Under The Radar Game of the Day: Radford at Campbell

Posted on March 2, 2019 by John Stalica

For today’s News, Notes and Highlighted Games – CLICK HERE

For Jon Teitel’s interview with Historical Basketball League CEO/Co-Founder Ricky Volante – CLICK HERE

Radford (20-9, 12-3 Big South) at Campbell (18-11, 11-4 Big South) – 2:00 PM EST (ESPN3)

Today’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to Buies Creek, North Carolina – home of the Campbell Fighting Camels. They will play host to the Radford Highlanders in a game that will determine the #1 seed in the conference and home court advantage during the conference tournament. Campbell won the first meeting in Radford 68-67; in that game, Chris Clemons scored 39 points and hit the game-winning 3-point shot as time expired. As for the remainder of conference play. only Winthrop has managed to win on Campbell’s home floor.

Radford currently leads the conference by a full game, but because of the aforementioned loss against Campbell, today becomes winner-take-all for home-court implications until at least the semifinal round (the highest remaining seed would actually host the Big South Championship). The Highlanders started 10-1 in conference play, but two losses in their last four games (at Charleston Southern and at home against Hampton) have put them in today’s position. Ed Polite Jr. averages 13.5 PPG and 9.9 RPG for the Highlanders.

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Saturday, Mar 2nd

Posted on March 2, 2019 by David Griggs

SURVIVAL BOARD UPDATE (click here to view)

-New Hampshire out with a loss at UMBC

-Denver out with a home loss to Omaha OR a Western Illinois win at South Dakota State.  If Denver wins and WIU loses, WIU is out instead.

-Columbia is out with a loss at Yale

-Two of UT-Martin, SIUE, Eastern Kentucky or Tennessee State will be eliminated in the OVC.  The tiebreakers make my head hurt bad to even look at, so just check back after all OVC games are done Saturday night.  The only one thing that is certain is that the loser of today’s Tennessee State at UT-Martin game is out.  The winner could, however, be out as well.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-MICHIGAN STATE AT INDIANA (Big Ten).  This game is intriguing for a couple reasons.  Michigan State is still in contention for a #1 seed, and one of the two games that Indiana has won since January 3rd was at Michigan State.

-LSU AT ALABAMA (SEC).  Alabama is a bubble team who gets to host LSU, who is a likely protected seed.  It’s a huge opportunity for the Tide to really help boost their resume.

-KANSAS AT OKLAHOMA STATE (Big 12).  With so few road wins, this is low hanging fruit that Kansas simply must be able to pick up.  They’ve won just two true road games, and if they can’t beat a team that’s as far outside the NIT as Oklahoma State appears to be, then it’s a huge problem for them ending up as a protected seed.  Then again, they’re just one game out of first place.

-NC STATE AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC).  To say that NC State’s profile is flimsy is like saying Duke’s profile is good.  There just isn’t a whole lot there, and they could REALLY use a in like this, on the road, against a really good team.  I still think Florida State could end up as a protected seed, but they need a strong finish.

-PENN STATE AT WISCONSIN (Big Ten).  Wisky is cruising into the NCAA Tournament and is basically just playing for seeding the rest of the way.

-OLE MISS AT ARKANSAS (SEC).  Ole Miss should land in the NCAA Tournament barring a ridiculous collapse, and will likely end up wearing white in the Round of 64.  This isn’t the easiest road game to win, but they’re certainly capable of doing it, and even if they don’t they’re still in relatively good shape.

-PITTSBURGH AT VIRGINIA (ACC).  Virginia will in all likelihood end up as a #1 seed.  They haven’t lost to anyone outside of Duke and that isn’t likely to change today.

-KENTUCKY AT TENNESSEE (SEC).  If Kentucky can win this one, I don’t see how they fall off the #1 line even if they go out early in the SEC Tournament.  It would be their best win of the year on paper.  It goes without saying that it won’t be easy.  Tennessee will have a ton of energy behind them, and they also still have hopes of landing on the #1 line.

