Under The Radar Game of the Day – Monday, December 5th

Posted on December 5, 2022 by John Stalica

IUPUI (1-7, 0-1 Horizon) at Green Bay (0-7, 0-1 Horizon) – 12:00 PM ET (ESPN+)

There are only 7 games in Division I today that involve exclusively D1 competition and even fewer that involve exclusively UTR teams. With that in mind, we have a top-rate Centenary matchup today with #358 Green Bay hosting #363 IUPUI. The Jaguars of IUPUI do have a non-D1 win to their credit, but in their D1 games have 7 losses and were only really competitive in their 87-84 loss at New Orleans on Thanksgiving Day. More recently, they are coming off of a 74-61 loss at Milwaukee on Saturday night.

Today is also Education Day (aka a Field Trip Day) at Green Bay; they will be looking for their first win of any kind in this afternoon’s game. And if that weren’t bad enough, today is also the first leg of a rare back-to-back for the Phoenix. Tomorrow they also travel to Chicago to take on the Loyola Ramblers. Weirdly enough, their most competitive loss was an 11-point loss against Wisconsin on the road.

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games – Sunday, Dec 4th

Posted on December 4, 2022 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES:

-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE

-Houston is the top ranked team, and I do think they’re the best overall team, or at the very least the team that has the most overall potential.  Having said that, they don’t always win pretty.  For the second game in a row they were in a rock fight, but held on to beat Saint Mary’s 53-48 and the Gaels were right in there until the very end of the game.  Speaking of rock fights…

-Virginia had to sweat out Florida State at home, which was a surprising in and of itself that a team that has looked as bad as FSU could remain in the same neighborhood as Virginia, but the Hoos survived and got the 62-57 win.

-Rutgers, who had looked good all season, now has a good win on their resume to back it up.  They beat Indiana rather handily 63-48.  It was a home game for Rutgers, but it’s still a win they’ll get a decent amount of credit for.  As for the Hoosiers, it was their first loss on the year.

-Last year Fordham was 16-16, and I remember thinking that was an almost inexplicable improvement for a program that has been absolutely terrible for decades.  Yesterday, they picked up a 95-90 win at Tulane, which is a team we had some expectations for this year, and improved to 8-1 on the year.  The national media hasn’t picked up on them yet, and perhaps they’re still a long way from being considered a top 40ish tournament caliber team, but the fact that Fordham is 8-1 against ANYBODY should be a big story!  The Atlantic Ten has not looked all that good this year.  They may end up being one of the better teams in the conference!  Fordham!!  Is this a sign that it is the End of Days??

-And Duquesne, also from the Atlantic Ten and also with a long history of being really bad, beat Ball State yesterday 78-77 to get to 7-1 on the year with the only loss being at Kentucky.

Fordham and Duquesne!!  Atlantic Ten Frontrunners!!  Just like we all predicted!!!

-Notre Dame, who absolutely blew out Michigan State earlier in the week, lost at home to Syracuse 62-61.  Because of course they did.

-Villanova, who got off to a 2-5 start, did look a lot better yesterday against a fairly decent Oklahoma team and got a 70-66 win, but they need to string together several more in order to get things turned all the way back around.

-Marquette, who blasted Baylor earlier this week, hosted rival Wisconsin yesterday with all the momentum in the world on their side, but the Badgers came in, played well early, kept it close the entire way, almost lost it in the end but it did go to overtime, and then got the win in overtime.  For the Badgers it was a road win against a rival who had been playing really well.  That’s a DAMN good win!  The committee should (and almost assuredly will) give them a lot of credit for that one.

-Xavier, who came into the game against West Virginia yesterday with three losses, but all three were close games against highly ranked teams, finally got a notable win on their resume as they knocked off WVU 84-74.  West Virginia actually had a lead for most of the game, and it was close all throughout the second half, but Xavier battled and picked up the win.  The atmosphere at this game was incredible.  WVU coach Bob Huggins used to coach Xavier’s crosstown rivals Cincinnati, and judging from yesterday’s game the X fans have not forgotten him!  I’d LOVE it if this became a regular season!

-Coming into the season I was kind of big on Davidson.  Yesterday Davidson went on the road to Delaware and lost 69-67, which drops them to 6-3 on the year.  I am no longer all that big on Davidson.

