Topics

https://www.heraldonline.com/news/local/article285129952.html


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Freeman averaging 16 pts and 5 assists per game

https://www.maxpreps.com/in/converse/oak-hill-golden-eagles/athletes/jace-tonagel/basketball/stats/?careerid=so1tstr8hlc22


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ca was promoted to assistant coach at UIW

https://twitter.com/carsonjames43/status/1325938972237893634?s=21


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Shaking my head...

https://www.complex.com/style/2013/09/ugly-college-campuses-dex/?utm_source=kw_fb&kwp_0=1280496&kwp_4=4051241&kwp_1=1686942


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Congrats to ca!

https://uiwcardinals.com/news/2019/4/8/mens-basketball-chris-artis-hired-as-director-of-basketball-operations.aspx


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From Twitter:  What is the shittiest playing facility for home games at the Low Major level?

SWAC, SoCon, ASun, Big South, MEAC, Big West, Ivy, Summit, WAC, America East, NEC, Southland, Big Sky, OVC, Patriot


https://twitter.com/coachingchanges/status/1083792622584508416?s=21



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https://mobile.twitter.com/nwioren/status/994580518049144833


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http://www.valpoathletics.com/wbasketball/news/2017-18/18170/mary-evans-hired-to-lead-valpo-womens-basketball-program/


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A kid that is looking at both Valpo and Butler needs our help:

https://twitter.com/ben_jacobs16/status/981338114231816194

Did anyone see the highlights of the end of the Baylor at West Virginia game last night? 

Baylor was down three with 3.7 seconds left when they tried the "Pacer", but was unsuccessful.

Then someone tweeted this:

https://twitter.com/FauxmerDrew/status/950952482359853056

No, this is not an ARC discussion.

Many who saw last nights game also saw the artwork on Santa Clara's court.  Here is a story about their update:

https://www.timberproducts.com/blog/a-grade-above-the-rest-santa-clara-university

Fake Homer Drew (twitter handle) also tweeting about this last night:

https://twitter.com/FauxmerDrew/status/942973608292257793

With Valpo's move to the MVC, I think it would be a good idea to update our brand.  The Men's and Women's basketball teams, as well as Volleyball, all have games streamed or on TV.  If we updated Homer Drew Court to show the University's commitment to Faith and Learning with a blended picture of both the inside and outside of the Chapel of the Resurrection, I think it would go a long way to updating our brand - for all to see and enjoy.

Thoughts?

On to UC Riverside...

Came across this today and immediately thought of setshot, who used to make fun of the Osteen quoter.

From:

http://adam4d.com/luther-vs-osteen/


I was not able to cut and paste into this post.

[Cutler said his two sons and pickup basketball games at his alma mater, Vanderbilt, helped him stay in shape.]

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/20276495/jay-cutler-says-wife-swayed-sign-miami-dolphins


Jay Cutler discusses decision to sign with Dolphins, reunite with Adam Gase

ESPN.com news services

Jay Cutler said Monday that he went "back and forth" on whether to remain in broadcasting or sign with the Miami Dolphins, but his wife, TV personality Kristin Cavallari, ultimately talked him into continuing his NFL career.

Cutler parted with the Chicago Bears in March after eight seasons, and was then hired by Fox as an analyst to work in its No. 2 NFL broadcast booth. Dolphins coach Adam Gase reached out to Cutler shortly after starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill suffered a knee injury last Thursday.

Gase, who was Cutler's offensive coordinator with the Bears in 2015, said Monday that Cutler needed no persuading to launch a comeback. But Cutler likened the conversations with Gase to college recruiting, saying the decision to return was difficult.

"The last four months I've been in a different mindset, getting ready for the Fox deal,'' Cutler said. "I was pretty good with where I was in my life; I was around the kids a lot and felt pretty content. So I went back and forth on this. My wife talked me into it more than anybody else. ... I think she got tired of me being around the house.''


Jay Cutler says the chance to reunite with Adam Gase and become the quarterback of a playoff team was a situation that "doesn't come along very often." AP Photo/Lynne Sladky

Cutler missed Monday's practice because it took place as he landed in South Florida to sign a $10 million, one-year contract. Gase said that Cutler won't play in the Dolphins' preseason opener Thursday against the Atlanta Falcons.

Cutler, 34, said "a situation like this doesn't come along very often."

"I know Adam very well; I know the system. And you're talking about a playoff team with a lot of really, really good players and a lot of potential," he said.

Gase said he doesn't expect Cutler to have any learning curve with the offensive scheme.

"I'm pretty sure he's already got it,'' Gase said. "He's good.''

In 2015, Cutler had a career-best quarterback rating while with Gase, who then joined the Dolphins.

"I feel good about where Jay was the past couple of years,'' Gase said, "and I feel good about how he fits in with us.''


Dolphins say Cutler won't play Thursday night

Quarterback Jay Cutler will not play in Thursday's preseason opener against the Falcons, coach Adam Gase confirmed Monday.


Cutler said his two sons and pickup basketball games at his alma mater, Vanderbilt, helped him stay in shape. He missed time last year with a sprained right thumb and a labrum injury that required season-ending right shoulder surgery in December, but said he's healthy now and confident his arm will be fine.

"It'll come back pretty quickly,'' Cutler said. "I'm not worried about the throwing part. Getting used to the guys and the more detailed stuff, that's what we're going to have to hit the fast-forward button on.''

The acquisition of Cutler has potential to divide a locker room where backup quarterback Matt Moore enjoys strong support, especially after he helped Miami clinch a playoff berth while Tannehill was sidelined last December.

But Gase is popular with his players and said he explained to them why he wanted Cutler.

"I was very up-front with everything,'' Gase said. "We felt this gave us an opportunity to have two really good quarterbacks on our team. We wanted to make sure if something happened, we weren't going to have a falloff. I think our guys understand that.''

That includes Moore. He said he still considers himself a contender for the starting job after a drama-free conversation with Gase about the need to sign Cutler.

"It was very simple and straightforward,'' he said. "It wasn't very Hollywood. And I get it.''

