All-Access at the East Regional: HoopsHD is in the 2nd row for LSU-Michigan State

Posted on April 3, 2019 by Jon Teitel

The NCAA tournament is about basketball but also so much more: the fans, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The East Regional is taking place in Washington, DC this weekend and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD is all over it and covering all of the angles so you can look forward to a cascade of coverage in the days ahead. Jon Teitel continues our coverage with a photo essay recap of the Sweet 16 opener featuring the Tigers vs. the Spartans (all of the photos below were taken by HoopsHD, but since the NCAA was kind enough to award us a credential…and to cover our butts, we will extend the courtesy for everything to both the NCAA and CBS Sports just in case).

The practices/press conferences were nice but the games themselves brought out the heavy hitters, including ESPN’s Marty Smith:

John Thompson as color analyst for Westwood One, who caught up with Washington Post columnist John Feinstein:

JT3 made his triumphant return to Capital 1 Arena:

Steve Lavin headlined the March Madness Live VR app crew:

CBS brought out the “A” team including Bill Raftery:

Grant Hill:

and Tracy Wolfson:

Hello Friends!

Nice seats for me, eh?

LSU did some pregame stretching:

The Tigers all seemed ready to pounce including Naz Reid/Ja’Vonte Smart/Emmitt Williams/Skylar Mays:

Michigan State huddled up in anticipation of the big game:

The Spartans all seemed ready to follow the lead of Big 10 POY Cassius Winston:

The refs are ready:

The fans of both teams are pumped:

Both sets of cheerleaders are poised:

  

Here we go:

The Tigers tried to keep it close in the 1st half thanks to Tremont Waters, who had an old-fashioned 3-PT play to start the half and a long-range 3 to end the half but Sparty was still up double-digits at halftime thanks to 1 youngster and 1 veteran.  Winston made a trio of threes that forced the defense to focus on him, which freed up FR SF Aaron Henry to do a little bit of everything (a jumper on the 1st possession of the game, a BLK on a layup attempt by Smart, a nice AST to Xavier Tillman for a layup, a REB/putback, a pull-up layup, and a super-high floater that somehow bounced in).  Michigan State would not be denied thanks to a 21-10 REB advantage that gave them a 40-28 scoring advantage at halftime.  The mascots were both running around trying to get their fans excited:

The best part of halftime was when they put the Auburn-UNC game on the Jumbotron.  As the Tigers built a 41-39 halftime lead, all of the Duke and Virginia Tech fans in DC started cheering loudly in the hopes that their ACC rival would fall.  Waters almost single-handedly got LSU back into the game with a 3 to start the 2nd half followed by a STL/breakaway layup but even with SR PF Kavell Bigby-Williams securing a bunch of rebounds/dunks it was just not enough.  SR PF Kenny Goins knocked down a pair of threes to key an 11-0 run and force Coach Tony Benford to call a timeout, FR SF Gabe Brown finished with a career-high 15 PTS in 16 minutes off the bench (after only scoring 11 total PTS in the past 2 months!) and Henry set a pair of career-highs with 20 PTS/6 AST.  The only scare came with 7 minutes left when Reid hit JR PF Nick Ward hard on his left hand and was called for a flagrant 1.  Ward appeared to be in a lot of pain both on the court and on the bench, but after jogging to the locker room he returned to the bench a few minutes later during the under-4-minute timeout:

Michigan State pulled away to win 80-63 as their fans went wild after the buzzer:

Right after the game both Winston and Coach Tom Izzo came by to chat with the radio guys in the front row:

There were only a handful of reporters outside the victors’ locker room waiting for the team to drop by after its big win:

Goins had a poor shooting night (2-10 FG) but still made some big contributions with a game-high 11 REB/2 STL:

SO PF Xavier Tillman made a name for himself as 2019 Big 10 6th Man of the Year but due to Ward’s ongoing recovery from a left hand injury he got to start in the frontcourt and had a pretty solid performance with 12 PTS/8 REB/2 BLK:

Ward had his hand on ice after the game but the win seemed to put him in a good mood:

Brown was the X-factor, as evident by the swarm of camera crews surrounding him at his locker:

That’s all for now, check back later for continuing coverage.