-OHIO STATE AT PURDUE (Big Ten).  Ohio State is coming off a blowout win against Iowa, which certainly helped their confidence as well as their profile.  They have a tough road game today against a Purdue team that’s on pace to end up as a protected seed.

-WOFFORD AT SAMFORD (SoCon).  If Wofford wins this one, I think they’re in the NCAAs regardless of what happens in the SoCon Tournament next week.

-BUTLER AT VILLANOVA (Big East).  Nova seems to have righted their ship after picking up a big win against Marquette.  They need to hold serve at home today in order to keep their resume from collapsing.  I think they’re pretty much a lock and are just playing for seeding at this point, but it’s still important that they finish strong.

-IOWA STATE AT TEXAS (Big 12).  This is a hugely important game for Texas.  The Horns have some great wins, and they’ve played a tough schedule, but they also have a lot of head-scratching losses and an overall record that would be a near historic low for an NCAA Tournament team.  This game has a very pivotal feel to it.  It’s also important to Iowa State, who still has a path to a protected seed if they can pick up some more solid wins between now and the end.

-WEST VIRGINIA AT OKLAHOMA (Big 12).  There are games that are big because they’re opportunities at big wins, and then there are games that are big because they would be damaging losses.  This is the latter for Oklahoma.

-MIAMI FL AT DUKE (ACC).  Duke is the best team in the country when they’re at full strength, but even if they’re not at full strength they should be able to win this game.  Losing at Virginia Tech without a key player isn’t damaging.  Losing at home to Miami, with or without a key player, is rather damaging by #1 seed standards.

-UCF AT HOUSTON (American).  The rest of the staff likes UCF more than I do.  If UCF can win this game, I will totally concede the point.  This is a game that would put them in the field.  As for Houston, they are good enough to win out, and if they do I can’t see them doing any worse than a #2 seed.

-TEXAS TECH AT TCU (Big 12).  This is a big game for both teams who are in very different places.  Texas Tech is on the fringe of getting a protected seed and could use a nice road win.  TCU is right on the bubble, and could use a win, period.

-MISSISSIPPI STATE AT AUBURN (SEC).  Both teams are likely tournament teams, but both resumes have a lot of room for improvement.  Auburn basically has a smattering of decent wins but no really good ones, and Mississippi State has a few good wins but would certainly look a lot better with a road win like this one.

-VCU AT RICHMOND (Atlantic Ten).  We’ve been saying this for a while, but if VCU wins out they should make the field even if they don’t win the conference tournament.

-RUTGERS AT IOWA (Big Ten).  This should be a winnable home game for Iowa.  Then again it took a lucky shot at the buzzer to win it for them the first time these two played.  Iowa will also be without their coach, which really shouldn’t hurt them too badly.

-NORTH CAROLINA AT CLEMSON (ACC).  North Carolina looks to be destined for the #2 line, but still has a path to a #1 if they can win out and win the conference tournament, which isn’t impossible. Clemson is right on the bubble and a win like this could go a long way in them landing on the right side of the fence.

-AIR FORCE AT WYOMING (Mountain West) (Front Range).  We at Hoops HD Love the…..next game…

-SETON HALL AT GEORGETOWN (Big East).  Seton Hall has some really big wins, but some really questionable losses.  They should make the field, but they could use some stabilization to get them there, and a road win like this would really help.

-BAYLOR AT KANSAS STATE (Big 12).  K State is in first place and in contention for a protected seed.  Baylor is on pace to land in the top half of the bracket.  Both teams are pretty much just playing for seeding at this point.  We haven’t locked Baylor in just yet, but they’re virtually locked in.  They’d pretty much have to lose all their remaining games to miss the field.