Receiver Kenny Stills said that while Moore is "our guy,'' there's no quarterback controversy among the players.

"We're confident in the people upstairs to do the right thing for this team,'' Stills said.

Still to be determined is how quickly Cutler can shake off the rust and lingering doubts about his attitude, toughness and decision-making, all of which were often questioned in Chicago.

He went 51-51 as a Bears starter. Among his teammates was guard Jermon Bushrod, now with Miami.


"I know the guy,'' Bushrod said. "I've seen how he is in the huddle. I've seen how he is in the locker room. The message portrayed by some of the major broadcasting networks isn't what we see or feel.

"People are going to have things to say. But if you win games, nobody says anything.''

Cutler's chance to revise his reputation came after Tannehill's left knee buckled a week into training camp. He decided against surgery after missing the final four games of last season with two sprained ligaments in his knee, but the latest injury likely will require an operation.

Tannehill stood near midfield Monday watching practice, wearing a brace on his left knee and conversing with the coaching staff and quarterbacks.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A little surprised by the lateness of this:

https://twitter.com/GottliebShow/status/851555056801513472

https://twitter.com/GottliebShow/status/851556420134871043

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/851557394488467456

ESPN Article on Gonzaga getting healthier since tournament run in 1999.

http://www.espn.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/119205/how-the-basketball-program-helped-gonzaga-university-flourish


How the basketball program helped Gonzaga University flourish

12:02 PM MT

Dana O'Neil
ESPN Senior Writer


With a net in his hands and a Final Four cap on his head, coach Mark Few tried to disembark elegantly from the ladder standing beneath the basket.

Out from the crowd of celebrating Gonzaga players came Przemek Karnowski, the 300-pound bear of a player spreading his arms wide to catch his coach.

It was, considering time, place and event, a perfect metaphor for coach and university. Standing quite literally at the highest point of his coaching career, Few finally needed someone from Gonzaga to rescue him.

For 19 years, he'd been doing the saving, his Bulldogs not only growing a basketball team from nothing but also helping to save a university in the process.

"The school was in real trouble" was the assessment of longtime benefactor Jack McCann in 1998.

Asked to join the board of trustees that year, the Gonzaga graduate discovered his alma mater was falling apart, operating at a deficit for several years, the school's credit rating plummeting, the endowment slipping and administrators forced to slash budgets simply to pay the bills.

The small, Catholic, private and enrollment-reliant school welcomed a bottoming-out freshman class of 550 students, continuing a dismal trend of shrinking enrollment that saw the school's undergraduate population dip from 4,176 in 1990 to 2,791 just eight years later.

Staring at a $1 million deficit -- no small sum for a school of its size -- university administrators eliminated 30 positions and laid off five more employees. There was even talk of reducing the basketball staff, the board discussing eliminating one full-time position that would have cost Bill Grier his job. A small group of faculty went so far as to suggest the university consider abandoning Division I athletics altogether.

If things weren't entirely dire, they were certainly heading that way, Gonzaga in danger of becoming "just another middling, struggling university at best," in MCann's opinion, with perhaps an even more ominous future.

Eight months later, and in what at the time seemed little more than a happy and temporary diversion, Gonzaga's basketball team rolled from its 10th-seeded spot in the West Region of the NCAA tournament all the way to an improbable berth in the Elite Eight.

That August, more than 700 freshmen enrolled at Gonzaga.

The following year, Few's first as head coach, Gonzaga made it to the Sweet 16.

The next semester, a freshman class of more than 900 arrived on campus.

Seventeen years later, the student population keeps rolling in lockstep with the basketball team's success. No one considers the Bulldogs a mere happy diversion anymore.

The pairing of better enrollment and a raised basketball profile is known as the Flutie Effect. It's named for former Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie, whose Hail Mary touchdown pass against Miami in 1984 and subsequent Heisman Trophy campaign gave rise to a 16 percent enrollment bump at Boston College.

Plenty of other schools have enjoyed the one-year injection thanks to sports fame since -- after Ali Farokhmanesh hit a 3-pointer to beat Kansas, Northern Iowa saw a 30 percent increase in admission calls and nearly quadrupled its page views online; after its 2010 Final Four run, Butler's applications rose 40 percent.

What has happened at Gonzaga is a lot more than the Flutie Effect.

"This isn't like we had two years of success and dropped off the scene," university president Thayne McCulloh said. "We're celebrating almost two decades of continued success for a little school from Spokane, and I know there are people who have been very generous to this university in many ways -- with their resources, their time and their support -- and I know there are students who would never have become part of all of this without the success of our basketball team."

Really, the entire place is different.

Since 2004 seven new buildings have sprouted up on the Gonzaga campus, including a state-of-the-art student center. In the fall, the school broke ground on a new basketball practice facility that also will house a Hall of Fame, and in the spring a new performing arts center will begin to take form.

Donations are at an all-time high -- a capital campaign launched just last year already has received $226 million of its $250 million -- as are both applications and the school's student profile. With more people seeking entry into Gonzaga, the school changed its admissions process in 2003, abandoning the less selective rolling admissions plan and going to a pooling program in which students are given a hard deadline to apply and are considered collectively.

In large part due to that shift, students today come to campus with an average 3.71 GPA and 1290 SAT score, up from 3.54 and 1159 in 1998.

When the Bulldogs first made the NCAA tournament, people debated how to pronounce the school name -- you say Gone-ZAH-ga, I say Gone-ZAG-uh -- while Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth scrounged up $125,000 to buy local TV rights for five whopping games. The Bulldogs today are a national program, with a lucrative Nike contract as well as a 10-year deal with sports marketing firm IMG to manage multimedia rights.

This week an undergraduate population of 5,160, including more than 1,200 freshmen, will cheer as their beloved Zags head to Phoenix.

"We weren't going to shut the doors [at that moment], but you can only do what we were doing for so long and survive," said former president Father Robert Spitzer, who held the position from July 1998 to 2008. "We weren't at that point yet, but to get to the heart of it, let's just say, 'Thank God for the basketball team.'"