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UTR Postseason News, Notes and Highlighted Games – Wednesday, April 3

Posted on April 3, 2019 by John Stalica

For Jon Teitel’s interviews with National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Famer Homer Drew – CLICK HERE

For Jon Teitel’s interview with Omaha Academic All-American Matt Pile – CLICK HERE

For Jon Teitel’s interview with Danene Charles about her sister Daedra Charles (Hall of Fame from Tennessee) – CLICK HERE

The finals of the NIT are now set – the first team to advance was the Lipscomb Bisons thanks to their comeback from an 11-point deficit in the 2nd half. Lipscomb led by 5 at halftime, but Wichita State outscored Lipscomb 31-15 in the first 12 minutes of the 2nd half to take a 61-50 lead. From there, Wichita State could only manage to score 3 points (all on free throws) and Lipscomb outscored the Shockers 21-3 to win 71-64. Garrison Matthews had 34 points for the Bisons; Rob Marberry also added 14 points.

Texas used some great defense last night to hold TCU to 17 points at halftime and ended up winning 58-44. Kerwin Roach II led the Longhorns with 22 points; Dylan Osetkowski also had 13 points and 9 rebounds. For TCU, the waiting game now begins to see whether or not Jamie Dixon will either move on to take the UCLA head coaching job or if they end up reaching an agreement to extend Dixon’s contract at TCU.

In the CIT, C. J. Burks hit four free throws in the final minute to give Marshall an 80-78 victory against the Hampton Pirates. Hampton was able to hold the high-scoring Marshall attack to 29 points in the 2nd half and was able to climb out of a 13-point halftime hole, but didn’t have enough left in the tank to close the deal.

Marshall will end up hosting Green Bay for the CIT Championship on Thursday; the Phoenix needed overtime but ended up beating Texas Southern 87-86. The Tigers actually extended the game to overtime by holding Green Bay scoreless for the final two minutes of regulation and were able to get a game-tying layup from Jeremy Combs with 7 seconds left. Combs looked like he was going to be a folk hero for the Tigers with his go-ahead shot with 8 seconds left in the OT period, but Sandy Cohen III hit a jumper from the free-throw line with 1.5 seconds remaining to give the Phoenix the victory.

On the head coaching front, there have been 2 notable events – one will be that Kelvin Sampson will remain at Houston and sign a contract extension after being courted by Arkansas. Buzz Williams, on the other hand, will officially move on from Virginia Tech to become the next head coach at Texas A&M.

CBI (Game 2, South Florida leads 1-0)

SOUTH FLORIDA AT DEPAUL (8:00 PM, ESPNU) – Despite being held 30 points below their average in the CBI Tournament on Monday, the Blue Demons still had a shot at extending the game to overtime after Eli Cain tied the game with under 10 seconds remaining in regulation. Alas for the Blue Demons, the Bulls’ David Collins answered with a driving shot of his own with 1.6 seconds left to give South Florida a 63-61 victory in the first game of the CBI Championship Series. USF can win the CBI with a victory tonight, but DePaul can extend the series to a third and final game with a win of their own.

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Call to the Hall: HoopsHD interview brand-new National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Famer Homer Drew

Posted on April 2, 2019 by Jon Teitel

It has certainly been an eventful couple of weeks for the Drew family: Baylor coach Scott beat Syracuse in the NCAA tourney on March 21st before losing to Gonzaga 2 days later, former Vanderbilt coach Bryce was fired on March 22nd, and earlier today former Valparaiso coach Homer was named a member of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2019. Homer made 7 NCAA tourneys during a 9-year stretch from 1996-2004 (including the 1998 Sweet 16, thanks to Bryce making 1 of the most famous shots in NCAA tourney history), won more than 600 games during his 30+ year college coaching career, and was even nominated as 1 of the 150 Most Influential Persons in Valparaiso history. Last year HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Homer about his spectacular career and is proud to present that previously unpublished interview for the very 1st time: congrats Coach!

