Bracketology 2019: March Madness Predictions (Version 7.0)

Posted on February 17, 2019 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for today’s News, Notes, and Highlighted Games

We are only 4 weeks away from Selection Sunday as we continue to make our NCAA tourney predictions. Last March HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel correctly picked 66 of the 68 teams that made the tourney, 65 of which were within 1 spot of their actual seed, including 42 right on the money. He will spend the upcoming weeks predicting which 68 teams will hear their names called on March 17th. See below for his list of who would make the cut if they picked the field today and if you agree or disagree then feel free to tweet us. To see how we stack up with other websites (ranked 9th out of 127 entries over the past 5 years), check out: www.bracketmatrix.com

SEED: TEAM (CONFERENCE)
1: Duke (ACC)
1: Virginia (ACC)
1: Tennessee (SEC)
1: Gonzaga (WCC)

2: Kentucky (SEC)
2: Michigan State (Big 10)
2: Michigan (Big 10)
2: North Carolina (ACC)

3: Kansas (Big 12)
3: Houston (AAC)
3: Marquette (Big East)
3: Purdue (Big 10)

4: LSU (SEC)
4: Nevada (MWC)
4: Texas Tech (Big 12)
4: Louisville (ACC)

5: Villanova (Big East)
5: Wisconsin (Big 10)
5: Iowa State (Big 12)
5: Kansas State (Big 12)

6: Maryland (Big 10)
6: Virginia Tech (ACC)
6: Florida State (ACC)
6: Iowa (Big 10)

7: Mississippi State (SEC)
7: Cincinnati (AAC)
7: Buffalo (MAC)
7: Washington (Pac-12)

8: Mississippi (SEC)
8: Baylor (Big 12)
8: Auburn (SEC)
8: TCU (Big 12)

9: Ohio State (Big 10)
9: Texas (Big 12)
9: Syracuse (ACC)
9: St. John’s (Big East)

10: NC State (ACC)
10: Wofford (SoCon)
10: Alabama (SEC)
10: Oklahoma (Big 12)

11: Minnesota (Big 10)
11: VCU (A-10)
11: Seton Hall (Big East)
11: UCF (AAC)

12: Clemson (ACC)
12: Arizona State (Pac-12)
12: Lipscomb (Atlantic Sun)
12: Indiana (Big 10)
12: Temple (AAC)
12: Murray State (OVC)

13: New Mexico State (WAC)
13: Hofstra (CAA)
13: Yale (Ivy)
13: Vermont (America East)

14: Old Dominion (C-USA)
14: UC Irvine (Big West)
14: South Dakota State (Summit)
14: Northern Kentucky (Horizon)

15: Texas State (Sun Belt)
15: Radford (Big South)
15: Loyola-Chicago (MVC)
15: Montana (Big Sky)

16: Bucknell (Patriot)
16: Sam Houston State (Southland)
16: Norfolk State (MEAC)
16: Prairie View (SWAC)
16: St. Francis PA (NEC)
16: Monmouth (MAAC)

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Sunday, Feb 17th

Posted on February 17, 2019 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

-The game that most people were most looking forward to was pretty good for a half, and then blown open at the beginning of the second half.  Kentucky just blew Tennessee’s doors off, and even though it was a home game it was still one of the more impressive showings we’ve seen out of any team this year.  Tennessee could still end up on the #1 line, and they will face Kentucky at least once more prior to Selection Sunday, but the cement isn’t dry on their #1 seed just yet.

-Michigan pulled off a rather decisive and impressive win against Maryland.  I’d say they’re over their little stumble against Penn State from earlier in the week.

-Texas Tech absolutely blitzed Baylor.  It’s not surprising that they won, but it is a little shocking that they blew them off the court, even though they were at home.  I’d say Texas Tech is now playing like a protected seed, and their remaining games give them a pathway to it.

-You could not have scripted a more fitting ending to a game being played between Louisville and Clemson than the one we saw yesterday.  Clemson has a history of losing heartbreakers, and Louisville has a sudden proneness to blowing leads.  Louisville led by 7 with less than a minute to go, and after several mistakes Clemson ended up with a last second shot that would have won them the game, but missed it.  Like I said…so fitting for both teams!.  On paper it’s a nice win for Louisville, but they need to figure out how to navigate the last few minutes of a basketball game.  And Clemson…just needs some better luck!

-Iowa State was another team that was just unbelievably impressive yesterday.  They went into Kansas State and basically had a comfortable lead from tip to buzzer.  I think this Iowa State team is a protected seed caliber team.  I hope others will start to come around to that after yesterday’s performance.