Put simply, the Bulldogs helped save Gonzaga.

Looks like Tracy Woodson has lost a few players for awhile:

http://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/18791610/richmond-spiders-baseball-players-suspended-playing-fantasy-football


Report: Richmond baseball players suspended over fantasy football


Five Richmond baseball players who have been ruled ineligible by the NCAA were involved in fantasy football, leading to their suspensions to start the season, according to a Richmond Times-Dispatch report.

The university announced Feb. 17 that five student-athletes on the baseball team had committed secondary violations and would be ineligible for competition until the NCAA completes the reinstatement process.

The Times-Dispatch, citing multiple unnamed sources, later reported that the secondary violations were related to the players' participation in fantasy football.

The university, per athletic department policy, declined to offer further comment when reached by ESPN on Tuesday and has not identified the players involved.

The NCAA considers fantasy sports contests with an entry fee to be a form of sports wagering and therefore off-limits to student-athletes, regardless of sport.

ESPN has reached out to the NCAA and Atlantic-10 Conference for comment.

Fantasy sports are explicitly legal in Virginia and regulated by the state's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

The Spiders are 3-4 on the season. Their Tuesday game against James Madison was rescheduled because of inclement weather.

-----------

I'm sure there are a lot of NCAA athletes that have played some form of fantasy football.  If they were at one of these 'pay' sites and playing with a substantial amount of money, then I'd be worried.

hired by Chicago Bears!

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/834920749492224000

Surprised no one has started anything about the Cubs.

The writer here is not a Valpo grad, but spent much of his childhood going to Valpo basketball games and Valpo Homecoming Weekends, as his father is a Valpo grad.

http://uproxx.com/sports/chicago-cubs-cleveland-indians-fans/

https://twitter.com/martinrickman/status/795636033190789124


What I Learned About Family And Fandom From A Cubs Win And A 32-Year-Old Bottle Of Bourbon



By: Martin Rickman 11.04.16 


Martin Rickman

CLEVELAND – In 1984, my grandpa Ray gave my father a bottle of Jim Beam. Since he had a good relationship (that's putting it mildly) with liquor distributors, this wasn't an ordinary bottle. It was aged four years in the barrel and was poured into a ceramic bear wearing a full Cubs uniform. You had to take off the head to open the bottle. Ray told my dad he couldn't open it until the Cubs won the World Series, and then they would drink together.

I was born in 1987. Ray died in October of 2010. The bottle remained unopened.

I'd seen that bottle for years on shelves in the houses we lived in, and I don't think I ever really knew the story. When the Cubs clinched the National League pennant, sending them to the World Series for the first time in oh so many years, my dad posted a Facebook status with a picture of the bottle. The Cubs were playing the Indians, and no matter who won I'd be toasting to something.



Martin Rickman

My earliest sports memories are Cubs games. My dad took me to the first (unofficial) night game at Wrigley Field when I was a little over a year old. The game didn't count, which is fine, seeing as I don't remember it anyway. We still have a hat with a pin from that game. Every time we visited my grandpa WGN would be on, and he'd be sipping an Old Style in his mobile home in the suburbs of Chicago. Harry Caray's voice was as recognizable to me as an uncle's. I thought I'd grow up and live on the North Side. I thought I'd be a Cubs fan forever. That's how important that team was to my family. I wrote fake newspapers on an old Macintosh computer with headlines like "RICKMAN GIVES CUBS WORLD SERIES WIN" (with myself as the byline, because why wouldn't a five-year-old write the article detailing his own exploits). I was decked out in Cubs gear in every picture from my childhood. These are also the only photographs you can see me smiling. Somewhere around the time we moved to Northeast Ohio I forgot how to smile in pictures. I still don't know how.

I was introduced to Cleveland heartbreak just months after we moved from Cincinnati to a town halfway between Akron and Cleveland. I was in the basement after I'd begged my parents to let me watch Game 7. Little did they know they'd be dealing with an 11-inning game. Well, we all know how that one ended.

Even in the early 2000s I was grappling with which team had my allegiance. The 2003 Cubs I wanted it so badly for. I went to a concert the night of Game 6 of the NLCS with a bunch of emo bands including Motion City Soundtrack and Rufio. Fall Out Boy was also there. When I saw a TV over the bar playing the game, I posted up rather than watch the shows. Saddled up next to me after their set were the members of Fall Out Boy (so when you see them trotted out for every Chicago thing, at least they do care). We agonized together as the Steve Bartman thing happened. A couple members drank heavily. Patrick Stump stayed upbeat. I doubt that guy can be anything but upbeat. It was pouring when I left, and I had a parking ticket on my car on the drive home.


Martin Rickman


When I went to college, something changed. The Cubs still mattered. But my identity shifted. There is something about Cleveland and Northeast Ohio that grips you. LeBron James touched on it, although he didn't quite phrase it the way he maybe wanted to.

"Anybody in this building," James said during the team's championship ring ceremony before the first game of the Cavs season this year, "anybody in this community, anybody in this state, anybody that's got ties to Cleveland or northeast Ohio. From this building to next door where our guys are opening the World Series. At this point if you aren't from here, live here, play here, dedicate yourself to Cleveland, it makes no sense for you to live at this point. Cleveland against the world!"

(I mean, I'm fine if people not from Cleveland are alive. But that's just my hot take.)

When I had the chance to look for jobs after school, I did the only thing that made sense. I came home. And I stayed in Cleveland. I fled – much as LeBron did – a couple years later to find myself. Cleveland was a ghost and it would always be chasing me, but I needed a break. Later on, I couldn't help myself. I came back a second time. By then, it really was "Cleveland against the world" as far as I was concerned.

That's the thing about identity. You don't really choose it. It chooses you. In a variety of ways. Something calls to you, compels you to align a certain way. My family would always be Cubs fans. I am Cleveland to the core. I don't know how it happened. It just did. And I see that city in everything I do, all the decisions I make, how I talk, how I act, and my general demeanor. Trying to escape it did nothing for me. Embracing it made me who I am today.