You played basketball at William Jewell in the 1960s: how good a player were you back in the day, and how did you get into coaching? My backcourt teammate was Larry Holley, who just won his 900th game this past season at William Jewell! He was an NAIA All-American who averaged 43 PPG. We played against some amazing players such as Willis Reed (Grambling)/Lucious Jackson (Texas Pan-American). I remember driving on Lucious and he blocked my shot into the 5th row: he was the real deal. I enjoyed playing basketball and working with people to create something and compete. The best part of coaching is not the wins but working with young people who go on to have great careers whether inside or outside of basketball.

You were an assistant to Dale Brown at LSU in the 1970s: what made him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? Dale was a superb coach whose strength was in motivation: he would give a pregame pep talk to the players and it made ME want to go out there and win! He taught me how to work with people and encourage them: we are still friends to this day and he remains a great mentor. He is the big brother I never had.

Your 1st 5 years as head coach at Valparaiso resulted in a record of 36-103: how were you able to turn things around and eventually become the winningest coach in school history? When I started out they had not had a winning record in 16 years so the question was whether to go D-3 or D-1. During my 1st 3 years there was always a cloud over us, which really hurt us in recruiting. 1 of our jump-starts was when Dale came up to talk to the team/fans at a preseason banquet…and after that we had a bunch of 20-win seasons.

You were a 4-time MCC COY: what did it mean to you to win such outstanding honors? They are wonderful honors because you share them with everyone: you need a good staff and of course good players, which makes for an enjoyable year despite the peaks/valleys.

In December of 1988 you had a 3-PT OT upset of Notre Dame: how were you able to pull off “The Miracle on Union Street”? It was something that really helped us: we had a record home crowd that day. Mike Jones made a layup to tie it and then we won it in OT. It might have been the 1st ranked team that our school ever upset and it created a nice buzz on campus.

In November of 1988 your team made a D-1 record 19 threes in a win over Butler and in 1993 your team led the nation with 42.3 3P%: what is the secret to making shots from behind the arc? We had a difficult time recruiting centers so sometimes we had big men who were 6’6” but could shoot threes. We worked individually with the players and then put it into a team concept. When the opponent’s 7’ center came out to defend the arc, it created a lot of openings to attack inside. We started to finally recruit some big men, and that is when we started to have success in March.

Take me through the 1998 NCAA tourney:
Your son Bryce had 22 PTS/8 AST in a 1-PT win over Mississippi including his famous game-winning/ESPY-winning 23-footer at the buzzer called “Pacer” (named after the NBA team that you learned it from): how often did it work in practice, and how did that shot change your life (if at all)? All coaches have plays for special situations and we named them all that year after pro teams. We would only run them if there were 4 seconds or less so we would just try it once/week or so. Now you need 2-4 of them because so many games go down to the final seconds. Even when going 5-on-0 it took a lot of work for all of the passes/shot to work: it was rare that it would work in practice and we did not try it all the time. Jamie Sykes faked the pass at 1st, then completed it perfectly to Bill Jenkins, who tipped it over to Bryce. The key for Bryce is that he faked going to the ball 1 way, so when he broke the other way he had a step on the guy as he went down the sideline. It was a wonderful moment for our school.

Bryce scored 22 PTS in a 6-PT OT win over Florida State after Jenkins made the 2nd of 2 FTs at the end of regulation to send it to OT: did you think that Jenkins was going to make his final FT, and what is the key to winning close games in March? Confidence and experience. We had a group of seniors who had been to the NCAA tourney twice and lost twice so they worked all summer and were on a mission to win in the tourney. It was nip and tuck in OT but the Florida State win is often overlooked due to the heroics in the Old Miss game. We had some huge rebounds to solidify that win: it takes an entire team to win.