-LSU followed up their huge win at Kentucky with a near road loss at Georgia, but managed to hold on.

-Iowa was down 2 at Rutgers and threw up a desperation shot from the corner that was well defended.  The shot was so bad and so off the mark that it grazed the backboard….and then went in.  They escaped what would have been a somewhat damaging loss and ended up with another road win.

-Oklahoma finally pulled themselves out of their tailspin with a decisive win at TCU.  TCU has a win at Iowa State, but not much else.  I think they still have some work to do if they want to safely make the field.  That goes for Oklahoma as well, who is still 5 games below 500 in league play.

-Alabama, who is on the bubble, lost big at home to Florida, who isn’t.  That’s not a good loss.

-Indiana lost again.  They are now just 4-10 in Big Ten play and have lost 10 of their last 11.  At what point do we finally decide they’re not an NCAA Tournament team?

-VCU blew open a big lead against Dayton, then blew the lead, but managed to hold on for a one point win.  If any team out of the A10 is going to land inside the bubble, it’s VCU.

-Temple held on for a one point overtime win at South Florida.  They are squarely on the bubble, so every game they play has a pivotal feel for it.  South Florida isn’t a tournament team, but they’re still decent and the Owls should get some credit from the committee for beating them on the road.

-Wofford blew out UNC Greensboro, who some felt was the second best team in the SoCon.  The Terriers have clinched first place in the conference, and with three games remaining I think they’ll be inside the bubble and make the NCAAs no matter what happens in the conference tournament if they’re able to win two of them.

-Washington trailed Washington State for most of the game, and seemed to be heading toward a loss that would crush their resume, which is already a little flimsy, but they got the lead in the final minutes and held on to win 72-70

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-OHIO STATE AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten).  Ohio State is coming off a somewhat surprising loss to Illinois, and although they’re still reasonably safe they are below 500 in league play and aren’t likely to win today, so that sense of urgency should be going up a little bit.  Michigan State is still on pace to land in the top two lines barring a collapse.

-WICHITA STATE AT CINCINNATI (American).  Cincinnati should land in the top half of the bracket so long as they’re able to hold serve the rest of the way, and that of course means winning at home against non-tournament caliber teams.

-HOUSTON AT TULANE (American).  This is a huge mismatch between a Houston team that will likely end up as a protected seed, and a Tulane team that’s winless in conference play.

-SETON HALL AT CREIGHTON (Big East).  Seton Hall seems to have fixed whatever was wrong.  This one won’t be easy given that it’s a road game, but if they were to pull it off they’d be 4-1 in their last five games, above 500 in the conference, and pick up their 3rd true road win.

-VILLANOVA AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East).  This is a fun match up between a Villanova team that’s in first place and who’s only league loss came after a missed shot at the buzzer that would have won them the game at Marquette.  The Johnnies also have some really big wins, but they don’t always play up to their ceiling.  I bet they are jacked for today’s game, though, and it should be fun.

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Happy Tourney-versary!: HoopsHD interviews Coach Lee Rose

Posted on February 16, 2019 by Jon Teitel

For Today’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE

For a rundown of all of today’s college hoops action – CLICK HERE

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 continue our series with Lee Rose, who by any other name showed that Transylvania (University) is not such a scary place. After serving as both a player/coach for the Pioneers he commenced an amazing 5-year postseason run at 2 other schools: 1976 NIT runner-up and 1977 NCAA Final 4 as head coach at Charlotte, followed by 1979 NIT runner-up and 1980 NCAA Final 4 as head coach at Purdue. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Rose about the 40th anniversary of his 1979 NIT run all the way to the title game and working for a pair of Hall of Famers in the NBA.

At Transylvania University you played for Hall of Famer CM Newton and after graduation you served as his assistant: what made him such a good coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? There were a lot of things that made him a good coach. He played on a national title team at Kentucky: I lived in Lexington and was a very big fan. My brother played with CM in high school in Ft. Lauderdale and won a title with him. He was a fan of Coach Adolph Rupp’s philosophy: good guard play, fast-break basketball, and preparation. I learned to be decisive and recruit athletes who would graduate.

Take me through the 1976 NIT as head coach/AD at Charlotte:
Cedric Maxwell scored 27 PTS and made as many FTs as the entire opposing team (13) in a 1-PT win over NC State: how were you able to survive the Wolfpack getting several good looks at the basket in the final 10 seconds? I did not survive: I died right there! We were only able to schedule a few ACC teams when I was at Charlotte and we had lost a close game to the Wolfpack earlier that season. I thought it might be deja vu, but they did not go in and it was a big win for us.

