Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews Drake cheerleader Alli Brotherton

Posted on March 19, 2025 by Jon Teitel

Earlier this month Drake beat Bradley 63-48 in the MVC tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to this week’s NCAA tournament. The Bulldogs brought in a new coach this year in Ben McCollum but they have not lost a step as they are now heading to the NCAA tourney for the 3rd year in a row. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Drake cheerleader Alli Brotherton about her love of animals and making the NCAA tourney.

You grew up in Wapello, IA: what made you choose Drake? I chose Drake not only because they were starting up the zoo and conservation science major, but also because you could tell how much the professors cared about their students and their success. Coming from such a small town, while I knew I wanted to live in a bigger city, having the benefits of a smaller university (like more personal connections with professors) was super-appealing.

You played several sports in high school: which 1 were you best at, and which 1 did you enjoy the most? I was definitely involved in a lot of sports during high school: that is 1 of the perks of going to a small school. I would say I was best at cheer and our dance/pom team, part of which was why I was excited to get the opportunity to cheer at Drake. While cheer is for sure top-2 for what I enjoyed most, I would have to go with soccer as the favorite sport that I have played. I grew up playing soccer my whole life and was grateful for the opportunity to continue to play throughout high school.

You are majoring in Zoo and Conservation Science with a minor in Biology: how did you choose those subjects? I originally came to Drake with Biology as my major. I had thought for the longest time that I wanted to go to vet school, but realized that I am much more interested in the care of animals who are in need of sanctuary, like exotic animals that were rescued from the exotic pet trade or kept as house pets. Zoo and Conservation Science was originally my concentration, but when it became an option for it to be my major I took the opportunity right away because it is geared towards animal welfare, which is right up my alley. As for my Biology, I am still interested in the veterinary side of things so I was not ready to completely give it up, which is why I left it as my minor!

You are a senior: what is the post-graduation plan? After graduation, I plan to stay here in Des Moines for another year to continue working as a vet assistant before hopefully securing an internship or job at a big cat sanctuary.

1 of your hobbies is reading: any book recommendations for our readers? I am a big fan of fiction and romance novels, with my favorite book being “Normal People” by Sally Rooney. I am a huge fan of hers and would recommend people to read any of her books! They dive into complex issues like relationships/politics/family, which I find quite interesting.

In the MVC tourney title game the Bulldogs had a win over Bradley to clinch the title: what was the reaction like after the final buzzer went off, and how excited is everyone on campus this week? The energy was just through the roof and I know we were all super-excited to punch our ticket to March Madness once again. This will be the third year we get to go and we are all grateful to get the opportunity to cheer on our Bulldogs just a little bit longer. Back on campus, I think everyone is just as excited/proud of the team as we are!

Your team has only lost 3 games all year by a combined 13 PTS: has it reached a point where everyone expects the team to win every time that they step onto the court? While I have a lot of confidence in this team, nobody is perfect, and either way we are super-proud of them. They have been a very fun team to cheer for and the fans always come ready as well, making the game day experience unforgettable.

How does your school decide who gets to go to the NCAA tourney, and what will it mean to you to see your group doing its thing in front of a national TV audience? I am not exactly sure how the school decides who gets to go to the tournament, but we are all extremely grateful to be able to go and cheer on our Bulldogs on such a big stage. We are very excited for what is to come and hopefully we can walk away with some more wins!

Does your squad have anything extra-special planned for next week? As of right now, we do not have anything planned. Our main focus currently is ensuring that we are ready for tomorrow!

Any predictions for your game on Thursday vs. Missouri in Wichita? I am feeling super-optimistic about this week and the team advancing, but will be happy no matter what happens.

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Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews Utah SR F Maye Toure

Posted on March 19, 2025 by Jon Teitel

Utah lost to Texas Tech 75-64 in the Big 12 women’s tourney but still earned an at-large bid to this week’s NCAA tournament. The Utes only won 5 games in 20221 but are now heading to the NCAA tourney for the 4th year in a row. Yesterday HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Utah SR F Maye Toure about being a good rebounder and making the NCAA tourney.