Prior to the 2010-11 season the floor of the Athletics-Recreation Center was officially named Homer Drew Court: where does that rank among the highlights of your career? It was a nice honor but what made it so special was that so many of my former players came back for the unveiling. They were the ones who made it all possible and it was great to reminisce with them. I had my family there, which was also very special.

More than 80 of your former players became teachers/coaches, including your sons Scott/Bryce: did you specifically try to recruit such players, or did you just have a huge impact on their lives, or other? It is impossible to know because each player has their own passions outside of basketball. Unless they could become an NBA 1st round pick, I wanted them to get their degree because it would open up opportunities for them later in life. I recruited good students who were passionate about playing basketball and a lot of those kids just gravitated toward coaching.

Several years ago you announced that both you and your wife Janet were diagnosed with cancer: how is your health doing at the moment, and what have you been up to since leaving the sideline? My health has been very good and the prostate cancer is completely in remission. My wife has been courageous in defeating breast/bladder cancer so we feel blessed each day.

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Basketball and brains: HoopsHD interviews Omaha Academic All-American Matt Pile

Posted on April 2, 2019 by Jon Teitel

You think you and your better-half got chemistry? With a 3.90 GPA in Medicinal Chemistry, Matt Pile has GOT chemistry in ways you have never dreamed of! After being named the 2017 Barry Sanders Male Athlete of the Year at Eisenhower High School, he traveled 5 hours north to college in Omaha and has played in each of his team’s 63 games during the past 2 years. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Matt about facing several NCAA tourney teams earlier this season and his Final 4 prediction.

You went to high school in Kansas: what made you choose the Mavericks? It was close to home and I wanted to be within driving distance of my family. I loved all of the coaches I met during my campus visit and the family environment here with all of the players felt like a good fit for me.

You play for 2019 Summit COY Derrin Hansen: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him? He always encourages us and stays calm during game situations. There were countless games we won down the stretch which can be credited to him for drawing up a play that was successful.

You played in all 31 games as a freshman: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? It is always hard as a freshman: the jump from high school to college is big but playing those games helped me get my feet under me and gave me confidence going into my sophomore year.

Your team was top-10 in the nation this year with 39.3 3P%: what role does the 3-PT shot play in your team’s offensive philosophy, and how do you fit into the equation when you have yet to attempt a 3 yourself? It is definitely big but it is not the only thing we rely on. We were good from the 3-PT line this year but were not dependent on it. If people find me inside and I get double-teamed then I can kick it out to 1 of our open shooters.

You played several NCAA tourney-caliber teams this year in non-conference play (including ASU/Iowa State/Minnesota/Oregon): which of them impressed you the most, and why? I think Iowa State was the toughest team we played. They are lengthy/athletic and can really shoot the ball well so they were hard to guard.

In the Summit tourney title game you had 12 PTS/14 REB in a 10-PT loss to North Dakota State: how close did you come to winning the title, and what was the feeling like in your locker room afterward? It was a really tough time in the locker room. We just became stagnant toward the end of the game and played too much 1-on-1.  We were able to tie it up after a big 1st half deficit but just could not get out of the hole that we had dug ourselves into.

How do you think that your team will do next year after losing some great seniors including Zach Jackson/Mitch Hahn? Not only were they great players but also great leaders so it will be important for our rising seniors to step up and learn from the 2 guys who we are losing.

Last month you were named Academic All-American: how do you balance your work on the court with your work in the classroom? It is definitely tough and there are some long nights but I just try to get my schoolwork done beforehand so that I can focus on basketball. Sometimes I have to play catch-up if I miss a class but it is manageable.

You have a 3.90 GPA as a Medicinal Chemistry major: why did you choose that major, and what is the post-college plan? I want to go to med school so that is the plan. Chemistry is my favorite science and I know that it will look good on my application. I enjoy chemistry more than the average person does!