-Toledo, another team I was super big on coming into the season and felt we may even see them in the top 25 before the year was over, went into George Mason yesterday and lost 80-73.  This is their third loss of the season, and all three came against teams that aren’t likely to be anywhere near the NIT.  I am no longer big on Toledo.

-YOTES ALERT!!!  South Dakota, who was a team we thought would make sone noise in the Summit League but that had struggled some this season, went to BYU and picked up a 69-68 win.  South Dakota actually opened up a big lead in the first half, and maintained it through much of the second half, but BYU came back and almost avoided the upset.

-Northern Colorado got a big upset win at Colorado State 88-83 in that Front Range rivalry game.  Colorado State now falling down to 6-3 and can’t really afford too many more losses like that.

-Marshall has now won seven straight after knocking off Ohio U 83-69, and is looking like they may actually be good enough to make a run at the bubble.

-Yale is now 8-1 on the year with the only loss being at Colorado.  Their 77-72 win at Stony Brook yesterday was their second road win of the season.

-Uncle Buzz and Texas A&M continue to struggle.  They fell at home to Boise State yesterday 86-71.  We are about to go into Christmas Break, which means no classes and no restricted practice time, and sometimes that’s when we see teams that haven’t been as good as we thought finally start to look like what we thought they would, and given how good of a coach Buzz Williams is and how talented TAMU appears to be I’m thinking we may see that this year with them.  But so far they’ve just stunk.

-UC Irvine, an Under the Radar team we’ve been very big on, lost at home to a very weak Fresno State team yesterday 77-65.  So…that’s discouraging.  They certainly didn’t need that.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-MICHIGAN VS KENTUCKY (London Showcase, London England).  One storyline for this is a big game between two likely tournament teams that are off to slower starts than they were hoping for, but still have a ton of potential, and a win today would be a big step toward getting things turned around.   Another storyline is that it is a college basketball game in London that’s taking place during England’s World Cup Soccer game.  So…national interest over in England for this will be spectacularly low.

-MIAMI FL AT LOUISVILLE (ACC).  I really like this Miami team and this is perhaps the most winnable conference road game they’ll ever play.  Louisville comes in at 0-7 and is showing absolutely no signs of getting any better.

-NORTH CAROLINA AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC).  North Carolina is 5-3 on the season after starting off being the top ranked team in the preseason, but all of those losses were to heavyweights.  That being said, they’re REALLY going to be tested today.  They’re on the road against a Virginia Tech team that’s 7-1 and looking for a statement win of their own.

-SAINT JOHN’S AT IOWA STATE (Big East-Big 12 Battle).  I said before the season started that I thought the Johnnies would be good this year.  They come into this game at 8-0, but still haven’t gotten all that much respect.  Well, if they get this win on the road, people will notice. Iowa State didn’t have any expectations either, but with some big wins in their MTE they are up to 23rd in the rankings and have an impressive 6-1 overall record.

-COLORADO AT WASHINGTON (Pac 12).  Colorado continues to look like one of the most schizophrenic teams in the nation.  They may beat a top ranked team, or lose to a sub200 team.  Washington is looking much better than expected, and can improve to 7-2 on the season if they can pick up a win in this conference home game today.

-SOUTHERN MISS AT NORTHWESTERN STATE.  We are going to go ahead and highlight this game.  Both teams are having MUCH better years than expected.  Both have managed some notable wins with Southern Miss winning at Liberty and at Vanderbilt, and Northwestern State getting the big win at TCU.  Southern Miss can remain unbeaten and pick up their third road win if they can pull this one off.

-MINNESOTA AT PURDUE (Big Ten).  Minnesota is off to a modest 4-3 start, and Purdue is off to an incredible 7-0 start with several big wins already on their resume and a deserved top five ranking to go along with it.  They shouldn’t have too much trouble holding serve in their conference opener.

-OREGON AT UCLA (Pac 12).  Oregon has been a bit of a disappointment this year, but they are still as talented as they were coming into the season, and if they can get a win in a game like this it can turn their season around.  UCLA has two losses, but both were to top ten teams and they were competitive in both games, so it’s hardly indicative of them not being good.

-NORTHWESTERN AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten).  Northwestern is a fairly respectable 5-2 on the year, and has looked really good at times, but I think they’re overmatched in this one, especially considering that they’re on the road.  Michigan State has really tested themselves early and already has some big wins.