You were born/raised in France: how big is basketball in your home country? It is very big: we have competitive leagues and great competition all year long.

There are several great men’s college basketball players from France (Adama Bal at Santa Clara/Daniel Batcho at Louisiana Tech/Maxime Raynaud at Stanford/etc.): how well do you know any of them? I only know Maxime from the list above, but I knew some other guys who played in the US in the past.

In 2022 you won a bronze medal at the 3×3 World Cup: what is the biggest difference between 3×3 and 5-on-5? I love 3×3: it is very physical/fast-paced and you must move smartly on the court. There are not a lot of fouls called so it makes you tougher and helps you get in better condition.

You began your college career at Rhode Island, and in 2023 you were named 1st-team all-conference/Most Improved Player of the Year: what did it mean to you to win such outstanding honors? I was proudest of the Most Improved honor. I came off the bench during my 1st 2 years but that is when I grew the most. It was comforting when I finally became a starter and I never lost trust in myself because I would wake up at 5AM every day and worked hard all the time. I could not see the progress at 1st, but after winning the award I felt that I did not do it all for nothing.

Why did you decide to transfer last year, and what made you choose Utah? It was the end of my cycle at URI: I love the program but wanted to challenge myself more in a bigger league. This is the 1st time that I have ever been in a culture like this: everyone has their eyes on the prize and is disciplined and there is no drama. It is like a family here so I knew it was the right fit for me.

You joined the Big 12 this year: how do you feel about your new conference? It is a very physical league, and every opponent has its own strength and poses a good challenge.

You are leading the team this year with 6.8 RPG: what is the secret to being a good rebounder? Just doing your work early: you cannot try to get a rebound after the shot hits the rim. You must start before the shot is even taken.

You played several tourney-caliber teams this year including Mississippi State/Notre Dame/Kansas State/Baylor/TCU/Oklahoma State/West Virginia: which of them impressed you the most? I was impressed by a couple of them. Mississippi State had a very aggressive team and really challenged us for 40 minutes. Notre Dame/Baylor are also great teams who were tough matchups for us.

You lost to Texas Tech in the Big 12 tourney but still received an at-large bid to the NCAA tourney: how did it feel to hear your team’s name called on Selection Sunday? It feels great! This is my 1st time in March Madness. We expected a different outcome in the conference tourney, but we have bounced back and will not take it for granted.

How do you feel about being a #8 seed, and what do you know about Indiana? I feel good about it. They play different than we do…but we can beat them.

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A-10 Champs: VCU postgame celebration

Posted on March 19, 2025 by Jon Teitel

Here is a quick recap of the best photos I took during the VCU postgame celebration last Sunday:

There are some bands (with DJ included!) who get hyped…and there are some band directors who wear a cape and a championship belt:

The spirit squad was also supportive:

Once the clock struck zero some guys on the team jumped for joy:

…while Max Shulga was just trying to take it all in:

…and took some photos:

There is a lot of hardware for A-10 Commissioner Bernadette McGlade to hand out:

…and the Rams are ready to punch their ticket:

Jack Clark took home a couple of trophies after being named conference tourney MVP:

…followed by the team hoisting the big trophy as high as it could:

…as the confetti rained down around them:

The staff also hugged it out in some handsome hats:

Shout-out to the Ram fans sitting behind me all weekend! They were super-nice and gave me some good inside info during the games:

The ladders are in place to cut down the nets:

Congrats to the A-10 champs, who are now in Denver as the prepare to face BYU on Thursday:

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Puppet Ramblings – First Four, Round of 64, NIT, and More

Posted on March 19, 2025 by David Griggs

Even though The Tournament has already started, you can still join the BEAT THE PUPPET CHALLENGE by CLICKING HERE. Don’t waste your time, though!! You won’t beat me!!!