You turned 20 last month: what did you do for the big day? I went out to eat with my teammates: there was nothing too crazy since it was during the week.

Any predictions for the Final 4? I really like Texas Tech: they play defense but can also score. I think that the Michigan State-Texas Tech winner will end up winning it all. It is cool to see Matt Mooney doing so well for the Red Raiders after he spent a couple of year in the Summit League.

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Remembering a Champion: HoopsHD interviews Danene Charles about her Hall of Fame sister Daedra

Posted on April 2, 2019 by Jon Teitel

The Tennessee women’s basketball program is going through some changes: after firing Coach Holly Warlick last week (who won 8 championships as an assistant to Pat Summitt), the school is rumored to be pursuing Kellie Harper (who won 3 championships as a player for Summitt) as her replacement. Today marks the 30th anniversary of 1 of the Lady Vols’ many former titles: a 76-60 win over Auburn in the 1989 NCAA title game. Not only did Daedra Charles win a title that night, she won another title 2 years later in a 70-67 OT win over Virginia. Daedra passed away in 2018 but HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel had the privilege of chatting with her sister Danene earlier this year about Daedra’s connection with Coach Summitt and her induction into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.

Her nickname was “Night Train”: who gave it to her and how did she like it? She was okay with that. I believe a coach gave her that nickname: perhaps Pat Summitt.

She was a player/assistant for Coach Summitt at Tennessee: how did she like playing/working for 1 of the greatest coaches in the history of sports? She loved it! Pat was more than a coach: she had a way of instilling family with all of the Lady Vols. They respected 1 another and our entire family was very fond of Pat. She worked for Pat because she had such a great experience playing for Pat even though she was tough. Daedra said the switch in roles was very rewarding and she was proud to do so.

1 of the moves she used as a low-post player at Tennessee was to step/fake 1 way before spinning around the other way (which former Auburn head coach Nell Fortner called the “Daedra Charles move” and taught it to her own players): how did she come up with it, and what made it so unstoppable? I just know that she was so tenacious and really embraced basketball: she wanted to be the best but also had fun. She ate/slept basketball because it was very much her life and she continued to do it for as long as she could. I know that she wanted to be unstoppable and play the game at a very high level.

In the 1989 NCAA tourney title game she helped her team beat SEC rival Auburn: what did it mean to her to win a title? That felt good. She was always very humble: she often did not even know her own stats. A lot of that had to do with being at a winning school and playing for a great coach. Pat gave her an opportunity as a Prop 48 player because she believed in her, which is more than what she would expect from a coach. That title was for the team but especially for Pat, which continued the Summitt legacy.

In the 1991 NCAA tourney title game she scored 19 PTS in a 3-PT OT win over Virginia and ended up making the All-Tourney team: how was she able to play her best when it mattered the most? The 3 D’s: determination/desire/dedication. She always wanted to win and never gave up. She could not play as a freshman but did practice with the team and kept persevering.

She was a 2-time All-American and in 1991 became the 1st SEC player to win the Wade Trophy as national POY: what did it mean to her to receive such outstanding honors? She was almost in disbelief. She never set out to win awards but just wanted to do well and honor her craft. Winning any award was just a bonus…but when she later reflected on it she was almost overwhelmed.

At the 1992 Olympics she was a member of team USA: how did she feel about representing her country/winning a bronze medal? That was awesome! For a little Black girl from the west side of Detroit, nobody in our neighborhood had done anything like that. It was very humbling for her and she felt very proud to be a female Black American from Detroit representing her country overseas.

In 2007 she was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame: where does that rank among the highlights of her career? That was important to her. We were all there with her and Pat. She had not set out to achieve that: she just wanted to be the best player she could be. It was extra-special since it was in Summitt Town in Tennessee. She was also inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame last fall.

