College Hoops 2k8: A New Challenge

[Eaglesfan27]

19:02 - Holmes picks up 2 quick fouls. We lead 1-0.

14:20 - Our offense is flowing very well, but our defense has been terrible. Mendoza and Moye have just picked up their 2nd fouls in the last 30 seconds. I bring in Enzweiler and Rollins. We are tied at 14. Mendoza has most of our points.

11:11 - After missing his first few shots of the game, Pait finally scores on a dunk and the foul. We lead 23-19.

9:02 - We are tied at 25. I slide McCurry to PG and bring in Humphrey and Sowers.

7:50 - Sowers gets a long defensive rebound and takes it coast to coast for a huge dunk and the foul. We lead 30-25.

5:43 - Sowers on a personal 9-0 run. We lead 36-25.

3:02 - Sowers with an amazing drive along the baseline, he gets fouled, gets the continuation, and hits an unbelievable reverse layup. He makes the FT. We lead 48-31.

1:07 - Sowers is showing that he might be the fastest man on my roster. He has is blowing by their SF at will. We lead 54-34.


Halftime: We lead 59-37.


Sowers is the player of the half with 19 points and 1 assist.

Pait only has 3 points as he has been ice cold in the first half.

McCurry played the entire first half and is tired even after halftime. I'll let Sowers start the half at SG. The rest of my starters return.

13:45 - Sowers and Pait are so explosive together. Well it's mostly Sowers this game. I just got word from my assistant that we have reached 20 dunks in a game for our first time ever. We are up 76-51. It will be time to slow down the tempo very soon.

9:50 - I call off the dogs. We lead 85-55. I bring in Hodge, Lang, Humphrey, Enzweiler, and Rollins.


We win the game 100-70.


Sowers is the player of the game with 27 points, 3 boards, and 3 assists. He shot 7 of 11, 0 of 2, and 13 of 15.

Sead with 3 points, 3 assists, and 2 turnovers.

McCurry with 10 points, 2 assists, and 2 turnovers.

Pait with 6 points, 1 board, and 2 turnovers. He shot 2 of 10. He allowed their SF to score 21 points (well not all were against him, but a chunk of them were.)

Mendoza with 15 points, 6 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 1 turnover. He shot 5 of 5, 1 of 1, and 4 of 4.

Moye with 12 points, 5 boards, and 1 block.


Humphrey with 9 points, 3 boards, and 1 assist.

Enzweiler with 2 points, 9 boards, and 1 block.

Rollins with 6 points, 8 boards, and a block.

Lang with 7 points in garbage time.

Hodge with 3 points and 2 assists.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our next game is in the next round of the Preseason NIT Tourney. We play against a tough Marquette team that is 2-1. Their roster strength is 83. We'll see if our weaknesses hurt us..


We beat them 80-48! Unfortunately, Pait hurt his back early in the game. He'll be out for 2-3 weeks.

Sowers shined with the extra minutes. He finished with 14 points, 4 boards, and 4 assists. He'll move into the starting role (and might not give it up.)

Sead with 7 points, 3 assists, and 1 turnover.

McCurry with 11 points, 4 boards, 5 assists, and 1 block.

Mendoza with 12 points, 5 boards, and 2 assists.

Moye with 8 points, 5 boards, and a block.


Humphrey with 11 points and 4 boards. Lang with 12 points in garbage time.


Our next game is in the NIT Season Tip-Off Final. We'll face Minnesota which beat Marshall 90-60. Minnesota is a well balanced team with an overall roster strength of 82. Most of their starters are in the high 70's.

[Eaglesfan27]

13:44 - The game started out great with Sowers scoring the first 5 points and us leading 5-0. We had a 7-4 lead, then they went on a run in which they forced 2 turnovers by Sead (with full court pressure) and 2 turnovers by Sowers. The last one just led to a 3-on-1 fastbreak alley-oop dunk. We are down 16-7 as they are on a 12-0 run. I call a timeout and try to get my guys to focus on defense.