So we had two great games last night!! One saw Alabama State pull off what may turn out to be one of the most exciting plays of the NCAA Tournament where they threw it the length of the court, came up with a loose ball, and laid it in in the final seconds to knock off Saint Francis 70-68. The other was a triple overtime thriller in the NIT where Chattanooga held on to win at Middle Tennessee.

San Diego State was blown into the sun by North Carolina 95-68 and the game wasn’t even that close.

Tonight we have Mount Saint Mary’s facing off against American. Unlike the teams in the First Four game from last night, American was a conference frontrunner for most of the year. Mount Saint Mary’s really wasn’t, but they were 11-4 in post-January basketball so they were at least one of the better teams in the MAAC throughout the second half of play.

In the other game we see another team that many feel did not belong in the field in Texas. They face a Xavier team that did not get it going until post-January, but has looked like an NCAA Tournament caliber team for the last month or so. If Xavier can play like they have been, they may be able to go beyond the Round of 64. Or, the Texas team that many feel shouldn’t even be there could end up winning in another blowout.

As far as the crowd that is now saying “SEE! IT LOOKS LIKE NORTH CAROLINA BELONGED IN AFTER ALL!!” Ummm….no they didn’t. That is stupid logic, and here is why…

Teams need to win during the regular season to make the NCAA Tournament!! It isn’t about what they can do or what they might do! It’s about what they DID! North Carolina didn’t do enough! Even if they were good enough, which it looks like they were, they still shouldn’t have been there in the first place. And…let’s test the premise of that! A team like Kentucky was clearly good enough to make the Sweet Sixteen or Elite Eight a year ago. But, they lost in the Round of 64. Should they have been allowed to play in the Round of 32 anyway?? Yeah, they didn’t win the game they were supposed to win to get there, but they were still good enough ton win in the Round of 32!! So, why not let them re-enter the tournament?? That would be ridiculous!! So is saying a team that shouldn’t be in The Tournament, but ends up winning a game or two, is proof they should have been there!

Some other exciting action tonight is…

-North Alabama going to Bradley. North Alabama is a recent transitional team who had a fantastic year in the ASun and nearly made the NCAA Tournament themselves. Bradley, of course, was hovering around the bubble for much of the season along with Drake.

-Furman at North Texas is an incredible game. Neither team made the field, but these are two teams that we thought would be in position to pull an upset in the Round of 64 if they had gotten there.

-Northern Iowa was red hot in the latter part of the season, and SMU was solid as well and on a lot of people’s boards for a long time. That should be a good game.

-Utah Valley blew through the WAC regular season but wasn’t quite as talented as Grand Canyon when push came to shove. They face a San Francisco team that is also incredibly talented and who looked like an NCAA Tournament caliber team during several stretches.

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Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews Auburn assistant coach Ira Bowman

Posted on March 19, 2025 by Jon Teitel

Last Saturday Auburn lost to Tennessee 70-65 in the SEC tourney semifinals but still earned an at-large bid to this week’s NCAA tournament. The Tigers had a losing season in 2021 but are now heading to the NCAA tourney for the 4th time in a row. Yesterday HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Auburn assistant coach Ira Bowman about being part of the greatest conference in the history of the sport and making the NCAA tourney.

You began your college career at Providence: why did you decide to transfer, and what made you choose Penn? I was recruited by Fran Fraschilla and then Rick Barnes went to Clemson. I was always a good student and 1 of my mentors suggested I look for a mix of high-level athletics/academics, which is how I found Penn.

Your college coach Fran Dunphy retired last week: what made him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? I recall a saying: “You never care how much someone knows until you know how much they care”. He taught us life lessons every day and what sticks with me most beyond the X’s and O’s is a sense of gratitude. He is the humblest man I have ever been around.

In the 1995 NCAA tourney you scored 15 PTS off the bench in a 6-PT OT loss to Alabama: how close did you come to pulling off the upset, and where does Antonio McDyess’s performance (39 PTS/19 REB) rank among the greatest that you have ever seen in the postseason? For me it is the greatest performance I have ever seen because I witnessed it firsthand. We had a historic level of success and were nationally ranked that year. To have 3 guys from an Ivy League team make the NBA (Jerome Allen/Matt Maloney/myself) is incredible, but we just came up a couple of baskets short against a team with 5 future NBA players of its own.