Maxwell had 24 PTS/11 REB en route to being named NIT MVP despite a 4-PT loss to Kentucky in the title game: do you think that you would have won if Coach Joe B. Hall had not switched to a 1-3-1 zone defense in the final few minutes? It might have been a good defensive ploy but our biggest problem was that our starting PG Bobby Ball could not play due to a bad back. Our backup PG turned his ankle in the final minute of the NC State game so we had to convert Melvin Watkins into a PG for the Kentucky game. When you have a young program you do not have as much depth as the major teams that contend for titles every season. Give Kentucky credit, but I had more things to worry about than their zone defense. Melvin is now an assistant coach at Arkansas.

In 1977 the Sporting News named you national COY: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding individual honor? It was a very high honor but I do not know how they pick people for those things. I was pleased/gratified.

Take me through the 1977 NCAA tourney:
Maxwell had 32 PTS/18 REB in a 5-PT OT win over Central Michigan in Bloomington: did you have a home-court advantage or were the Hoosier faithful rooting against you? I never felt that we had a home court advantage in the regional. They had a few shots at the end that rolled off: I am not a great coach in the final 10 seconds of a game.

Chad Kinch scored 11 PTS in a 7-PT win over top-ranked Michigan: where does Kinch’s dunk over Phil Hubbard rank among the best you have ever seen? When you include the significance of the game it is definitely the best dunk that any of my players ever had: it was a spectacular play.

Jerome Whitehead had 21 PTS/16 REB and made a tip-in at the buzzer in a 2-PT win by eventual champion Marquette: did you think it should have been called goaltending? There were 5 things they could call: 4 would have gone against us and 1 would have gone for us. The 5-second count almost elapsed, there was a possible foul, a walk, the goaltending, and we lost. I was told by the officials’ association that that play was used for years as an example of all the things to prepare for that can happen at the end of a game. Coach Dean Smith was ready to lead his team onto the floor: he told me that our player got fouled but there was nothing we could do about it. The call ended up coming from the official timer, which would probably not happen today due to instant replay.

You had an 8-PT loss to UNLV in the 3rd-place game: how on earth did you lose when Maxwell/Kinch each scored 30 PTS and had double-digit rebounds?! That UNLV team had 6 players drafted that spring! The Rebels had an extremely talented team and we had played our hardest against Marquette.

In the 1979 NIT title game Butch Carter made an off-balance jumper from the top of the key with 5 seconds left in a 1-PT win by the Hoosiers (the 1st-ever postseason meeting between the in-state rivals): what was it like to face Bobby Knight in the postseason, and where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? It was no different than facing Knight in the regular season: I was 3-3 against him. We could have won because we had a shot in the final seconds but we missed an 18-footer at the end. It was a good basket by Butch.

Take me through the 1980 NCAA tourney:
Joe Barry Carroll scored 17 PTS in a 5-PT loss to UCLA: what sort of a home-court advantage did you have (if any) playing at Market Square Arena? That was a different situation. Teams who get to the Final 4 by cheating have to vacate their wins and that UCLA team had to vacate their wins that year after Coach Larry Brown had some recruiting violations. There is no justice in that ruling: I think it is a rule that should be changed.

Carroll had 35 PTS (14-17 FG)/12 REB/4 BLK in the consolation game against Iowa and finished your 6 games with a tourney-record 158 PTS: how was he able to dominate for 3 straight weeks against the best teams in the country? Because he was our best player and we got him the ball! He was the #1 draft pick, had great hands, and shot the ball well. He was the epitome of a student-athlete and was a leader in every aspect of the program. We had good players but he carried us.

Take me through the 1985 World University Games in Japan as coach of Team USA:
You won each of your 1st 2 games against Jordan and Korea by 100+ PTS: how does your coaching style change when you are up by triple digits?! International tournaments involve some teams who cannot wait to take a team photo with you because they are so excited to play against the USA.

In the gold medal rematch against the USSR Valdemaras Khomitchus had a game-high 30 PTS including a 3-PT shot with 3 seconds left in a 3-PT win by the Soviet Union: what was it like to face the Soviets during the Cold War? We were the 1st team from a free country to participate in the Spartakiad. We flew into Moscow with Joe Barry, Herb Williams, and a couple of other future pros. They told us to get back on the plane because the facilities were not ready so we had to fly to Lithuania. Herb even broke the backboard on a dunk and shattered it into pieces! We were the guinea pigs to see what the food/lodging/transportation would be like when the real Olympians showed up.