9:16 - Sowers ended that run with a 12 footer and he has been playing at a very high level. However, he has absolutely exhausted himself. I rest him and all of the starters. We are down 21-15.

7:43 - Humphrey hits his 2nd 3 in a row and this time he was fouled! He completes the 4 point play. We are down 23-22.

4:30 - We are down 30-24 as I bring back my starters.

1:30 - We tie it at 30, before they force 2 more turnovers by Sead with full court pressure. Those lead to easy baskets and get them started on a 8-0 run. We are down 38-30. They are constantly bringing the help defense on Sowers.

35 seconds - Sowers splits a double team, hits an amazing layup and gets fouled.


Halftime: We are down 41-33.


Their PG has 14 points and 4 assists against Sead who is just too slow. :( With a faster/more skilled PG, I think this team could have a legitimate chance to repeat.

12:03 - Sowers is exhausted. Sead is playing horribly and will probably not be a starter any longer after this game. McCurry is shooting poorly. I bring in the 2nd unit except with McCurry at PG. McCurry, Lang, Humphrey, Enzweiler, and Rollins. We are down 51-38. Sead's man has 21 against him and Sead has 8 turnovers.

7:02 - McCurry is exhausted. He'll get a short break. I bring back Mendoza Moye, and Sead. We are down 59-48.

4:00 - I go with our potential starting lineup next game: McCurry, Sowers, Humphrey, Mendoza, and Moye. We are down 63-50. We bring out our full court trap.

2:06 - Sowers with another highlight drive, layup, and the foul. He misses the FT, but Moye gets the putback dunk! We are down 67-62.

1:43 - Mendoza draws a foul in the paint. He makes 1 of 2.

1:20 - Humphrey with a steal and that leads to a fastbreak by McCurry who is fouled before he can dunk it. McCurry makes both FT's. We are down 67-65.

44 seconds - They made an interior basket, but we got a secondary fastbreak and Mendoza dunked it.

28 seconds - They get the interior dunk. Sowers has it stolen on the drive to the hoop. We have to foul. They make the FT's.

20 seconds left - McCurry with a quick 2.

15 seconds - Mendoza steals it, passes to Humphrey who misses a 3. Moye gets the board, passes it out to Humphrey who misses another 3.


We lose the game 77-71.


Their PG was the player of the game. He finished with 21 points and 8 assists. He didn't score or have another assist once McCurry was on him.

Sead finished with 0 points, 0 boards, 1 assist, and 8 turnovers. He shot 0 of 4. He is done as a starter.

McCurry with 11 points, 2 boards, 4 assists, and 0 turnovers. He shot 2 of 9.

Sowers with 16 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 4 turnovers. He shot 4 of 10, 1 of 4, and 7 of 9.

Mendoza with 13 points, 7 boards, 4 assists, 4 steals (3 of them after we went to the full court trap) and 2 blocks. He shot 5 of 10.

Moye with 10 points, 10 boards, 3 assists, and 2 blocks. He shot 5 of 5. We need to get him more involved in the offense.

Humphrey led the bench with 12 points on 3 of 9 shooting.

[Eaglesfan27]

Nov 26, 2029 -

We host a weak UCSB team that is rated 73 overall. How will McCurry do in his first at PG and how will Sowers do in his first start at SG?


We win the game 80-60. Neither was spectacular, but they were both decent.

McCurry with 8 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, and 2 turnovers. He shot 1 of 8.

Sowers with 8 points, 5 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal. He shot 3 of 5 but was only 1 of 8 from the line.

Humphrey in his first start at SF (forgot about that) had 4 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and a block. He shot 1 of 7.

Mendoza thrived with 17 points, 7 boards, and 4 assists.

Moye with 22 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, and a block. He shot 9 of 12 and 4 of 4 from the line.

Sead did well off the bench with 5 points and 2 assists. That lead the bench.



I'm going to sim 2 more games cause I'm anxious to see how the early recruiting turns out..


Dec 1, 2029 -

Today we play at Texas A&M. They are 2-3 with a roster strength of 91 and should be a very hard game on the road.