Martin Rickman

My dad and I at Game 1 of this year

When James left for Miami, he didn't really expect the backlash. Years later, people would say it wasn't that he did it, it was how he did it. The burning jerseys and the Dan Gilbert letter still dominate the conversation, but there's something about the approach LeBron took. He drew a line in the sand between Akron and Cleveland and tried to pit the two against each other. With some time to look back on it now, that was where people took offense. James couldn't outrun Cleveland either. Nobody can. It was his shadow. It was part of him.

When he returned, there was a shift. Whether it's carefully crafted and a genius decision by his marketing team, or wholly genuine, who cares. It was there. LeBron started making Cleveland the focus. Cleveland wasn't a place. It was an identity. People in Akron could claim that identity too. And he started to.

LeBron won the title, and screamed "Cleveland, this is for you." That meant something. The banner a few hundred yards from Quicken Loans Arena, which has dominated that space in various forms since he was drafted in 2003, has been swapped out once again. This time it has LeBron, with his back turned, and in place of "James" it just reads "Cleveland." All throughout Cleveland's run through the MLB playoffs, James wore shirts invoking that sense of identity.

During Game 7, his shirt said "Cleveland Or Nowhere." That a guy, who a decade earlier wore Yankees hats to Indians games and basically said he'd never be a Clevelander, would make such a cataclysmic shift is remarkable. But he learned, just as I did, that you don't choose Cleveland. It chooses you.

A couple hours after I got home from Game 1 of the World Series, I hopped in a car to the airport. I had agreed to attend a press trip to London for Gillette's recently announced partnership with the new Star Wars: Rogue One film. Their tagline for it is "Every story has a face." Press trips are hit or miss, and always depend on the group. But from the get-go this group gelled. The reason? Everyone had a common interest. Like in sports devotion, Star Wars fanhood is a lifelong thing.

Everyone gets pulled in somehow, whether through family or an anecdote you tell someone later on, and it takes hold of you for good. You don't choose Star Wars. Star Wars chooses you. Everyone's story is different, but in a lot of ways they're all the same. Each face gets there and can't let go.

For years, since entering the sports world full-time, I stripped myself of allegiances. I decided I needed to be unbiased to be good at my job. People always said that, so it had to be true, or at least that's what I kept convincing myself. But as I sat in the K West hotel streaming a baseball game at 3 a.m. local time, I realized I still cared. And it was okay to care. This is part of who I am. And I'm hurting myself by pretending it doesn't exist.

Many of the press attending the Rogue One event at Pinewood Studios wore Star Wars apparel without a second thought — if they did a similar thing sportswise, they'd end up as a joke on Twitter. In this setting, it not only was encouraged but was endearing. Their stories brought them here, and they get so much joy out of that franchise that they continue to celebrate it.



Martin Rickman

I almost lost my father in September of 2012. He was in Shanghai for work, a multi-year assignment that took him all over Asia, the first time he'd lived anywhere but Ohio since shortly after I was born. He woke up one morning, knew something wasn't right and rushed to the hospital where the waiting room was a complete mess. They airlifted him to Hong Kong, but right before, I got a call from a family member giving me the details on a flight I was to take back to China. I packed a funeral suit. I didn't know if my dad would be alive or dead when I got off the plane. He was in surgery for what seemed like days. There were complications later, but he made it. He moved back home — to Bath, just a few miles from LeBron's house — shortly after.

My dad is a collector. He's passionate about sports memorabilia, and gets pulled into absurd auctions for items that are one-of-a-kind. Estate sales, entire lots, people's personal collections, and stuff someone decided was worth holding onto, for some reason, for decades. Whenever I'm home he shows me his newest finds. They're a bridge to the past. They give him something to hold that crystalizes a particular moment in time. He didn't choose sports. Sports chose him.

We buried my grandpa in Antigo, Wisc. where he spent much of his life. Ray got a Purple Heart for his time in the Korean War. He told me about it for a school project when I was a kid. He'd never told my dad the story. He used to jump out of planes. He was a constant joker and an endless flirt. He'd have a drink with anyone as long as they were willing to sit on the barstool next to him. In a lot of ways I'm more like him than I am anyone else, even my father. As complicated and problematic as he was, he had a huge heart and a big soul. And he loved the damn Cubs.

I visited his grave for the first time since the funeral on a trip up to Crandon for an off-road race they call the "Indy 500 of off-road racing." His headstone is clean and shiny, and they take care to trim the grass around it to make sure you can still read it — and all the other veterans nearby — clearly. I drank an Old Style for him, and I got back in the car.

After Game 7 was over, after my dad and mom – and their close friends – flew the W, after I finally shook myself out of the knowledge that the Indians came this close once again but I had witnessed one of the greatest World Series games of all-time in person, we drove home. We went to the basement, to a bar my mom had built for my dad with a glass top that he can slide all his tickets under. On a counter was that bottle of Jim Beam.

It was finally time to open it. We toasted to friends. To each other. To Ray. And for 32-year-old Jim Beam, it tasted like home. You don't choose family. Family chooses you. My family finally got to see the Chicago Cubs win the World Series, but I'll always be Cleveland 'til I die.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/17901206/coaches-scott-drew-bryce-drew-call-vanderbilt-commodores-baylor-bears-matchup


Scott Drew, Bryce Drew call off Vanderbilt-Baylor matchup, play 'secret' scrimmage




Jeff Goodman
ESPN Insider


Shortly after Bryce Drew took the Vanderbilt job this past April, he was informed the Commodores had Baylor on this year's schedule.

He cringed.

So did Baylor coach Scott Drew.

They both remembered back in 2007 when then-Oklahoma coach Sean Sutton brought his brother, Scott, also the Oral Roberts head coach, into Stillwater. ORU wound up leaving with a 74-59 win.

"We both remember reading the article and envisioned what it would be like for the family," Bryce Drew said. "No one really wins."

"Even if we win, I'm hurting," Scott Drew said. "There's no real winner."

So the Drew brothers figured out a way to scrap the game, with Baylor paying the Commodores to get out of the matchup since it was slated to be played at Vanderbilt.