-UTAH STATE AT SAN FRANCISCO.  I gotta give credit to the folks at Hoops HD who were big on this Utah State team.  They come in at 6-0, and while they haven’t faced any monumental challenges, not all their wins ahve just been home buy games either.  They’ll go on the road to face a San Francisco team that’s also exceeding expectations after going through a big roster overhaul from a year ago.  At 6-1 they’re looking like a possible tournament team again this year.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:

-Bryant @ Cincinnati – Bryant is off to a good start, already has a big win over Syracuse, and will be a America East frontrunner.  Cincinnati needs to be on upset alert
-Youngstown State @ Wright State (Horizon League) – two of the better teams in the HL, so it may be worth keeping an eye on
-Samford @ UCF – I like this UCF team, and while Samford does have a head-scratching loss, I think they can make quite a bit of noise in the SoCon
-South Alabama @ UAB – UAB can get to 7-1 on the year, and continues to look good enough to make a run at the bubble
-Stetson @ Florida – Stetson is an impressive 4-2 and already has a win at Florida State, so the Gators do not want to overlook them
-TAMU Commerce @ Denver – Denver can get to 8-1 with a win
-Utah @ Washington State (Pac 12) – Utah is coming off a decisive home win against Arizona, and can improve to 7-2, pick up another conference win, and pick up their first road win, if they’re able to win this one today
-SEMO @ Missouri – Mizzou is unbeaten and will likely remain that way
-Nebraska @ Creighton – it’s a rivalry game, but this year it also appears to be a huge mismatch.  Creighton should roll
-California @ Arizona (Pac 12) – Arizona should have no problems bouncing back from their loss at Utah
-Alcorn State @ Tennessee – buy game
-Oregon State @ USC (Pac 12) – USC cannot afford to lose this one
-Stanford @ Arizona State (Pac 12) – Arizona State can improve to 8-1

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Under The Radar Game of the Day – Sunday, December 4th

Posted on December 4, 2022 by John Stalica

For Jon Teitel’s recap of Georgetown’s loss against South Carolina – CLICK HERE

Southern Miss (8-0) at Northwestern State (6-2) – 4:30 PM ET (ESPN+)

Today’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to an intraconference matchup between next-door neighbors Southern Miss and Northwestern State. Southern Miss is making probably their first ever back-to-back appearances in our UTR Game of the Day; they defeated Montana 64-54 at home last Tuesday thanks to a 20-point performance from Donovan Ivory. This will be the first of four straight games for the Golden Eagles against Southland teams – they will next begin a back-to-back home and away series with Lamar.

When the season started, the Demons of Northwestern State were blown out 73-49 at Texas Tech and it appeared that they were getting through life as a buy-game opponent. But something funny happened – they got a shocking 64-63 win at TCU and are now on a 5-game winning streak since that game. Last time out, they won at SFA 102-96 thanks to a 34-point outing from Demarcus Sharp.

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Hanging with the Hoyas: Part 2

Posted on December 3, 2022 by Jon Teitel

HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel will spend the upcoming months covering several Georgetown basketball home games, with (hopefully) a very special reward coming in March. You can find Part 1 at:
https://hoopshd.com/2022/11/12/hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-1-2
See below for his photo essay about the Hoyas’ matchup earlier today against South Carolina.

I entered the arena quite hungry and was thrilled to find a delicious pregame meal catered by Einstein Bros. Bagels: egg sandwich/ham & cheese sandwich/chocolate chip cookie/chocolate chip muffin! Everyone in the media room got very excited while watching the US soccer team score to make it a 2-1 game…then got substantially less excited when the Netherlands made it 3-1 just 5 minutes later: klootzak! I know that Georgetown and South Carolina are not exactly NCAA tourney teams but I was still hoping for a decent crowd considering it was a matchup of major conference teams: not so much. Let’s tip it off:


I do not usually care about the opposing team but I was really looking forward to seeing South Carolina star GG Jackson. I do not get to see that many McDonald’s All-Americans in person, much less a super-frosh who is projected to be a lottery pick next June…but after he started 0-5 from the field while going scoreless in the 1st half I wondered what all the hype was about: stay tuned! Fortunately, he had some upperclassmen 3-PT shooters around him in the form of SR Hayden Brown (left: who came into the game shooting 4-21 from behind the arc this year but made a 3 from the corner and another from the top of the key) and JR Meechie Johnson (right: who made a couple of long-range shots in the 1st half…but saved his best for last):