We lose in a close game, 58-56.

McCurry with 6 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, and 6 turnovers.

Sowers with 6 points, 8 boards, and 3 assists. He shot 3 of 6.

Humphrey with 10 points, 8 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 3 of 7.

Mendoza with 7 points, 4 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 2 of 10.

Moye with 4 points and 5 boards. He shot 2 of 10.


Enzweiler led the bench with 12 points and 7 boards.


Now to the first day of the early signing period..

[Eaglesfan27]

We get a bunch of bad news, some of it unexpected:

Lowell Crosswhite signed with Oregon :( He'll be a tough player down the road.

Donatas Kleinzweig also signed with Oregon. They are going to be a formidable duo. #17 and #5 players in the class respectively. Why is Oregon beating us for these kids? I really thought I was going to get him as of last week.

Osei Freedman, a backup option at SG who I liked and thought was going to wait until the late signing period chose to sign with Nevada. He is the 34th player in this class.

Washington got the 12th ranked player in the class, SF Keena Linebaugh.

Florida signed the #1 kid in the nation, Kashien Gardner, a 6'3 SG from Orlando, FL.

Now, the good news:

Dameon Nelke is a Trojan! The 6'10 210 pound PF from Toledo, OH is a 4 star player who is ranked 79th overall. He averaged 12.1 ppg, 8.0 rpg, and 3.6 bpg in the ABL. Our staff grades him out as follows: Shooting B, Skills B, Defense B+, Athleticism B+, Rebounding A-, IQ B+, Potential B, Size A-. They believe he is a particularly good shot blocker with a great vertical.

The other bit of good news is that Rashard Galbreath appears ready to sign with USC soon. I have no doubt that he would be our starter next year.

Time to re-focus on some other recruits.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dec 8, 2029 -

We've dropped to #20 in the media poll at 5-2. Now, we face the #12 team, West Virginia at our place as I'm slightly preoccupied with recruiting. I've got several big time recruits coming in this weekend, including a longshot SG from Atlanta. I'm not going to compromise, if I can't get a starter quality SG, I'd rather not take any this year and let Sowers or one of my SF's play SG next year.


Despite my being preoccupied, we beat them at the Galen center 70-66!

Mendoza took over this game. 28 points, 7 boards, and 3 assists. He shot 7 of 10, 3 of 4, and 8 of 9.

McCurry with 8 points, 2 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 2 of 15 :(

Sowers is much too deferential when I don't push him to shoot. He scored 5 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, and 1 block. He shot 2 of 2.

Humphrey with 12 points, 11 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 4 of 7 all from the arc.

Moye with 7 points, 7 boards, and 3 blocks.


Sead led the bench with 7 points and 2 assists.

[Eaglesfan27]

I find myself chuckling as Dodd cooled on UCLA and chose SDSU over them. Then again, maybe I should have pursued him harder? UCLA did sign a nice 4 star PF, Jasko McCollum, today.

We got our man, 4 star PG Rashard Galbreath is coming to USC! He's from Modesto, CA. He's ranked 38th overall and 12th among PG's. He's 6'0 179. He averaged 8 ppg, 5.4 apg, and 2.4 spg in the ABL. Our staff loves his potential. Here is how he grades out per our recruiting coordinator: Shooting B, Skills A, Defense A-, Athleticism A, Rebounding C, IQ B, Potential A, and Size C. Our staff thinks he has a lot of work to do on his stamina. They think that his best attrbite is his passing. They also think he would already be one of the better perimeter defenders on my team.

Our other 2 scholarships are still being considered:

SR SG Demetrius Kirkland is a 6'2 193 pound SG from Atlanta, GA. He is ranked 36th overall and is a 4 star player. He averaged 9.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg, and 5.9 apg in the ABL. He's considering Florida, Miami, and USC as his top 3. If I don't get him, and it is a longshot that I will, I'll probably pass on a SG this year unless a good one falls through the cracks.