-MEMPHIS AT CINCINNATI (American).  Cincinnati may be the quietest 24-4 team from a multi-bid league in the entire history of college basketball.  Memphis has been playing a lot better so the Bearcats don’t want to overlook them, but they’re on pace to land in the top half of the bracket and do more in the NCAA Tournament than just have a cup of coffee.

-NEVADA AT UTAH STATE (Mountain West).  If Utah State can win this game, then I think they make the NCAA Tournament.  If they don’t, then they’ll need to win the Mountain West Tourney.  Nevada is just playing for seeding at this point.

-GEORGIA AT FLORIDA (SEC).  We now have Florida inside our bubble, and as long as they can hold serve in games like this they should make the field.  They’ll chances at big wins between now and the end to help boost their resume even more.

-GONZAGA AT SAINT MARY’S (West Coast).  This is a big rivalry, but this year it appears to be an even bigger mismatch.  Gonzaga crushed them in the first game and despite being on the road it could end up being very much the same result tonight.  SMC is 14-2 at home, and they do have a Net that’s in the top 40.  If they were to somehow win this game it would get the committee’s attention, and it may earn them some serious consideration, but without it I just don’t think there’s enough there for the Gaels.

UNDER THE RADAR

-ARMY AT BUCKNELL (Patriot League).  There is a three way tie for first place in the PL.  Bucknell could end up with home court advantage all the way through, or they could end up only getting to host a quarterfinal game.

-COLGATE AT LAFAYETTE (Patriot League).  Colgate is another team that’s locked into that tie.

-NORTHERN KENTUCKY AT GREEN BAY (Horizon League).  NKU is tied with Wright State for first place.

-FURMAN AT CHATTANOOGA (SoCon).  We have Furman on the bubble.  If they can win this and win a couple of games in the SoCon Tournament I think the committee will take a serious look at them.

-RADFORD AT CAMPBELL (Big South).  HUGE game.  These are the top two teams and the winner gets home court advantage in the conference tournament.

-NEW MEXICO STATE AT CHICAGO STATE (WAC).  New Mexico State has already clinched first place, and will face their quarterfinal opponent this afternoon.

-HOFSTRA AT DELAWARE (Colonial).  If Hofstra wins they are the outright first place team.

-UNC GREENSBORO AT MERCER (SoCon).  UNCG may get a look from the committee if they win this game and play their way into the SoCon championship game, but chances are they’ll need the auto bid.

-WESTERN ILLINOIS AT SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (Summit League).  If South Dakota State wins they clinch first place outright.

-BRADLEY AT LOYOLA CHICAGO (Missouri Valley).  Loyola is tied with Drake.  A win gets them at least a share of first place.

-HOWARD AT SAVANNAH STATE (MEAC).  Savannah State is looking to finish their final season at the div1 level strongly.

-COPPIN STATE AT NORFOLK STATE (MEAC).  If Norfolk State wins then they clinch at least a share of first place.

-PRAIRIE VIEW AT ALABAMA A&M (SWAC).  Prairie View has a two game lead with four games to go.

-COLUMBIA AT YALE (Ivy League).  Going into Friday at the time this is being written, Yale has a one game lead with just four games to go.  Depending on how things play out they could be clinching at least a share of first place today.

-STONY BROOK AT VERMONT (America East).  These are the top two teams, one game separates the two, and Stony Brook holds the tiebreaker.  The winner of this game will, in all likelihood, clinch home court advantage throughout the entire conference tournament.  If Vermont wins, then they win the league outright.

-TEXAS STATE AT SOUTH ALABAMA (Sun Belt).  Texas State has a one game lead in the standings with just two games to go.  A win clinches at least a share of first place.

-UC IRVINE AT UC RIVERSIDE (Big West) (RiverVine Cup).  A win for UC Irvine clinches an outright first place finish.

-BELMONT AT SEMO (Ohio Valley).  Belmont is on the fringe of the bubble and should have a chance if they win this game and their first conference tournament game.

-AUSTIN PEAY AT MURRAY STATE (Ohio Valley).  Murray State locks up a bye into the semifinals with a win.