Instead of a contest that figures into the win-loss column, the brothers wound up playing one of the "secret scrimmages" this past weekend in Nashville. They will play another scrimmage next year in Waco.

"We didn't want to put anyone in our family through that," Scott Drew said. "Including our parents."



Vanderbilt, coached by Bryce Drew, was paid by Baylor to scrap this season's game so Bryce and brother Scott, who is the Bears' coach, wouldn't have to face each other. "The games are so stressful as it is," Bryce said. AP Photo/Chris Pietsch

Their father, Homer, a former Valparaiso head coach, was sitting in the stands -- wearing a neutral-gold shirt.

"We had to get permission from the NCAA for him to be there," Scott Drew said.

Coaches aren't allowed to talk about stats or the final score of the scrimmage, but the Drew brothers maintain it was evenly played.

"It was a tie," Scott said, laughing.

"It was really close," Bryce added. "We split, so neither of us had bragging rights."

Scott and Bryce agreed that they will never schedule one another in a regular-season matchup, but are hopeful one day they can play -- in the Final Four.

While Bryce didn't want to comment on it, sources told ESPN that a year ago, Bryce took himself out of the equation for the Iowa State job, largely due to the fact that he didn't want to play his brother twice every year in the regular season.

"The games are so stressful as it is," Bryce said. "And there are 350 other Division I teams we can play. There's no reason to play one another."

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/778730241531387905

It appears that the Women's Golf team and Bowling Team no longer have the head coaches that started the school year.  Have their been any announcements?  The websites have been updated to longer have the bios of these coaches, but no news.  I can understand being silent on the why, but don't you need to acknowledge that these coaches have either left their programs or been removed?

Since Michigan doesn't release a two-deep, Colorado decided to have some fun:

https://twitter.com/RunRalphieRun/status/775718135315980288


http://herosports.com/college-football/colorado-football-buffaloes-michigan-football-wolverines-twitter

Paul Oren retweeted:

https://twitter.com/tayrichards34/status/760295396740567041


Nothing on Valpo Athletics website

I went to bed at halftime of the Warriors/Trailblazers game, with Portland up 10.  I see this tweet this morning:

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/729911073772539904


Curry scored 40, including 17 in the OT period.  Not too shabby for coming off the bench!  Sorry I missed the end of this game!

Article on ESPN:

http://espn.go.com/blog/dave-telep/post/_/id/3494/undefined


The entitlement culture of elite HS hoops


Apr 26, 2013
Dave Telep


When I stepped off the plane from California after returning home from the Elite 24 high school basketball showcase last August, "it" was building. The feeling percolated and simmered to the point of sadness. The level of concern for this generation of players was weighing on my mind.

OK, that's not exactly truthful. It actually took only five minutes into the event's first scrimmage for "it" to begin. It was a feeling that crystallized as I watched two dozen of the best high school basketball players in the country gather for what should have been a chance to improve, push themselves and measure themselves against other great players.

Instead, what we saw was a microcosm of some of the ills of the game manifesting in one final end-of-summer setting. Don't get me wrong. Some players were buttoned up, had their shirts tucked in and were working hard. But those players were in the minority. Most of the guys loafed around the bench, feigned injury and couldn't have been more disinterested. I can't say there was anyone pushing them or holding them accountable, but that's merely part of the bigger problem.

The effort on the court was bad enough. Seven minutes in, the scrimmage disintegrated into a cherry-picking contest of uncontested dunks and missed layups. Having been in all-star settings before, expectations are low. But this was unreal. The best way to sum it up would be to say if college coaches had been allowed in the building, scholarships would have been pulled. Yes, it was that bad.

But the behavior off the court may have been even worse. One player said of the buffet at the Ritz Carlton, "They should have just gotten us pizza." Another player asked Jalen Rose about the, well, women in the NBA. And we're only scratching the surface here.

Why am I writing about this now? Because as the travel team season heats up, the entitled, diva culture of high school basketball steps once again to the forefront. And because, frankly, this hits home for me. It saddens me.

Having covered recruiting since 1997, I've witnessed a gradual decline in the attitudes of the players, the priorities of their parents and the overall state of the game. If saying so makes me a "hater," then so be it. It's the truth -- and any college coach not worried about his standing with recruits will echo the same sentiment.



Prospects like Jabari Parker who value winning above individual status used to be more common. Now they are becoming the exception among elite recruits. AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

Now, granted, there are still plenty of good guys. Players like Marcus Smart and Jabari Parker care about winning, play a team game and respect those around them. There's no stress in watching them perform because you know they are driven by the right motivations and respect the game's principles on and off the court.

Their attitudes make them all the more valuable, but they stand in stark contrast to a member of the Class of 2013 who earlier this month declined insertion into a competition because he felt disrespected about his minutes. Guys like Smart and Parker used to be the rule, now they're the exception.

I asked the staffers at Elite 24 who'd been part of the game for the past seven years and they said last year's crop was the most entitled bunch of players they've seen. Then a few months ago, I ran into a guy who worked the NBA draft combine and he said this year's crop of NBA rookies that came through the combine was the most entitled group he'd seen. Getting a clearer picture now?

There's plenty of talent in the high school ranks -- that's not the problem. The issue is that the talent isn't being developed on or off the court to standards that benefit the health of the game.

College coaches have to teach freshmen basic concepts -- concepts so basic that the average fan would be mortified to know how little his coveted recruit actually understands about the game. I once watched a current top 100 senior run to the baseline when told to start a play at the elbow.

Some college programs take the initiative from day one to help their guys. I've heard of teams going through courses on dress, manners and how to respectfully treat women. But other programs are content to allow their players to pass through the turnstiles and let the chips fall where they may. Sadly, there are college coaches with so little interest in developing the person as well as the player that they'd sooner have him transfer than invest time in teaching him the right way to conduct himself.

There is plenty of blame to go around. I'll even point the finger at myself. Though cognizant of overhyping a player, it's irresponsible not to view myself as a cog in the process.

Those of us who cover basketball from the grassroots level share many similar opinions on the state of the game, and the college guys bend our ears daily with tales from their end. Something has to change, but change isn't easy.