You still rank in the top-75 all-time in winning percentage for coaches with a minimum of 10 years of D-1 experience: what made you such a great coach, and how were you able to be so successful at so many different schools? I had good players: you do not win without good players. I also had good people, which is a great combination. I moved around a lot but we just tried to make the best decisions that we could. 1 of my proudest coaching accomplishments came at South Florida. We would play against some of the other Florida schools ever year in a small tournament. In back-to-back years we beat Florida and Florida State, which really helped put our school on the map.

After retiring from the college ranks in 1986 you served as an assistant coach for 4 NBA teams (San Antonio/New Jersey/Milwaukee/Charlotte: what was it like to work for a pair of Hall of Fame players-turned-head-coaches like Willis Reed/Dave Cowens? I read something the other day that just because you are a Hall of Fame athlete does not mean that you will be a good instructor. If you check the record book, success does not always follow the best players. Cowens had 2 of his best seasons ever with me on the sideline. He asked me what problems he would encounter: I said that he was a blue-collar player who would be coaching players who made a lot more than him but would not work as hard as him. He did not agree with that but 2 years later he quit. Silas was a great player but he had a bad record with the Bobcats. Someone told me that if you did not play in the NBA you should not coach in the NBA, but I countered with championship coaches like Gregg Popovich/Erik Spoelstra.

You were a member of the selection committee for Dream Team 2, which ended up winning the gold medal at the 1994 FIBA World Championship in Toronto: how hard was it to come up with a 12-man roster, and how much pressure was there on you after the success of the original Dream Team? The coach has a chance to express what he wants to do. Lenny Wilkens was the coach and he gave his say-so as to who he was interested in. The thing you want to do is make sure your coaches are satisfied with the players they get. They won it all so there was not much controversy that year!

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Under The Radar Game of the Day: UNC-Greensboro at Wofford

Posted on February 16, 2019 by John Stalica

For Jon Teitel’s interview with former Purdue/UNC-Charlotte head coach Lee Rose – CLICK HERE

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

UNC-Greensboro (22-4, 11-2 SoCon) at Wofford (22-4, 14-0 SoCon) – 7:00 PM EST (ESPN+)

Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to Spartanburg, South Carolina between a pair of SoCon heavyweights – the Wofford Terriers play host to the UNC-Greensboro Spartans. Wofford enters tonight’s game two and a half games ahead of UNC-G and can clinch the #1 seed in the SoCon tournament with a win tonight. Wofford won the first matchup by 29 points at Greensboro and is in the midst of a 13-game winning streak. While Fletcher Magee had 18 points in Wofford’s last win against VMI, he is still averaging 19.9 points per game and also had 30-point performances in their prior two games.

The Spartans come into tonight’s game with a little more urgency in regards to their NCAA Tournament atl-large hopes. They had an eight-game winning streak snapped at Furman on Thursday night; they now have a season split with the Paladins. Their other win of note was at East Tennessee State; that is one reason the Spartans are now in the #2 slot in the conference. Francis Alonso leads the Spartans with 16.9 points per game.

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Saturday, Feb 16th

Posted on February 16, 2019 by David Griggs

We’ve got another jam packed day of college hoops!!  With Hawaii’s game tipping off at 1am, est, that actually gives us 15 straight hours basketball!!  It is one of the longest days of the year, and we have all of the highlighted games listed below…

-TENNESSEE AT KENTUCKY (SEC) (***Spotlight Game***).  You gotta love it when we got top five match-ups!!  Tennessee is ranked #1, is on pace to get a #1 seed, and could even end up as the overall #1 seed, especially if they’re able to win a true road game like this one.  Kentucky is looking to bounce back from a tough and somewhat controversial ending, but with two games remaining against Tennessee, as well as the other opponents they’ll face I still think they have a path to a #1 seed.  They’ll need to win today, and they’ll pretty much need to win out, but the opportunity is there.

-MARYLAND AT MICHIGAN (Big Ten).  Michigan will be looking to bounce back from a crazy loss at Penn State earlier in the week.  They host a Maryland team that’s been playing well and has some good wins, but none as good as this one would be.

-NORTH CAROLINA AT WAKE FOREST (ACC).  This is a winnable road game for the Tarheels who are on pace to land on one of the top two lines.