Georgetown coach Patrick Ewing was unhappy with his team’s defense so he switched from a man-to-man to a zone late in the half and it seemed to pay immediate dividends:


The Hoyas transition offense gave them a huge boost in terms of PTS off of turnovers: they had a 23-0 advantage in that category late into the game. The player who you would expect to excel in transition was G Primo Spears, who made a couple of jumpers and was also able to get into the lane for a floater and a tough lefty layup:


The player I did not expect to do anything (but who proved me wrong) was PF Bradley Ezewiro. He had only scored 7 PTS all year but set a career-high with 6 PTS in just 3 minutes of action on a scoop/put-back/layup:


The Hoyas’ lead at halftime (37-26) was their largest of the afternoon and it looked like they might have finally figured things out…and then the 2nd half turned into the GG Jackson Show. The freshman made layup after jumper after 3 after scoop after &1 after dunk after tip-in to tie his career-high with 22 PTS. Georgetown tried a variety of defenses against him and when Ewing assigned a guard to defend him GG would be BEGGING for the ball down low while posting up his smaller opponent. Not a single opposing player had scored 22+ PTS vs. the Hoyas all year (Justin Steers of Coppin State had 21 in the season opener) but Jackson had 22 IN THE 2ND HALF! He may not have been perfect…but he looked a lot like a lottery pick:


Georgetown SG Jay Heath missed the 1st 2 games of the year while awaiting a decision on his eligibility after transferring from ASU, and since getting the good news he has looked pretty good. He scored 25 PTS in a win over UMBC last Saturday and added another 23 PTS this Saturday on a trio of trifectas and a perfect day from the FT line (6-6):


The game went right down to the wire and the final 30 seconds were quite intense. Johnson missed the front end of 1-and-1 with 24 seconds left (he is now 4-10 from the FT line this year), then Spears made what appeared to be the game-winning pull-up jumper with 6 seconds left (which bounced twice on the rim before falling through to give his team a 65-64 lead), but the Gamecocks pushed the ball down the court and Heath was called for a foul on Brown with 3.8 seconds left. With the home crowd screaming their lungs out, Brown made the 1st to tie it at 65…but missed the 2nd so we were headed to OT. Brown ended up fouling out in the final minute of OT and Johnson did not score a single PT in the extra period so I thought that the Cocks were cooked, but Meechie saved the day by drilling the tie-breaking/game-winning 3-PT shot with 25 seconds left, followed by the Hoyas missing a pair of threes in the final seconds as South Carolina emerged victorious by a score of 74-71. In the postgame press conference I asked Jackson how he was able to adapt to all of the different defenses that he had to face. He said that there is no defense that can completely shut him out because he is not a selfish player. He complimented his teammate Meechie and said that they have had a lot of talks together since GG 1st arrived on campus:


After Jackson headed to the locker room I tried to get his coach Lamont Paris to admit that GG was the best freshman in the nation. He was not ready to go that far but rattled off a bunch of his attributes such as “talented, mature, and grateful for the opportunity”. He was impressed that a kid who will not even turn 18 for a couple more weeks could admit that his body language was below-average during the 1st half and commended his ability to learn quickly and have some humility:


Coach Ewing was in a bad mood so rather than pick on his team’s 3-PT shooting (3-18) I wondered whether he would say some nice things about Jackson. He did not appreciate the inquiry after a loss but stated that he recruited GG and thought that he was a special player who stepped up in the 2nd half and got some “big boy” buckets:


That is a wrap for now, check back in a couple of weeks for the conference opener when Sean Miller brings his Musketeers to DC.

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Under The Radar Game of the Day – Saturday, December 3rd

Posted on December 3, 2022 by John Stalica

For Jon Teitel’s interview with Keno Davis about his father Tom Davis – CLICK HERE

UMass-Lowell (7-1) at Sacred Heart (5-3) – 2:00 PM ET (NECFrontRow.com)

Today’s UTR Game of the Day features a matchup of southern New England teams as the Riverhawks of UMass-Lowell visit the Pioneers of Sacred Heart. SHU comes in as the team favored to win the NEC Tournament this year; they are currently on a 2-game winning streak after getting a 66-61 win at New Hampshire earlier in the week. Nico Galette led the Pioneers with 17 points and 4 steals against New Hampshire.

