the runway. That was an nice double-double.”

I will have more from Milan about his club’s resurgence in the coming days...


The Durham Award

One of the privileges of my association with CollegeInsider.com is to serve as a member of the voting panel for the Hugh Durham Award, presented annually to the mid-major coach of the year. The award honors the long time coach who, among many other accomplishments, finished his career as the all time winningest coach at three different Division I schools (Florida, Georgia, Jacksonville). The time has come for me to cast my vote for the 2010 award. I have a few days before my ballot is due and there are many worthy candidates, including coaches of the above mentioned Murray State (Billy Kennedy), Coastal Carolina (Cliff Ellis) and Butler (Brad Stevens), not to mention 2009 honoree, Morgan State’s Todd Bozeman. Bozeman followed last year’s NCAA tourney appearance with a 14-1 MEAC mark and an overall 23-9 record.

Among a long list of worthy candidates, let’s take a look at three coaches from different regions of the country:

Tony Shaver (William & Mary): Shaver had led the Tribe to a 20-9 mark, W&M’s third 20-win season since 1951-52. William and Mary finished the CAA regular season with a 12-6 mark, tied for third with George Mason. They competed well in their first two games at Harvard and at Connecticut, before embarking on a ten game win streak that included victories at Wake Forest and Maryland and at home over VCU. They have won 5 of 7 heading into Saturday’s CAA tourney matchup against the winner of Friday’s Drexel-James Madison matchup.

Ben Jacobson (Northern Iowa): At 25-4 overall and 15-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC), the Panthers have wins over Boston College and fellow mid-major powers Siena, and Old Dominion on their resume to go along with the school’s first outright top finish in the MVC. UNI looks to defend last year’s tournament title, beginning Friday.

Randy Bennett (St. Mary’s): Often overshadowed by Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference, the Gaels at 24-5 and 11-3 in conference are poised for their third consecutive 25 win season. In his eighth season at the helm, Bennett is the all-time wins leader at St. Mary’s and the Gaels are headed for their fourth post season appearance under his tutelage.

This list can go on and on, and I will consider these three and numerous others over the next several days, as I prepare to cast my vote.

Observations from last night’s conference tournament games:

• In the Ohio Valley Conference, both Murray State and Morehead State rolled to easy victories. If both advance to the finals, this could prove to be a great game. Billy Kennedy has done a great job at Murray and is a strong candidate for national honors, but the Racers split with Morehead, losing to them last week.

• Radford and Winthrop advanced with some difficulty and will face off, presumably for the right to play Coastal Carolina in the championship game. Both teams split with Coastal this year, so this one also shows promise to be a good championship matchup.

• There were no real surprises in the Horizon League, as teams square off for the opportunity to try to end Butler’s 18 game winning streak and unbeaten league record.
 

March 2, 2010


Officially Underway
by Brian Doyle

It all begins today. Tournament season is officially underway as the Ohio Valley (OVC), Horizon, and Big South all tip off today. All three leagues boast clear favorites with Butler in the Horizon and Murray State in the OVC posting gaudy conference records of 18-0 and 17-1, respectively. Coastal Carolina of the Big South is not too far behind at 15-3. Will all three continue the dominance of their leagues in the postseason? This is what makes conference tournaments so exciting. You can rest assured that Morehead State, Eastern Kentucky, Austin Peay, and Eastern Illinois in the OVC, Wright State, Green Bay, and Milwaukee in the Horizon, and Radford and Winthrop in the Big South have realistic hopes of knocking off the favorites. Let the madness begin as teams pursue conference crowns and the chance to keep playing in the NCAA, NIT or CIT.

Let’s take a closer look at Murray State...

One of several teams in the country to dominate league play, Murray State flirted with perfection, winning 23 straight conference games before losing to Morehead on February 25. Murray has unprecedented balance, as six players average between 9.5 and 10.7 points per game and ten players averaging over 10 minutes of action.