-CLEMSON AT LOUISVILLE (ACC).  Interesting storyline for both these teams coming into this one.  Clemson is on the bubble and is looking for a big road win to boost up their tournament resume.  Louisville has lost two straight games where they appeared to be in command late and blew it.  They need a win simply to stabilize their mental health.

-OKLAHOMA AT TCU (Big 12).  Oklahoma is six games below .500, but still has a path to the NCAA Tournament if they can string together some wins.  TCU is on the bubble and will likely make it in, but they can’t put it on cruise control just yet.

-AUBURN AT VANDERBILT (SEC).  To Auburn’s credit, they’ve pretty much won all their games against non-tournament teams.  The problem is they haven’t won any against teams that are solidly in the field.  That means they need to continue to take care of business in games like this.

-OKLAHOMA STATE AT TEXAS (Big 12).  It’s been the same story with Texas for a while.  They’re in relatively good shape, but have had a schizophrenic season and could use some stability on their resume.

-NOTRE DAME AT VIRGINIA (ACC).  Virginia is on pace to get a #1 seed and just needs to hold serve in games like this.

-BAYLOR AT TEXAS TECH (Big 12).  This is a big game for both teams.  Baylor has been playing like an NCAA team since conference play started, but still has some work to do and could use a huge quality road win like this on their resume.  Texas Tech is trying to grow their profile as well and contend for a protected seed.

-FLORIDA STATE AT GEORGIA TECH (ACC).  Florida State is looking for their seventh straight win, as well as their fourth true road win.  I’d say they’re in good shape.

-INDIANA AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten).  Minney is inside the bubble and will likely end up in the field, but they can’t just start to skate just yet.  Indiana is in serious trouble, and although our committee took them last night I’m not so sure the real one would.  They need more wins.  This would certainly help.

-FLORIDA AT ALABAMA (SEC).  Alabama is on our bubble, and needs to win at home against teams that are outside of the bubble.

-MISSOURI AT OLE MISS (SEC).  Ole Miss is looking more and more like a first ballot team and just needs to continue to hold serve in games like this.  They’ve been a fun story all year long.

-PENN STATE AT PURDUE (Big Ten).  Purdue is inching closer and closer to locking up a protected seed.  They shouldn’t have too much trouble today.

-WEST VIRGINIA AT KANSAS (Big 12).  West Virginia actually won the first meeting.  Kansas is in relatively good shape, especially after a huge road win earlier in the week, and they just need to avoid a slip up against a WVU team where everything has fallen apart.

-IOWA STATE AT KANSAS STATE (Big 12).  I like both these teams, and I apparently like them more than the committee does.  I think both could end up as protected seeds, and that whoever wins this game will take a huge step toward getting there.

-VCU AT DAYTON (Atlantic Ten).  If any A10 team is able to finish inside the bubble, it’s VCU.  If they win out then they should be okay regardless of what happens in the conference tournament.  Dayton isn’t the easiest place to win.  They’re 11-2 at home this year.

-UTAH STATE AT AIR FORCE (Mountain West).  Utah State has an unimpressive profile, but it’s also an unimpressive bubble and I kind of like their chances because they are at least winning their games, and winning on the road.  If they win out, which would mean winning at home against Nevada, I think they’re in regardless of the conference tourney.

-VIRGINIA TECH AT PITTSBURGH (ACC).  This is a winnable road game for Uncle Buzz and CO.  They should cruise into the top half of the bracket, and if they get hot between now and then end, who knows how good their seed could end up being.

-NC STATE AT DUKE (ACC).  Duke has a path to earning the overall #1 seed, and NC State just needs some wins to land safely inside the bubble.  This particular loss won’t hurt them much at all, but a win would certainly help.

-LSU AT GEORGIA (SEC).  LSU is coming off their biggest win of the year, and perhaps their biggest win in years period, and has a pathway to a protected seed.

-IOWA AT RUTGERS (Big Ten).  This is a winnable road game for an Iowa team that seems to be cruising toward the top half of the bracket and will be wearing white in the Round of 64.

-MEMPHIS AT UCF (American).  Every game that UCF plays for the rest of the year has a sense of urgency to it.  They are right on the bubble, and they have limited chances to beat really good teams, so they better beat all the teams that they are playing.

-TEMPLE AT SOUTH FLORIDA (American).  Temple, who is also a bubble team, needs to basically approach every remaining game like it’s a must win game.