Recently, three things came to mind that, if we could instill these values in future generations of players, might actually make some progress.

1. Appreciation

Let's face it: College basketball is a business, and high school basketball isn't far behind. But it's not the NBA. These players aren't professionals, and despite a lot of people and entities making money, playing this game is not a right. College basketball is a privilege. High school and AAU basketball should be considered privileges, as well.

When someone gives you food, fills the stands with thousands of people to watch you or offers a simple "congrats on your success," there's a standard of appreciation that should reciprocate that courtesy. "Thank you" is an easy phrase to say.

It's a privilege to play college basketball. You have to be good enough. Wearing the uniform itself should be a source of pride. The name on the front of the jersey should trump the letters stitched on the back.

2. Humility

No one is bigger than the game. Every year there are two dozen McDonald's All Americans, but there has never been a year when they've all become NBA players or even elite college players. You haven't made it just by being an elite recruit. High school success isn't the destination, it's just part of the journey.

Players who think they are special are making a mistake. Being an elite recruit means you have a chance to be good. Respect the chance, make the most of it, but stay humble.

3. Being part of something bigger than yourself

It's not just the one-and-done guys who don't "unpack their bags" in college. Players who are in their fourth years might still have never bought into the team or allowed themselves to be coached. In today's game, high school kids are constantly transferring. So when they get to college and hit a wall, they do what they've been conditioned to do: they transfer.




It would be nice to see players take up the challenge of unpacking their bags, getting to know their teammates and respecting the journey they are about to go on. Take pride in being a part of your school's community and weave yourself into the fabric of campus life. You might actually like what you see.

The role of parents plays into this, too. Look around the gym at basketball events. Too often, instead of the parents sitting together and cheering the team, they're isolated, choosing instead to only cheer for their sons. Parents are more likely to wonder why a player didn't pass to their son than be happy for the kid who scored. Parents also need to allow their kids to be coached, corrected and even -- hold your breath now -- criticized. Life's a journey. Experiencing some trials and tribulations now can prepare a young man for the future.

In today's grassroots basketball culture, there's always another game, another camp, another event. Forget that. Winning matters. A return to that simple maxim could go a long way toward reclaiming our values and culture -- and game -- on and off the court.

http://www.midmajormadness.com/2016/4/13/11419784/graduate-transfer-rule-drexel-charleston-lee-barry-mid-major



Graduate transfer rule continues to cause issues for mid-major programs

By Benjamin Miraski  @bmiraski  on Apr 13, 2016, 5:15a  5   





   
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports


The graduate transfer rule continues to plague mid-major schools who can't keep their top talent, nor gain players to benefit.


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At some point in the next couple of months, we will find out where Canyon Barry will finish his college career. It won't be at Charleston where he has spent the first three years of his career.

Right now the front runners are Cal, Florida, Kansas, Louisville, Miami, Northwestern and Mississippi. That list doesn't include any school outside the Power 5.




Rodney Pryor will be leaving Robert Morris after his first three seasons, The 6-5 shooting guard is considering Georgetown, Florida and Kansas. He does have Gonzaga on his list, a team with inordinately more resources than the team near Pittsburgh that he is leaving.

There are more stories like this, players that leave their mid-major team for bigger schools after they have graduated, in order to garner more exposure, or have a chance at the NCAA Tournament.

The list this season has reached more than 65 players, and will likely grow as the month continues. These players won't need to sit out a year to make an impact at their new schools; they will be eligible right away.

Which is how Damion Lee ended up as the best player on Louisville this past season. After graduating from Drexel in four years (after a couple of injuries left him with another year of eligibility), he transferred to play for the Cardinals. His goal which is clearly articulated on the Louisville website was to "win a national championship and become part of a family."

The national championship was certainly not coming at Drexel, but it leaves little doubt what the main focus of his transfer was.




It wasn't the special education degree that he is pursuing. It was the NCAA Tournament.

Ironically that was stolen from him at Louisville, much as it was stolen from fellow graduate transfer Trey Lewis, who left Cleveland State. The self-imposed ban for the Cardinals kept both these players from reaching the postseason in their final year.

But Lee and Lewis did have the opportunity to showcase their skills on a bigger stage, and kudos to them for that. Because that is the main benefit that these transfers receive in their final year.

This isn't about education; this is about athletics, pure and simple. And pure and simple, this will never be something that benefits mid-major teams, who will just serve as a proving ground for the players who eventually jump to the Power 5.

For every player like Connor Devine, who is leaving South Dakota State to play closer to home in Alaska, you will have two or three players looking to make that leap.

The one stipulation put on these players is that they transfer to a school that has a graduate program that doesn't exist at the school they are leaving.

Drexel offers more than 120 graduate programs, including one in Special Education, but it doesn't have the exact thing that Damion Lee transferred in order to study. But Drexel is one of the few universities that could offer a degree like that outside of the Power 5, made up mostly of large state schools and institutions with massive resources to fund any degree imaginable.

Try being a school like Longwood, which has five graduate programs, and only one -- Reading, Literacy and Learning -- where they might have an advantage over any other program.

They are never going to land a graduate transfer because every other university in the country would offer a graduate degree in the same programs that they have.

Even Drexel lost out on keeping Lee who got to leave for a program that was slightly more specialized than what the University could offer.

At the end of the day, these transfers are all about basketball, or football, and a lot of coaches are not happy about the state of things. Even Kentucky head coach John Calipari spoke out against practice (although he may have been sticking up for his friend Bruiser Flint, who lost Lee to Louisville, one of Kentucky's biggest rivals):


[T]he NCAA has a rule that a kid can leave a program like Drexel after being coached and molded for three years and go to another school without having to sit out. If (Damion) Lee is there, they're in the NCAA Tournament. We're not even talking in these terms, but that happened.

Now, it is unclear that Drexel would have been in the NCAA Tournament with Lee; the CAA was that tough this season. But it is clear that there are feeling that this rule needs to change, because it hurts schools like Drexel that manage to recruit and find those diamonds in the rough.