In 1996 you led the conference with 444 PTS/142 AST/57 STL: how were you able to balance all the different aspects of your game? Our focus was always on winning, and I had great teammates/coaches. We came up a few games short of UCLA’s record winning streak, but we went undefeated in the Ivy League for 3 years in a row. We had a very good team during my junior year so in 1996 after Jerome/Matt had left Tim Krug and I were pushed into leadership roles. Coach Dunphy put me in a position to be successful and I am forever grateful to him.

That same year you were named conference POY, and last fall you were inducted into the Big 5 Hall of Fame: what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors? Any time you are recognized for your work on the court it is always humbling, but it was due to the sacrifice of others in addition to the countless hours of work I put in. The Big 5 is an esteemed basketball community and it has turned out some great players so I am proud of that honor.

You spent almost a decade playing pro basketball, including 17 games in the NBA: what is your favorite memory from your time with the 76ers/Hawks? My 1st welcome-to-the-NBA moment was going to Milwaukee and not playing, but our next game was in Madison Square Garden. I grew up nearby in Newark, NJ, and I remember checking into the game to guard Allan Houston. I also played with Allen Iverson, who is the best 6’ or under player in NBA history.

As an assistant to Bruce Pearl at Auburn you started this season 27-2 but have lost 3 of your last 4 games in March: what is the mood of the team like this week? We segment the year into 3 different parts. We did well in pre-conference play in Maui and beat Houston on the road. Winning the regular season SEC title was great, but after losing in the conference tourney we now have a whole new season ahead of us. We have tried to stay hungry/humble despite those 3 tough losses: we lost to Alabama in OT on a shot at the buzzer, on the road to a good Texas A&M team, and to Tennessee by 5 in the SEC semifinals. We are as confident as we have ever been and are focused on preparing for Alabama State.

On Selection Sunday the SEC received a record 14 bids: what is it like to be part of the greatest conference in the history of the sport? You do not feel that way when you are in the middle of it, but we try to make our guys feel prepared. In a league like this there are no nights off: the talent/competition is incredible. I think our league won around 88% of its non-conference games, and the league itself is a gauntlet, so you must endure the “monotony of preparation”. Hopefully our league does well this month, but we prepare for every team the same because anyone can beat you on any night.

How do you feel about being the #1 overall seed, and do you feel that your team is good enough to win it all? We wanted to see how good we were at the start of the season, and with all our games at neutral sites we are good enough to be where we are at right now. Every team in the NCAA tourney is either a champion of their own conference or a great team that did not win a title: to win 6 games in a row you need to win the 1st 1 and just keep advancing. Being the #1 overall seed is nice…but since we are in Lexington we might potentially have to play Louisville in their home state. Even if that happens, we just need to be 40 minutes better than our opponent.

You came to Auburn after spending 6 years as an assistant to Steve Donahue at your alma mater: I know you are focused on the task at hand…but considering that Steve was fired last week, what would you say if the Quakers asked you to replace him next month? My focus is solely on Auburn winning in the NCAA tourney. If Penn asked me then I would consider it, but my focus is on winning our 1st round game on Thursday.

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Bracket Tactics: HoopsHD provides some tips for surviving and advancing

Posted on March 18, 2025 by Jon Teitel

The best week of the year is finally here! This is the time when we ponder the impact of geography, the importance of having a veteran coach, and exactly how many different “Wildcats” can make the Final 4. For those of you who need some last-minute bracket advice grounded in historical facts/trends, please see below for our Sweetest 16 Suggestions. For the rest of you, enjoy the Madness!!

TIP #1: No team that lost its opening game in its conference tournament has ever gone on to win the NCAA title that same year.
STRATEGY: The extra few days of rest have not proven helpful in the past so take a long hard look at Texas A&M (lost to Texas in the SEC tourney 2nd round)/UCLA (lost to Wisconsin in the Big 10 tourney quarterfinals) before penciling them in as your champ.