-UNC GREENSBORO AT WOFFORD (SoCon).  I’m not putting this with the other UTR games because I think Wofford is an at-large caliber team with a current at-large caliber resume, and while UNCG is outside the bubble could get the committee to at least look at them if they’re able to pull off a win like this and finish strong the rest of the way.

-WASHINGTON AT WASHINGTON STATE (Pac Twelve).  Washington has been the best team in the Pac Twelve by a long shot so far, but it’s a dangerous stretch between now and the end simply because not all these games are easy to win, and in every single case a loss would cause more harm than a win would cause for good.  That’s certainly true tonight on the road against their rivals.

-MISSISSIPPI STATE AT ARKANSAS (SEC).  This is a winnable, but not necessarily easy, road game for Mississippi State who’s in good shape as far as making the Dance goes.

-GONZAGA AT SAN DIEGO (West Coast).  It’s a showcase game for San Diego, and I know LMU made it interesting the other night, but Gonzaga is so superior that they will likely be able to sleepwalk and still win.

-NEVADA AT WYOMING (Mountain West).  Nevada continues to plow through the conference and their season.  They should end up as a protected seed if they keep it up.

-ARIZONA STATE AT UTAH (Pac Twelve).  It is tough to ever know exactly what Arizona State is going to do, and because of that they’ve built a resume that is very tough to evaluate.  They need some stabilization if they want to feel safe on Selection Sunday.

UNDER THE RADAR

-BUCKNELL AT HOLY CROSS (Patriot League).  Bucknell has a two game lead with five games remaining.  They can inch closer to locking up home court for the conference tourney

-STONY BROOK AT NEW HAMPSHIRE (America East).  Stony Brook is a game behind Vermont and trying to keep pace.

-ARMY AT NAVY (Patriot League).  Highlighted primarily because it’s fun, and in this case it may play a role in whether or not these teams get to host a quarterfinal game.

-UAB AT WESTERN KENTUCKY (Conference USA).  As much as we crapped on WKU for being so disappointing, they’ve won eight out of nine and are just a game back of first place. They have the talent to make someone miserable in the Round of 64 if they were to get there.

-TEXAS STATE AT LITTLE ROCK (Sun Belt).  Texas State is atop the SBC standings and looks to be the best team in the league.

-LIBERTY AT NORTH ALABAMA (Atlantic Sun).  Liberty is now tied with Lipscomb for first place and should be favored in the rest of their games.

-VMI AT FURMAN (SoCon).  Furman is a long shot at best, but if they win out I think the committee will at least look at them for a bid.  And, I like how they’re playing now and think they can do some damage in the SoCon Tourney

-LIPSCOMB AT KENNESAW STATE (Atlantic Sun).  Lipscomb is coming off a loss that hurt them, but I still like their chances of getting a bid if they win out and at least tie for first place.

-AUSTIN PEAY AT MOREHEAD STATE (Ohio Valley).  Austin Peay is just a game out of first, and it’s basically a four team race for the top two spots and two byes into the semis of the conference tournament.

-VERMONT AT HARTFORD (Atlantic Sun).  Vermont has a one game lead in the standings and is trying to hold on to clinch home court in the conference tourney.

-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT NORTH DAKOTA STATE (Summit League).  South Dakota State is coming off a loss at the buzzer to Omaha, but is still in a tie for first place and still looks to be the best team in the league.

-NORTHERN COLORADO AT EASTERN WASHINGTON (Big Sky).  Northern Colorado is just a half game out of first place, and EWU has gotten hot fall of a sudden.

-RADFORD AT CHARLESTON SOUTHERN (Big South).  Radford has a two game lead with seven games to go.  They can inch closer to a first place finish and the right to host the conference tournament.

-HOFSTRA AT UNC WILMINGTON (Colonial).  Hofstra looked really strong the other night, and seems to be on pace to a first place finish in the CAA.

-YALE AT CORNELL (Ivy League).  Yale is the first place team in the Ivy and has the clearest path to winning the league.

-MURRAY STATE AT EASTERN KENTUCKY (Ohio Valley).  Murray State picked up a close win the other night to keep pace to finish in the top two and earn a double bye.

-TENNESSEE STATE AT JACKSONVILLE STATE (Ohio Valley).  Jax State is still just a game out of first and currently owns the head to head against Murray State and Belmont.

-FLORIDA A&M AT SAVANNAH STATE (MEAC).  Savannah State is going after their fifth straight win!!

-BELMONT AT TENNESSEE TECH (Ohio Valley).  If Belmont wins out through the regular season then they have a strong case to make the NCAAs regardless of what happens in the conference tournament.