-SOUTHERN UTAH AT MONTANA (Big Sky).  Montana is trying to hold on to a one game lead with four games to go.

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This could be Historic: HoopsHD interviews Historical Basketball League CEO/Co-Founder Ricky Volante

Posted on March 1, 2019 by Jon Teitel

For Today’s UTR Game of the Day, as well as the daily News and Notes – CLICK HERE

CLICK HERE for our latest Hoops HD Bracket Rundown

Even as we enter the greatest month of the college basketball year there is still plenty of drama to deal with. On the court recently we have seen a coach cussing out the refs, games being decided by stuffed animals thrown onto the court, and Cal actually win a game. Off the court we have seen a Hall of Fame coach accidentally kill a guy, 2 other coaches facing subpoenas in the FBI corruption case, and the Ivy League refusing to let the Palestra host the Ivy tourney for the foreseeable future. I do not know if anyone can save this sport but 1 man who wants to offer other options is Ricky Volante, CEO/Co-Founder of the Historical Basketball League. The HBL is a new league that plans to give college basketball players the chance to receive some financial benefits/economic freedom by getting paid to play basketball during the summer while also receiving a scholarship to attend college during the fall/spring. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Mr. Volante yesterday about how the league came about and his vision for the HBL’s inaugural season in 2020.

Your day job is as an attorney who focuses on legal issues related to professional/amateur sports: what is your favorite case that you have worked on so far? I generally work in sports/film/music but my practice is mostly on the transactional side. There have been a few interesting transactions I have done: I was representing 1 of the best CrossFit athletes in the world and had to work on the breakup with his agent. So much of it had been done on handshakes/verbal agreements that we had to walk back the past 5 years of life to figure out what had happened.

You are also an Adjunct Professor at the Harvard Extension School and Case Western Reserve University School of Law, where you teach a variety of classes: what are some of the keys to “Representing the Professional Athlete”? We focus on the 4 stages: pre-professional, early team-controlled years, mature free agent years, and retirement. We look at how everyone should interact with each other and the importance of having a financial planner. The key is to be as prepared as possible and keep your athlete from exposure in a negative way. You need both short-term benefits and a long-term vision.

What does David West bring to the table as COO of the HBL? He is heading up a number of initiatives at the moment: 1st and foremost is identifying players for the summer of 2020. He is also engaging the basketball community: his word carries a lot of weight due to his reputation as a “pro’s pro”. He gives more structure to our approach on the basketball side of things. He was the 99th ranked prospect in his own state coming out of high school, but then became national POY at Xavier and a 15-year NBA veteran. David can look at a young player and understand what it takes for them to be successful in the NBA, which is something that even some of the best college coaches in the country cannot.

How did co-founder Andy Schwarz’s consulting work for the plaintiffs on the Ed O’Bannon lawsuit against the NCAA lead to his involvement with the new league? It absolutely did. He was the non-testifying expert in the White v. NCAA case before getting involved in the O’Bannon case. He looks at it purely as an economist and tries to figure out how to break up the monopoly of the NCAA. Litigation was not providing wholesale changes: it was just chipping away pieces of it. He is 1 of the 2 citizen co-signers of a legislative bill in California regarding the payment of college athletes but it is a slow drawn-out process. We got connected around the time that the O’Bannon case was wrapping up and now we have the HBL.

Why are you specifically focused on HBCU schools, and what kind of backlash do you expect from North Carolina A&T season ticket holders/Florida A&M basketball coaches/etc.? We have pivoted away from the HBCU-exclusive model. We were going to start club teams on HBCU campuses but we experienced some of the resistance that you mentioned. Now our teams are entirely independent of the traditional model but the tie-in is that all of our players have to be bona fide college students. We have several teams located near HBCU campuses but there is no direct link.