Take Cleveland State, probably the poster child for finding great players who end up truly excelling away from the Vikings. Gary Waters finished 9-23 this season.

From last season, he lost both Lewis to the Cardinals, and Anton Grady to Wichita State. He will lose another graduate transfer this season: 6-9 center Aaron Scales. Lewis was probably the second best player on the Cardinals after Lee.

Grady was an integral part of the front court for Wichita State this season, which he knew when transferring. Just the fact that he researched which team needed his basketball skills the most, rather than the educational path he would land on says a lot:


Grady, from Cleveland, discussed his next stop with cousin Earl Boykins, a former NBA player, after he decided to leave Cleveland State. They researched rosters to find out which school needed a big man. He knew about WSU's success under coach Gregg Marshall. He knew Marshall needed a big man after the departure of Darius Carter.

So imagine Cleveland State with both of these players on the roster this season. They have more tools to help fight against the domination of Valparaiso in the league. They probably have a good shot at winning the the Horizon League tournament, or maybe even competing for the league title. Instead they went 4-14 in the conference.

Damion Lee will likely be among the players who are drafted in June this year. It still won't be a first round pick -- that was a long shot, even for a player with the talent of Lee -- but it wouldn't have happened if he hadn't left Drexel. The Dragons were just not equipped to give Lee the training, or the stage, that would allow this leap.

In some ways you can't fault him for making the choice that in the long run benefits him and his family for life.

But at the same time, you have to feel for schools like Drexel, or Cleveland State, or Longwood that will continue to be hurt by these transfers. The rule as it is written is totally lopsided. That these players can come in with no penalty essentially makes them free agents, ready to perform for whomever offers the best chance at a national title. And the rule is further tilted in favor of the biggest schools: those with the basketball teams that could win it all, and those with the ability to offer the most graduate programs, and the programs that are the most unique.

Soon Canyon Barry will make his decision. There will be no teams on the list that will result in one of the mid-major programs getting better. No matter the decision, one of them will lose their best player.

When the granny free throw ends up in Miami, the alma mater of his father, we will all just ignore the tilt of the NCAA rules that allowed him to leave Charleston, and pretty much tank the Cougars as a result.

Barry will reach the NCAA Tournament, and the rest of the team -- players like CAA Rookie of the Year Jarrell Brantley, and all-rookie and all-defensive team member Marquise Pointer -- will be watching him on television rather than playing in the postseason themselves.

So who exactly is this rule benefiting in the end?

SiriusXM has put the Valpo Crusader Mascot into the top 12 of "16 Bad Ass Mascots of College Basketball".

I'm without speech

http://blog.siriusxm.com/2016/03/07/the-16-most-bad-ass-mascots-in-college-hoops/

The Hall of Fame game is tomorrow.  Here is the Class of 2016:

http://valpoathletics.com/news/articles/2015-16/15223/hall-of-fame-class-of-2016-set-for-saturday-induction/#.Vr4zTTZf2Uk


Hall of Fame Class of 2016 Set for Saturday Induction

Friday, February 12, 2016


The Valparaiso University Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2016 will be officially inducted in a ceremony on the Valpo campus this Saturday afternoon. The 19th class in Hall of Fame history – Steve Bartholomew, Bert Bleke, Liz Mikos and Scott Petcu – will also be honored at halftime of the men's basketball game versus Wright State Saturday night.

Steve Bartholomew

Steve Bartholomew '08, '11 MBA was a standout for the Valpo men's track and field team from 2005 through 2008. Steve twice earned conference Athlete of the Year honors, picking up the highest accolade from the Mid-Continent Conference following the 2006 outdoor campaign, and the Horizon League following the 2008 indoor campaign. Also named the Horizon League's Outstanding Field Performer for both the indoor and outdoor championship meets in 2008, Steve competed in three NCAA Regional meets during his career. A five-time conference champion and a nine-time All-Conference performer, he holds three school records and also owns the Horizon League Championship record indoors in the weight throw. Steve earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from Valparaiso University in 2008. He also received a master of business administration from Valpo in 2011, serving as a strength coach in the athletics department while working toward this degree. A four-time USA Track and Field All-American in the weight throw following his graduation, Steve currently works as the President and CEO of Dominator Athletics, which produces throwing implements for field athletes nationwide.

Bert Bleke

Bert Bleke '67 was a star wide receiver for the Valpo football program for three seasons in the mid-1960s. Despite playing just three years, Bert ranks seventh in program history with 1,636 receiving yards. A threat to go the distance every time he caught the football, Bert averaged 18.6 yards per catch during his three seasons and finished his Valpo career with 14 touchdown receptions. He earned First Team All-Indiana Collegiate Conference accolades in each of his final two seasons as a Crusader and was an integral part of the 1964 squad, which shared the ICC championship crown. Bert also played one season of varsity basketball for the Brown and Gold. A 1967 graduate of Valparaiso University with a bachelor's degree in physical education, Bert is retired after a long career in education, including more than a decade as a school system superintendent.

Liz Mikos

Liz Mikos '06 was the most dominating defensive player in program history for the Valpo volleyball team from 2002 through 2005. Liz concluded her four-year career with 585 total blocks, 142 more than any other player in Crusader history and second-most in Mid-Continent Conference (now Summit League) history. Liz was a three-time All-Conference selection, including a First Team All-Mid-Con honoree in 2003, and was the conference's Defensive Player of the Year in 2005. She was an integral part of three conference regular season championship squads and helped Valpo to conference tournament titles and NCAA Tournament appearances in each of her final three seasons. This earned her All-Tournament Team accolades all three years and conference tournament MVP honors as a senior. Liz owns the top-three single-season block totals in program history — including a school-record 196 as a sophomore, good for second in the nation — and also ranks eighth in Valpo history in career hitting percentage. Liz, a 2006 graduate of Valparaiso University with a bachelor's degree in history, is currently working toward a Ph.D. at UC San Diego and is employed as a training and development consultant.