-SEATTLE AT NEW MEXICO STATE (WAC).  I like this NMSU team now.  They’re on pace to run the table all the way through the conference tournament.

-MONTANA AT IDAHO STATE (Big Sky).  Montana is trying to hold on to first place in the conference standings.

-UC SANTA BARBARA AT UC IRVINE (Big West).  These are two of the better teams in the Big West.  If UCI wins this game I’m expecting them to win out.

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Student Athlete: HoopsHD interviews co-director Trish Dalton

Posted on February 15, 2019 by Jon Teitel

Last October HBO debuted a sports documentary called “Student Athlete”, which examined the current state of American college athletics and the impact that its myriad rules have on players and their families. The presentation was a result of a collaborative effort from numerous notable names: SpringHill Entertainment (founded by LeBron James/Maverick Carter), United Masters (created by former Interscope Records president Steve Stoute), and a pair of powerhouse directors in Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (2-time Academy Award winner for Best Short Subject Documentary) and Trish Dalton (Big Apple Film Festival Award winner for Best Short Documentary). The film spotlights several different players and coaches including 2 names who should be familiar to college basketball fans: Nick Richards (2017 McDonald’s All-American who now plays at Kentucky) and Mike Shaw (a former top-100 recruit who played at both Illinois/Bradley). HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Ms. Dalton about how the film came about, Nick’s journey to Lexington, and Mike’s difficult adjustment to life after college.

How did the project originate, and how did you choose Nick Richards/Mike Shaw as your basketball subjects?  Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and I typically cover human-rights stories, and when Steve Stoute of United Masters approached us about the inequality in college sports in the U.S., we thought that it was glaringly unfair and an important issue to shed light on. We felt what was missing from the conversation was the reality of the experience for the players on a personal level. We wanted to tell the stories of players at different stages of their collegiate athletic careers. We chose Nick because he was a top recruit who was just entering college, and we chose Mike because he was graduating.

The anonymous shoe company representative who shares all the dirt on the industry is arguably the star of the show: I knew that shoe companies recruited players as young as 12-13 in the biggest basketball hotbeds, but are they really in every single city trying to find the next Michael Jordan/LeBron James?  We were also surprised to learn how many scouts were out there: it seems pretty pervasive. Even at small schools, where we filmed in Illinois and Indiana coaches were connected to scouts.

The shoe company representative also stated that a high school player wearing a company’s gear on Instagram is more important than the 6th or 7th-best guy on an NBA team wearing it: how has social media changed the sports industry, and were 2 million viewers wrong to check out Zion Williamson’s video based on his outstanding freshman year as a Duke basketball player?  Social media definitely seems to play a big role in player popularity. I am unsure how viewers would be wrong to follow them. We were just trying to show that these guys have pretty big followings. Zion’s popularity kind of speaks for itself.

The representative said that the McDonald’s All-American Game (in which Nick participated) is not only about the player getting a ton of exposure but also about shoe companies getting to scout a player’s friends/family: if Nick can score 20 PPG then will people really care if he has a helicopter mom or a friend who has been in trouble with the law?  The NCAA rules can seriously affect college athletes’, because the rules are quite serious.

March Madness bring is $1 billion in TV advertising and in 2016 UCLA signed a$280 million deal with Under Armour: how high can the dollars go, and where should they be distributed? That is a complicated question. Personally, I think that if your coach makes more than $10 million/year then there is plenty of money to go around.

1 of the images that stuck with me the most was the shot of Nick practicing alone on the court while a group of 20-30 African-American kids are just sitting on a stage in the background and watching him: what message do you want the audience to take from that clip? We wanted to show where Nick practiced and what that looked like. Those students were there to watch the practice and I think their enthusiasm speaks for itself. The film explores how we can make the system more fair to allow players to pursue their dream. I think that the business of college sports is where the NCAA/schools bring in so much money via TV/brands. If you look at any other corporation in America it is hard to find a situation where you make money, while your employees work 40-50 hours/week, in exchange for an education, and barely have time to attend class.

Nick moved from Jamaica to the U.S. at age 14 with his entire family because they all wanted him to make it to the NBA: is such a situation the exception to the rule or the start of a global trend?  There seem to be a handful of basketball players that come to the U.S. every year to play, but I am unsure how many of their families are able to join them. We found that many of the players (whether they lived here or abroad) families were living below the poverty line, so there was pressure on them to make it to the NBA to eventually get paid. Players are scouted all over the world and if they are at a good high school, they are already on the NBA‘s radar. Nick is lucky because he had some family here already.