Why do you want a league that pays college athletes, and do you really think that an 18-year-old kid who makes $150,000/summer is going to spend the majority of his year in a classroom? We think it is the right model because it is fair/equitable. There is no other profession in the US where we tell 18-year-olds who want to get paid for their work that they have to go overseas. The original mission statement of the NCAA was to protect student-athletes…but that was back in 1906! We do want them to be successful as both a student and an athlete. While there are a number of guys who might choose not to attend school in the fall/spring, there are only 10-15 guys every year who are 1-and-done so the overall percentage will be 10% of the league at the very most. The majority of our guys will be excited for the athletic/academic opportunity.

Why will your athletes need a 5-year scholarship if they are raking in the dough every year? We are providing the scholarships to them because the basic essence of receiving fair value for your services is a good idea in a perfect world. If you are a computer science student and can run/sell a company as a result of an app that you created, that is great…but athletes should not be treated any differently. We do not require them to attend a 4-year school: they can do a 2-year school, an online program, etc. If a player is interested in film, he can attend a film school instead of a traditional college.

How will viewers be able to follow the action if you do not sign a traditional broadcasting deal, and is the fact that you will offer your games via a streaming service mean that you are targeting younger viewers? This is not a hard/fast rule but generally if you are over 40 years old you value the institution more than the player. That group of people will be hard for us to get because we do not have institutional involvement, but viewers under age 40 do not place as significant a value on the school as on the individual. You see it in the NBA: if a star player changes teams than many fans will follow the player to his new team so millenials will be easier to convince. We are focused on having a streaming agreement for our league-wide deal and are also exploring local regional sports networks for each market.

How did you pick the cities for the inaugural season, and why are you going with NBA rules rather than college/other rules? There were several factors: high-density areas so that players have the maximum # of choices, cities where 18-year-olds would enjoy living, and places with marketability for corporate sponsors/partners. To a lesser extent we tried to pick up-and-coming cities that were not over-saturated with pro sports (like Austin/Richmond, compared to a place like Dallas). 1 of our biggest criticisms in terms of player development is that NBA teams have to guess if a college player can run a 24-second offense or has the skill-set to make a 3-PT shot from NBA range. We want our players to be prepared for the NBA as well as possible and David understands how to best prepare them to take that next step. It is a really timely question: Sports Illustrated’s recent mock draft includes Nassir Little of UNC, who started the year in the top-4 but has since dropped to around #8. The comments regarding his drop were that his skill-set did not translate well into the college game, which makes no sense because the NBA only cares whether his skill-set is developed for pro basketball!

What are the biggest differences between your league and the G League, and what kind of response do you expect from the NCAA either in the courtroom or on the court? We get asked about the G League a lot. From our standpoint, my understanding is that they will only offer a few select contracts on an annual basis, with everyone else getting around $36,000/year. We might be competing with them for a handful of players, but on the whole we are focused on a larger pool of players who might not reach the NBA in the long run because there are only so many available spots. We will start with 120-144 players but what we are doing is complementary to the NBA as we prepare players to take the next step. That argument goes totally out the window with the NCAA, as there will be considerable overlap/competition between them and us. However, as an attorney I am hard-pressed to find any angle they can take against us. We have been very methodical with our model to avoid any legal action: in the long run I think that it will simply come down to who has the better offer to make to players.

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Under The Radar Game of the Day: Iona at Rider (and other News and Notes)

Posted on March 1, 2019 by John Stalica

For last night’s Bracket Rundown podcast – CLICK HERE

SURVIVAL BOARD UPDATES (click here to view)

-STETSON AT KENNESAW STATE (Atlantic Sun).  This is a virtual 8vs9 game.  The loser is eliminated.