Both teams already met earlier this season up in Lowell; the Riverhawks won the first matchup 90-81. That game started a 5-game winning streak for UML; their last win was against next-door neighbor Merrimack by a 77-51 margin; Max Brooks had 17 points in that game. The Riverhawks average margin of victory in their winning streak is 15 points against the 4 D1 opponents in that winning streak (and 22 points if you throw in a 52-pt blowout win against a non-D1 opponent mixed in the streak).

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Happy Birthday! HoopsHD interviews Keno Davis about his father Tom

Posted on December 3, 2022 by Jon Teitel

Tom Davis was such a good coach that he was named national COY at Iowa in 1987…and was such a good father that his son Keno was named national COY at Drake in 2008. Tom made a pair of NIT appearances as coach at Lafayette, led BC to back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances in 1981/1982, followed by 11 postseason trips in 13 years at Iowa from 1987-1999. Keno made the NCAA tourney in his very 1st year as head coach at Drake in 2008, followed by 5 postseason trips in 11 years at Providence/Central Michigan from 2009-2019. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Keno about his father’s fantastic career and taking over for him in Des Moines. Today is Tom’s 84th birthday so let us be the 1st to wish him a happy 1!

Your father played PG at Wisconsin–Platteville: how good a player was he back in the day, and why did he become a coach? He was a pretty good PG for that level, but the best thing about his playing career is that he learned so much about the game from his coach (John Barth) who stressed education and the love of the game.

In the 1972 NIT as coach at Lafayette, Jay Mottola made a FT with 3 seconds left in a 1-PT win over Virginia: what is the key to winning close games in March? That was the year I was born so I do not have any memories of the game myself but I heard stories about how to guard great inside players.

Future Hall of Famer Gary Williams served as 1 of his assistants at Lafayette: how big of an influence was Tom on Gary, and do they still remain close today? They are still close today. To have that relationship with someone who you grew up with and worked with and bounced ideas off of each other is nice. They later coached against each other in the Big 10. I had the chance to visit with Coach Williams at the Big 10 Network and it was good to hear the stories from another perspective.

In the 1980 NIT as coach at BC he had a 2-PT loss to Virginia and tourney MVP Ralph Sampson: how close did he come to beating the eventual champs)? My 1st real memories of him coaching were the following tourney years: I went to practice every day that I could.

Take me through the 1981 NCAA tourney:
John Bagley scored a season-high 35 PTS in 32 minutes and made 3 FT down the stretch in a 3-PT win over Wake Forest: did he get the feeling that he had a team that could make a deep run in the tourney? I am not so sure that a deep run back then was something we talked about as much as we do now. For BC, as a team in the Big East without a lot of previous success, just to get into the NCAA tourney as a bubble team was optimistic.

Bryan Warrick scored 20 PTS including a pair of FTs with 21 seconds left in a 1-PT win by St. Joe’s: what was the reaction like in the locker room afterward? I was traveling that year with the band and my mom. I remember that our flight was delayed due to weather but being that young I just remember that people thought highly of the team. It is obviously disappointing whenever your season ends.

Take me through the 1982 NCAA tourney:
Bagley scored 26 PTS in a 7-PT win over #1-seed DePaul: where does that upset rank among the greatest of his career? That was a big memory for me down in Dallas after we beat San Francisco by 4 PTS in the 1st round. I think it is right up there because DePaul was nationally ranked and at the top of the polls the entire season. A lot of other bubble teams were upset when BC made the tourney so there was a big party back at the hotel for all of the supporters who made the trip. Whenever you truly upset a team it is more special.

Clyde Drexler had 15 PTS/9 REB in a 7-PT win by Houston: could you tell at the time that Drexler was going to be a star? That is more of a question for the coaches who did the scouting report! That was the start of the great years in Houston basketball along with Hakeem Olajuwon. I think that Bagley got in some early foul trouble and you need everything to go right to pull off an upset.

In his 1st year at Iowa he was named 1987 national COY: what did it mean to him to win such an outstanding honor? To win the AP award meant a lot to him because of who was voting on it. He has never been really big on individual awards but that 1 was pretty special. He had a lot of talented players on that team and had everything go right. They had some great comeback wins throughout that year due to their resiliency.