Nick is concerned about wearing Nike sneakers at an event because he is used to wearing Under Armour: why do high school kids care so much about what sneakers they are wearing? They sure seem to care about their brands! When I was in high school I cared a lot more about brands, too: peer pressure is strong at that age.

Nick says that Kentucky is his dream school because blue is his favorite color and the Wildcats send 2-3 guys to the NBA each year, while his mom likes Kentucky more than Arizona because it is closer to their home in New York: what are the biggest factors that high school athletes consider when choosing a college?  I am sure that it is a range of answers depending on who you ask, but like Nick, many of the players we asked chose schools they had heard of and their parents often encouraged them to stay close to home. I think they look for a school that sends its players to the NBA. It depends on who is scouting the player: I assume that Kentucky was scouting Nick more than other schools were. All of the guys we talked to had shoeboxes full of offers, but weren’t familiar with all the schools. Most young basketball players have not traveled outside their community so they do not know what different college campuses are like and some do not want to be away from their friends/family at such a young age.

After Mike injures his back 1 doctor tells him that he might not walk again if he keeps playing while another doctor is shocked by the physical degeneration of a 23-year old who might end up in a wheelchair/walker: how do athletes balance their love of the game with their love of a scholarship with their love of walking?  In Mike’s case the injury came as a shock. I think that many players hope they will avoid injury: when you are younger you are a bit in denial because you feel invincible. There are stats on getting a serious injury if you end up playing a pro sport: I think it’s is near 100%. The players are afraid to complain because that is not part of the culture: it is not encouraged to speak out against that.

Mike decided to go to college at Illinois (since Coach Bruce Weber had been recruiting him since the 8th grade), but after Weber was fired he decided to transfer to Bradley and sit out 1 year per NCAA rules: should coaches should be allowed to recruit middle schoolers, and are the transfer rules fair?  The transfer rules are very limiting to players, especially in a case like Mike’s, because of the restrictions on changing schools, while coaches are allowed to go from school to school. That seems unfair to me: many players choose a school due to the coach/opportunity and Mike gave up all of his other opportunities and then lost the coach who had been recruiting him since he was 12 years old. Most new coaches bring in the players who they have been scouting for the past several years.

Mike says that having a degree plays a role in his success yet the majority of his belongings he owns when moving out of his apartment is a huge plastic bag full of sneakers: which do you truly believe he values more?  Mike certainly loved basketball and always assumed that he would play professionally: that seemed to be his primary goal. I think it speaks for itself: he was told he would be 1 of the best (which he was), and it is hard to let go of that. He did stay in school and make it a priority to finish getting his degree, but after that he still had to sort things out. It takes other efforts/connections to make your degree work for you. Taking a job at Enterprise is not why he went to college and worked really hard for 4 years: a lot of the players feel really disillusioned by their post-graduate options.

His grandfather states that college athletics is akin to slavery (since you have to do what the coach says, you cannot go home for the holidays, etc.): do you agree, and what role does race play in the equation?  I think there are similarities, for example, the rules prevent the players from receiving any kind of income off their name/image/likeness, or share in any of the revenues from broadcasters, brands, and ticket sales. I hope that the film speaks to that: players are told it is their ticket out of poverty, but then they often end up back in poverty, and suffering from injuries.

His brother tries to convince him to come work with him at Enterprise due to the company car/benefits, but he remains unemployed 1 year after graduating/spent some time in a psychiatric hospital/is walking around picking up trash: he says that he never expected he would be here, but where should most former college athletes expect to be 1 year after graduating?  I think that they expect to achieve the glory that playing sports had promised them. In Mike’s case, he thought that he would achieve great things from basketball, and when he had to face a different reality he also faced a lot of disappointment. The difference is that athletes go from having a celebrity status on campus to facing the reality that it was not his ticket to the NBA and that he has to create a new life that does not touch upon sports. I have heard that athletes suffer 2 deaths: the end of their life but also the end of their playing career. Mike is still struggling to navigate his new identity after being an athlete for so long. A lot of players suffer depression: I think that it is a bit criminal. There are NCAA ads in their neighborhoods suggesting that getting into college will be great, but it is not the reality is very different.

Any final message to the viewers?  I hope that viewers can connect with the players and that as a society we can provide them with help. Any organization that treats their workers unfairly should be forced to make a more equitable system. It is time for a change and we should support players who stand up for themselves. Right now there is a popular opinion that college athletes get a free education and will be just fine, but the player are paying a high price.

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