-Columbia will be out if they lose to Brown and Cornell wins (Ivy League)

-Dartmouth will be out if they lose at home to Princeton, and Brown wins at Columbia, and Cornell wins at Yale

For Jon Teitel’s interview with Ron Rainey about Hall of Fame head coach Bo Ryan – CLICK HERE

Iona (13-15, 11-6 MAAC) at Rider (15-13, 10-6 MAAC) – 7:00 PM EST (ESPN+)

Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to Lawrenceville, New Jersey – home of the hot-and-cold Rider Broncs. They will play host to the Iona Gaels in a matchup of MAAC teams tied in the loss column in the league standings. Rider started 7-1 in conference play before an inexplicable five-game losing streak that opened up the conference race. Since then, the Broncs have won three straight games. Stevie Jordan leads Rider with 12.4 points per game and 4.3 assists per game.

Iona is one of a handful of teams that took advantage of Rider’s midseason troubles; the Gaels are a half-game ahead of Rider, Quinnipiac and Siena going into tonight’s games. Tonight is the regular-season finale for Iona. They are on a six game winning streak that includes wins against Quinnipiac and Canisius. They also beat Rider 77-71 at home earlier in the season. Rickey McGill averages 15.6 points per game and 5.2 assists per game; EJ Crawford leads the Gaels with 17.7 points a game.

NEWS AND NOTES

-So going into last night, Washington’s NET was 32 and Cal’s was 253.  Stephen F Austin’s win over Baylor is still the biggest upset of the season in terms of how far apart the two teams are in the rankings, but this is now second, and I believe it is just the second game where a team was 200+ spots ahead of their opponents and lost.  If I’m wrong on that then the Hoops HD fact checkers will correct me.  I know that an upset like this isn’t as important or noticeable as UMBC’s win over Virginia last year, but in terms of how far apart the two teams were, it’s actually a bigger upset.  MUCH bigger!  This CRUSHES Washington’s resume.  The best thing they had going for them was that they had a smattering of decent wins and no bad losses.  Well, that’s out the window!  I still think they get in, but WOW that was bad!!

-Xavier has now won five straight with their win at Saint John’s last night.  They have followed up a six game losing streak with a five game wining steak, and can actually play their way onto the committee’s board if they keep it up.  They may be there already.

-Minnesota picked up a road win at Northwestern, which may not sound like that big of a deal, but since it was only their second true road win, it was a big deal in the sense that a loss would have been really crushing for the Gophers.

-I am now off the Oregon State bandwagon.  They lost at the buzzer to Arizona last night, and I now believe they need to win the Pac Twelve Tournament to make the field.

-Arizona State was blown out at Oregon by 28 points.  This is not at all surprising.  Had Arizona State won by 28 points, it would not have been a surprise either.  They are right on the bubble, and it will make for a fascinating discussion given how schizophrenic their team is.

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Hoops HD Bracket Rundown: February 28th

Posted on March 1, 2019 by David Griggs

This was recorded on Thursday, February 28th at 10PM EST.  None of the games that went final after that time are reflected in the show, the seedlist, or the bracket – most notably, losses by Arizona State and Washington were not considered.

This is a CHECKPOINT of what we think the NCAA Tournament SHOULD look like if the season ended TODAY.  This is not an attempt to guess what the actual committee will do on Selection Sunday

Chad arbitrates as the Hoops HD Staff builds a seed list line by line and discusses, debates, assesses, and sometimes argues about each team as they go down the list.

Below is the bracket of the seed list, but do not look at it until you’ve watched the show!!

 

And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…

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Happy Tourney-versary!: HoopsHD interviews Ron Rainey about Bo Ryan

Posted on February 28, 2019 by Jon Teitel

With the 2019 NCAA tourney tipping off next month, we will spend this month taking a walk down memory lane with a choice collection of players/coaches who are celebrating an awesome anniversary this year. From a comeback win to clinch the 1954 tourney title (65th anniversary) through a last-second loss in the 2014 Final 4 (5th anniversary), these legends have all carved out a little piece of history in past Marches. We conclude our series with Ron Rainey, who coached Bo Ryan in both high school/college and later worked for him at Wisconsin-Platteville. Ryan won everywhere he coached throughout the state of Wisconsin: 4 D-3 championships in a 9-year stretch at Platteville, then back-to-back winning seasons at Milwaukee, followed by 14 straight NCAA tourneys at Wisconsin. In 2017 he was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Rainey about the 5th anniversary of his 2014 NCAA tourney run to the Final 4 as well as what it was like to coach him.