Veteran mentor Billy Kennedy is taking nothing for granted, as he understands the reality of mid-major basketball.

“We have had a great regular season, but that does not ensure an NCAA tournament bid,” commented Kennedy. “We are approaching it as if we have to win our tourney.”

Of his team’s unbelievable balance, Kennedy said, “It’s the key to our success. We have good character guys and our guys have been very unselfish. We are the only team in our league that has had only one conference Player of the Week, which is hard to figure out.”

It will be interesting to see how many conference honors Murray State players and coaches receive when they are announced on Thursday. Presumably, however, Kennedy’s squad will gladly trade the individual accolades for the opportunity to play deep into March. That quest begins tonight, as Murray hosts #8 Tennessee State.

The interesting game of the night pits #4 Eastern Illinois hosting #5 Eastern Kentucky. This is the last year that the higher seeded teams will host first round games, as next year’s entire tournament will be played at one site. Hosting a first round game gives the higher seeded team an incredible (and well earned) advantage in these elimination games. This 4/5 game is intriguing, as EKU and EIU finished with identical 11-7 league records and nearly identical regular season records as EKU hit the 20 win mark to finish at 20-11 and EIU finished at 18-11. Will EKU’s band of three point shooters carry them to victory on the road? The Colonels make an average of ten threes per game, shooting at a 40% clip, while EIU shoots only eleven threes per game. Coach Jeff Neubauer of EKU has been able to count on his team’s offense all year, but believes this one may come down to how his teams performs at the other end of the floor.

“We shoot the ball at a high percentage and we really value the basketball, but when we’ve played well this year, we’ve played good defense,” noted Neubauer.

In this battle of evenly matched teams, the nod has to go to the home team Panthers of EIU, but “that is why they play the games.”

I can’t wait until tonight to see how it all plays out. Some teams will turn in their uniforms at the end of the night, while others will live to see another day “Inside the Madness."
 

March 1, 2010


Let the Madness Begin
by Brian Doyle

The month that college basketball fans live for is here. Over the next month or so, countless stories will unfold on the hardwood from coast to coast. Right now, there are nothing but questions. I look forward to delving more deeply into those questions and helping to tell the stories in my daily blog, “Inside the Madness,” here on CollegeInsider.com.

Questions abound:

Who will win the Southern Conference, which has four twenty win teams in Appalachian State, Western Carolina, Wofford and Charleston?

Who will provide the upsets in conference tourneys and beyond? In a year that seemingly has so many teams that have ruled their conference regular seasons, some are bound to be defeated in their conference tournaments. The combined conference record of Siena, Murray State, Morgan State, Sam Houston State, Jackson State, Oakland, Butler, and Cornell is 117-7. Will some of those schools make a post season run? That is quite possible. Will some also be upset in conference tourney play? That is also possible, except for the obvious exception of Cornell, which as a member of the Ivy League does not play in a conference tournament.

How will post season bids sort themselves out? We will all look forward to Sunday, March 14, “Selection Sunday,” as it has become known when bids to the NCAA tourney, the NIT, and the second annual CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) will be extended. The CIT caters to schools outside of the traditional “power conferences.” Last year’s CIT was a tremendous success providing many memorable moments, culminating with Old Dominion’s championship over Bradley. This year’s event promises to be even better, giving previously neglected schools the much coveted opportunity to play in the post season.

I look forward to speaking with former Hawaii Head Coach Riley Wallace, who heads the selection committee for the CIT. Interest is building, as Wallace reports that he has spoken to approximately 50 schools about their interest in the tourney.

In addition I will be catching up with coaches preparing for conference tournaments and I will also look at the many CollegeInsider.com post season honors, including the new Ben Jobe Award, which will be presented to the top minority Head Coach in Division I College Basketball.

What a great time of year. So many questions to be answered…So many stories to be told…

I hope you’ll join me “Inside the Madness.