In the 2009 NCAA tourney as an assistant to Summitt at her alma mater, the defending champs were upset by #12-seed Ball State (the 1st time Tennessee ever lost an opening-round game in the tourney): where does that rank among the most devastating losses of her career? She never liked to lose. She did not welcome defeat but was a realist who did her homework to review the game tapes and analyze what happened so she could regroup.

She passed away in 2018 at age 49: when people look back on her career, how do you think that she should be remembered the most? As someone who loved life and enjoyed the game of basketball. She was more than just a basketball player: she brought class/humility to the game. She played at the highest level and loved the game. Everything she did was about creating a sense of family/unity.

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UTR Postseason News, Notes and Highlighted Games – Tuesday, April 2

Posted on April 2, 2019 by John Stalica

For our latest Hoops HD Report podcast with special guest Jamal Murphy – CLICK HERE

For Jon Teitel’s postgame coverage of Michigan State in the East Regional – CLICK HERE

Yesterday, there was one game played across the entire college basketball landscape as the calendar shifted to April – that would be Game 1 of the CBI Championship Series between DePaul and South Florida. USF led most of the way, but a 3-pointer by Eli Cain tied the game up for DePaul with under 10 seconds remaining. David Collins hit the game-winning drive for South Florida with 1.7 seconds remaining as the Bulls take a 1-0 lead in the series with a 63-61 victory. Game 2 will be played on Wednesday at DePaul.

In terms of coaching news, the big story yesterday was that John Calipari was able to parlay an offer from UCLA into a contract extension at Kentucky that is being deemed a “lifetime” contract – he will permanently be serving as an “ambassador” for Kentucky if and when he does retire from coaching.

Another big story yesterday was Rick Byrd’s retirement at Belmont – he finished his career with 805 career victories with the Bruins and had been their only head coach since they transitioned up to Division 1. Belmont also defeated Temple in the NCAA Tournament for the Bruins’ first-ever NCAA Tournament victory back in March.

Elsewhere, Jerry Stackhouse has now emerged as the leading candidate for head coach at Vanderbilt. He hasn’t officially been named their head coach yet, but that is expected to become a formality any day now.

NIT

(6) WICHITA STATE VS (5) LIPSCOMB (7:00 PM, ESPN) – Both teams made it to Madison Square Garden without the benefit of a single home game throughout the tournament – the Shockers made it here with wins at Furman, at Clemson and at Indiana (the top 3 seeds in their subregion). Lipscomb won at Davidson, at UNC-Greensboro along with a last-second game-winner at NC State to advance to the semifinals. The Bisons’ Garrison Matthews may well be the best overall player remaining in the NIT.

(2) TEXAS VS (1) TEXAS CHRISTIAN (approx. 9:30 PM, ESPN) – Both Gregg Marshall (Wichita State) and Jamie Dixon (TCU) have won the NIT title as head coach at their current schools; Dixon will be looking for the rare and somewhat dubious distinction of a second title with a pair of wins this week. Texas finally won a breather against Colorado after a pair of tightrope victories against South Dakota State and Xavier.

CIT

HAMPTON AT MARSHALL (7:00 PM, WatchCIT.com) – Hampton advanced to the CIT semifinals for the first time with a decisive win against NJIT last Thursday night; Marshall has had a week to rest after their quarterfinal win against Presbyterian last Tuesday. Marshall is also the only team that had a bye in the 2nd round (as one of the top 3 seeds) to still remain in the tournament.

TEXAS SOUTHERN AT GREEN BAY (9:00 PM, WatchCIT.com) – Texas Southern has not only had to win three games on the road just to advance to the semifinals of the CIT, but they’ve also had to go to overtime in two of those games, including a triple-overtime affair in their last game at Louisiana-Monroe last Thursday. Green Bay has ridden the hot hand of Sandy Cohen III to 3 home victories so far in the postseason, but they will have a tall order if they wish to advance to the CIT Championship game on Thursday night.

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