Bo’s father Butch coached youth sports to under-privileged children in Chester, PA: how much of an influence was his father on him either on or off the court? I am sure that he had a great influence. I think that Butch wanted Bo to be a coach as well. I had Bo for 3 years in high school and 4 years in college: when he played for me he was like my coach out on the floor.

As head coach at Wisconsin–Platteville he went 352–76 and won 4 D-3 national titles in a 9-year span from 1991-1999 (the last 1 being a 1-PT 2-OT win over Hampden-Sydney in 1999): how was he able to dominate the sport for an entire decade? He was an excellent recruiter and got such a great reputation early on that people wanted to play for him. He built up the program at 1st and then was phenomenal with not too many losses (including undefeated seasons in 1995 & 1998).

In 1997 his team set a D-3 defensive record by only allowing 47.5 PPG: what made him such a great defensive coach? He paid attention to all of the details. From Day 1 to the end of the season we worked on how to play defense. Even if you scored 25 PPG you still had to play defense if you wanted to play.

Wisconsin had only been to 7 NCAA tourneys before hiring Ryan in 2001, then made 14 in a row during each of Ryan’s 14 full seasons (including all four 30-win seasons in school history): how was he able to make such a smooth transition from D-3 to D-1? I think that his main goal was to eventually get to Wisconsin but they did not want to take him straight from a D-3 school. He was successful at Milwaukee (his 1st D-1 school) so he proved everyone wrong before getting the job with the Badgers.

He was a 4-time Big-10 COY and was named national COY in 2008: what did it mean to him to receive such outstanding honors? He was always of the mindset that the players did the hard work and he was just guiding them.

In the 2014 Final 4 Aaron Harrison scored 8 PTS including a 3-PT shot with 5.7 seconds left in a 1-PT win by Kentucky: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of his career? He took wins and defeats the same: he was the same guy after a big win or a big loss and just wanted to do his teaching. Then again, he did not lose too many games! He never screamed/hollered because it was all about the team.

Take me through the 2015 Final 4:
In the semifinal rematch against the Wildcats, Frank Kaminsky had 20 PTS/11 REB in a 7-PT win: how were they able to beat a 38-0 Kentucky team, and do you think that we will ever see another undefeated champion? With the way scheduling goes now where all the good teams play each other I do not think that we will see another undefeated team: just look at Gonzaga playing at North Carolina in December. In the preparation for the Kentucky game he never mentioned the 38-0 part: it was just another game and they focused on team defense because anyone can win on any night. They knew what they had to do and the players just had to perform.

In the title game Tyus Jones scored 23 PTS in a 5-PT win by Duke: how close did he come to winning a title? Very close. There were a couple of calls at the end of the game that were instrumental to the outcome but those things happen. The players were more upset about the loss than he was. What people do not realize is that after they beat Kentucky late on Saturday in a difficult game, they did not get back to their hotel rooms until 2 or 3AM. It is not an excuse: just how the schedule worked out.

His 371 wins remain the most in school history: did you realize at the time how prolific a coach he was, and do you think that anyone will ever break his record? I knew how prolific he was even back at Platteville: he won 4 national titles! I wonder how many D-3 coaches have won 4 titles. Then again, his replacement at Wisconsin (Greg Gard) has gotten off to a great start and might do that himself.  They do some different things now on offense but defensively they are very similar coaches: it is almost like there was not much of a change.

In 2017 he was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame: where does that rank among the highlights of his career? It has to be right at the top and he definitely deserved it.

When people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? As 1 of the top college coaches in the country. I am not into rankings but he accomplished so much.

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