Take me through the 1987 NCAA tourney:
Kevin Gamble scored 26 PTS/11-13 FG and made a 21-foot shot with 2 seconds left in a 2-PT OT win over Oklahoma: where does that rank among the most clutch shots that you have ever seen? I would say right at the top. They came back from a 16-PT deficit and the final play had several different options after reading the defense to see what was open. It was a preview of things to come for Gamble.

Armen Gilliam scored 27 PTS as the Rebels overcame an 18-PT 2nd half deficit in a 3-PT win by UNLV: how devastating was that loss after blowing such a big lead? It is always devastating to lose in the tourney…but to be that close to the Final 4 was especially tough. UNLV had an incredibly talented team and that was the very 1st tourney to use the 3-PT shot. UNLV had some guys playing their best and knocking down key shots.

Take me through the 1988 NCAA tourney:
BJ Armstrong scored a career-high 35 PTS/16-20 FT in a 4-PT win over Florida State: how on earth did he win all 11 1st round NCAA tourney games in his career without losing a single one? I am 0-1 in the tourney so unfortunately that did not carry over! Whether they were playing a non-conference game against a weak opponent or a conference tourney title game, he placed the same emphasis on every single game. They played at a consistent level so that they would never play tight in the tourney. They would press and run and shoot from 3-PT land so they were hard to prepare for.

Jeff Moe/Ed Horton each scored 24 PTS in an 18-PT win over UNLV: was it extra-special to beat the Rebels after they had knocked him out the previous March? There was not a lot of talk about revenge because there is so much turnover from 1 year to another. Revenge games are more about beating teams who beat you earlier in that same season. Winning a tourney game is enough incentive.

In the 1989 NCAA tourney Rodney Monroe scored a career-high 40 PTS (including shots at the end of both regulation and the 1st OT) in a 6-PT 2-OT win by NC State: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot Monroe put up seemed to go in because he was “in the zone”? I think that NC State jumped out to a huge lead before Iowa battled back. The Wolfpack fouled Iowa PG Brian Garner toward the end of the game because he was a poor FT shooter but the Hawkeyes were fortunate enough to send that game into OT. Iowa had some really good players but did not have a lot of depth due to their role players getting injured.

Christian Laettner scored 19 PTS in wins by eventual champion Duke in both the 1991 and 1992 NCAA tourneys: what was it like to have to play those amazing Duke teams in back-to-back years? Most coaches always feel they have the toughest road to make it all the way, but Iowa had a stretch of years where it felt like they always saw teams such as Duke/Kentucky on their side of the bracket. It was obviously special to play against Coach K and if you beat Duke then you know you can go all the way, but guys like Laettner/Grant Hill made it tough.

In the 1996 NCAA tourney Jess Settles had 21 PTS/15 REB in a 2-PT win over GW: how was the team able to finish the game on a 25-6 run during the final 8 minutes?! I had already graduated but made it out to Tempe for that game. Sitting in the stands was something unique for me because I was always on the bench while growing up. I remember that it did not look like it was going to fall his way so I left the stands and just started walking around the concourse and occasionally peeking inside. Pressure defense can give you a chance to come back in those situations and those are the games that stand out the most to me.

In the 1997 NCAA tourney Andre Woolridge scored 29 PTS in a 6-PT loss to eventual national runner-up Kentucky: what was it like to face Rick Pitino in March? Woolridge was 1 of the best college PGs that I have ever seen and remains the only player in Big 10 history to lead the conference in PPG/APG. Coach Rick Pitino would send 3 players at Andre and he would just dribble right through them. They had 2-3 opportunities for some open 3-PT shots but just could not knock them down.

He is the winningest coach in Iowa history: what made him such a great coach, and do you think anyone will ever break his record? I think all records that look unbreakable eventually get broken. I felt that he was always learning/teaching and trying to get better. The program always improved whether he had talent or chemistry or just caught a few breaks. He would bring in under-recruited guys and get a lot out of their abilities.

After he announced his retirement as coach at Drake in 2007, you took over for him and went 28-5 in your 1st year there en route to being named national COY: how proud is he of all that you accomplished, and how do you think that he should be remembered the most? The most enjoyable time I have ever had in coaching was my 4 years as his assistant at Drake. It is a unique experience to get to work for your father and those years were pretty special. To take over as coach and have him continuing to help me during that amazing year was very special. That team was able to beat the odds and have an unbelievable season. To be ranked 14th in the country exceeded any expectations we had. I think that he will be remembered as an educator/teacher and a really good person as well.

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