TIP #2: The last coach to win a title in his very 1st year as coach at a school was Tubby Smith at Kentucky in 1998.
STRATEGY: History is not on the side of Kentucky coach Mark Pope/Michigan coach Dusty May.

TIP #3: Since UNLV from the Big West won it all in 1990, 32 of the past 33 champs have come from a power-conference (except for UConn from the AAC in 2014): ACC (11), Big East (9), SEC (6), Big 12 (3), Pac-12 (2), Big 10 (1).
STRATEGY: You might want to think twice before picking anyone from the MWC/WCC to win it all.

TIP #4: Only 3 coaches with 4 or fewer prior tournament appearances have won the title since 1985 (Steve Fisher/Tom Izzo/Kevin Ollie).
STRATEGY: Teams like Arizona (Tommy Lloyd has 3 prior tourney appearances)/Missouri (Dennis Gates has 2 prior tourney appearances) might need a little more seasoning before they can win it all.

TIP #5: Each champ since 2002 had a strength of schedule that was among the top-75 in the nation.
STRATEGY: You must play the best to learn how to beat the best so you might want to stay away from Utah State (SOS: 83)/VCU (SOS: 92).

TIP #6: There are 9 active coaches who have won at least 2/3 of their NCAA tournament games (minimum 5 wins).
STRATEGY: Do not expect Rick Pitino of St. John’s (72%)/Bill Self of Kansas (71.3%) to be catching an early flight home.

TIP #7: There are 5 schools who have won at least 85% of their games in the round of 64 (minimum 5 games).
STRATEGY: Duke (33-4)/Maryland (22-3) are near-automatic in their opening games.

TIP #8: There are 9 schools who have won at least 75% of their games in the round of 32 (minimum 5 games).
STRATEGY: Arizona (20-4) is looking good vs. the Oregon-Liberty winner if they can win their 1st round game, and if not then Clemson (5-1) is not a bad alternative.

TIP #9: There are 6 schools who have won at least 75% of their Sweet 16 games (minimum 5 games).
STRATEGY: Florida (9-2) has played great in their Sweet 16 games so Maryland & Memphis should beware.

TIP #10: There are 10 schools who have won at least 70% of their Elite 8 games (minimum 5 games).
STRATEGY: Keep an eye on some of the best seeds in case either Houston (6-1)/Michigan State (10-4) can make it to the 2nd weekend.

TIP #11: There are 9 schools who have won at least 60% of their Final 4 games (minimum 5 games).
STRATEGY: Michigan is 7-1 in the Final 4 so if you pick them to survive the South Region then you might want to pick them to get all the way to the title game.

TIP #12: Only 3 teams have won an NCAA title after not being in the tournament the previous year it was held (1986 Louisville/2003 Syracuse/2014 UConn).
STRATEGY: Maryland (no postseason appearance in 2024)/Memphis (no postseason appearance in 2024) are certainly ready for primetime…but might not be ready to go all the way.

TIP #13: There are 12 schools who are undefeated in their NCAA tournament games in a specific state (minimum 5 games).
STRATEGY: Duke must be thrilled with their possible trip to Newark because they are 10-0 all-time in the state of New Jersey.

TIP #14: There are 8 schools who have won at least 75% of their NCAA tournament games as an automatic-bid team (minimum 5 games).
STRATEGY: Do not sleep on Florida because when they win the SEC tourney and get an automatic-bid they are near-unstoppable (17-2).

TIP #15: BYU has played in the most NCAA tournaments (31) without ever making the Final 4.
STRATEGY: If the Cougars could not reach the Final 4 with Danny Ainge/Jimmer Fredette then they will probably not make it with this year’s squad.

TIP #16: Since 1988 only 3 champs have not been a top-3 seed (#4 Arizona in 1997, #7 UConn in 2014, #4 UConn in 2023)
STRATEGY: Arizona/Purdue might be nice sleeper picks but the odds are against them winning it all.

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