Scott Petcu

Scott Petcu '95 was a force on the defensive side of the ball for the Valpo football program from 1990 through 1993. Scott concluded his four-year collegiate career with 507 career tackles to establish a program record. A Sports Network Division I-AA Honorable Mention All-American as a senior in 1993, Scott was selected as a First Team All-Pioneer Football League choice at linebacker in the league's inaugural season and led the PFL with 134 total tackles in 10 games. He also earned Division I-AA Non-Scholarship National Player of the Week honors from Football Gazette as a senior following a win against Michigan Tech in which he made 16 tackles. Three of his four seasons he ranked among Valpo's all-time top five in single-season tackle totals, highlighted by his 167 total tackles as a sophomore in 1991 — which established the program record. Scott, who posted 333 solo tackles during his four years, also holds the team record with a 100-yard interception return for two points on a failed two-point conversion. A 1995 graduate of Valparaiso University with a bachelor's degree in communications, Scott is currently self-employed as a small business owner.

Just 1 hour until all-session & limited single-session tickets go on sale for #MotorCityMadness. Don't miss out!

Just saw this tweet from HL


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/13844497/seattle-mariners-fire-manager-lloyd-mcclendon-two-seasons

Not surprised, but was hoping that he would get another year.

We have our first offer with a 2018 recruit!  From South Bend Adams HS and the NBA's LaPhonso Ellis, Walter Ellis:

http://verbalcommits.com/players/walter-ellis

Our first 2017 recruit:

http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/kobe-king

This is before any offers (on verbalcommits or anywhere else) for the 2016 recruiting class.

Here are most of the coaching changes:

https://collegesportsinfo.com/2015/03/05/2015-college-basketball-coaching-changes/

Felder made highlights on Sports Center:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/oakland-guard-drops-defender-with-a-dazzling-crossover-204956387.html

Note time change to 2 PM.  First chance to separate ourselves from the logjam with 2 losses.  I expect this game to be intense.

Valpo    77
Oakland 63

Afternoon tipoff.  We need come out and play well early, just like the Milwaukee game.

Valpo  73
UIC     61

It is not surprising that Valpo and GB are 1 and 2 in Horizon League FG% and rebounding margin, with GB 1 and Valpo 2 in scoring defense.  What is surprising is that Valpo is 8th and GB 9th in FT%.  What up with that!?!?!?

I know it is an NCAA quiet period, but has anyone heard anything about Cecchini's second recruiting class?

Rivals had these names:

Tommy Whitted
Winter Park, Florida
Winter Park
6'1" 225 N/A
2 stars
5.2

ATH
William James
Chicago, Illinois
Morgan Park
6'1" 206

WR
Jake Matkovich
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Marquette University
6'5" 175

LB
Denis Mucha
Paramus, New Jersey
Paramus Catholic
6'1" 235

WR
Shaun Rankin
Dublin, Ohio
Coffman
5'9" 155

Exhibition caliber opponent and former Homer Drew coaching stop.  A chance to pad our stats a bit...

Valpo     92
IUSB      48

Saw this on Facebook:

https://twitter.com/PGPackersNews/status/508998865719406592

Follow Following Unfollow Blocked Unblock Pending Cancel   
Packers NewsVerified account
‏@PGPackersNews Sep 8  Via Jerry Kramer's daughter. MT @JerryKramer4HOF: Fuzzy Thurston is not doing well. So keep him and his family in your prayers and thoughts.

--------------
Appears that Fuzzy Thurston is not doing well.  Jerry Kramer's daughter is asking to keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers. 

This was in the Denver Post yesterday:

http://www.denverpost.com/colleges/ci_26055349/college-basketball-players-are-switching-schools-at-staggering-rate?source=most_viewed

It has been a slow posting week.  Many on this board are excited for the upcoming football season, so a poll is in order.

Massey has us winning almost three games, four if you add the Missouri Baptist, which he doesn't have in his schedule yet:

http://masseyratings.com/rate.php?s=cf2014&sub=11590

The breakout of the season and each game is here:

http://masseyratings.com/team.php?t=8361&s=262657

ESPN is doing a running article on the Men's BB Top 50 Coaches:

http://espn.go.com/ncb/notebook/_/page/top50coaches16/no-17-north-carolina-roy-williams

So far, they are up to number 16 - Roy Williams.  Scott Drew is in a tie for 50th.  I found it interesting that Brian Wardle made the list of 25 who just missed the cut.  I don't expect that we'll see Bryce in the remaining days...

Another reason that a PFL HC job can be a springboard to something else:

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/10123068/eastern-michigan-eagles-hire-chris-creighton-football-coach

After interviewing for the Detroit job, McClendon named manager for Seattle Mariners:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/mariners-name-lloyd-mcclendon-next-manager?ymd=20131105&content_id=63702876&vkey=news_mlb

Anyone else see the irony in this:

Loyola Leads McCafferty Trophy Standings Heading Into Spring Championships

We need every team, especially Milwaukee, to beat Loyola this spring!  Well done Crusader Men's Golf!

CNN has an article on March Madness.  Go to V!

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/15/us/march-madness-a-to-z/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

The next six games are key to our HL chances.  With road games at UIC, Milwaukee, Detroit, and YSU, a 3-3 record during this stretch is possible.  If that happens, we'll have 4 in the loss column, potentially being 2-3 games back in the L column to the halfway leader.  After the Loyola game, we really need to step up on the road and crush everyone that visits the ARC.  I'm hoping for 5-1 record during this stretch, but we really need at least 4 wins.

The HL is very tight.  Teamrankings is projecting 7 teams in the HL with 8 conference victories (rounding up):

http://www.teamrankings.com/ncb/projections/standings/

This will be a very tough season.  Still like our chances!

A week off, finals ending this week, will it be a slugish game or will they come out energized?  I'm hoping for a breakout game, one that we can build on going into these last days of 2012 and into the HL season.  An extra rebound here, a forced TO there, a few made threes, a hand in the face of the shooter...

Valpo    71
Mizz St  59

I don't think Bethune Cookman will be as up tempo as last night.  We should control the boards again.

Valpo  78
Beth-Cook 61