PG Noah Hendriks is a 5 star PG from Peoria, IL who indicated he is interested in us so I'm pursuing him. He is 6'2 180 and is rated 24th overall. His top 3 are LSU, Kansas, and USC.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our next game is vs Loyola Marymound. They are 7-2 with a team roster rating of 81. They are led by a good center, Len Huffman who is 7'0 255 and rated 81 overall. The rest of their starters are in the low 70's. Their bench is in the 60's.

Pait is back to 100% and will start for us. McCurry will start at the point, but he is battling a sore hip. Our starting 5: McCurry, Sowers, Pait, Mendoza, and Moye.

[Eaglesfan27]

15:19 - Our offense isn't as explosive, but this lineup is giving much better defense. We are up 7-4.

9:54 - We are down 13-12. Sowers' speed is being neutralized by their SG.

8:10 - We are tired. We are down 16-15 as I bring in Sead, Lang, Humphrey, Enzweiler, and Rollins.

3:00 - Sead is playing horribly. We are down 24-17. McCurry is still tired (and hurt), I go with Hodge, Sowers, Pait, Mendoza, and Moye to close out the half.

2:45 - Moye draws a 2nd on Huffman who has 12 points.


Halftime: Mendoza hits a 3 from midcourt at the buzzer but they say it left his hand too late. We are down 28-24.


Huffman is the player of the half. Their center has 12 points, 5 boards, and 2 blocks.

Mendoza leads our team with 6. Moye leads with 7 boards.


15:58 - Moye gets a 3rd foul on Huffman. We are down 39-36.

40 seconds later, Pait hits a quick 3 to tie it at 39.

12:48 - Andres, their SF, and Pait are exchanging baskets. Pait's defense is bad, but his offense is great when he is on. We are tied at 46.

11:24 - Without Huffman in, Moye has been dominating the scoring as well. However, he just picked up his 3rd foul. I rest him and the other starters. Hodge will come in at PG. We are up 52-49.

7:42 - I get Mendoza back into the game. We are down 62-59. They are forcing too many turnovers from Hodge.

7:06 - Lang gets a 4th foul on Huffman who just returned to the game 2 minutes ago. We are down 64-60.

5:14 - I get the rest of my starters in the game. We are down 69-64.

4:07 - Moye with an interior basket, he now has 22 points! Then, Sowers with a 12 footer, Sowers with a block at the other end, and Sowers with a breakaway dunk! We lead 70-69.

2:37 - After Huffman makes a basket, Pait responds with a 3. We lead 73-71.

2:05 - Jeffries, their PG, with a 14 footer. Tied at 73.

1:32 - Moye misses a post shot. Sowers gets it back for us with a great steal.

59 seconds - Sowers drills a 3 from the corner!

37 seconds left - Their SG hits his first basket of the night. We are up 76-75.

36 seconds - They intentionally foul to extend the game. McCurry hits the 1st, misses the 2nd, but Pait with the offensive board! Pait makes 1 of 2. We are up 78-75.

Andres, their SF, hits another 3 where Pait was out of position. 20 seconds left. Andres has 20 now, mostly against Pait..

With 0.2 seconds left, Mendoza draws a foul in the post! He makes the first FT and intentionally misses the 2nd!



We win the game 79-78.


Moye is the player of the game with 22 points, 12 boards, 3 assists, and 2 blocks. He shot 7 of 9, 0 of 0, and 8 of 10.

McCurry with 6 points, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 3 turnovers. He shot 1 of 2, 1 of 2, and 3 of 4.

Sowers with 11 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. He shot 3 of 7, 1 of 2, and 4 of 4.

Pait with 15 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 1 steal, and 2 turnovers. He shot 5 of 10, 2 of 4, and 3 of 5.

Mendoza with 11 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 3 of 11, 0 of 0, and 5 of 7.


Humphrey led the bench with 5 points. Hodge with 4 points and 1 assist.

Sead with 0 points, 0 assists, and 3 turnovers. He is the worst waste of a scholarship I've ever had.. not playing up to his practice ability at all.

[Eaglesfan27]

At 7-2, we rise to 16th in the media poll.

Our next game is vs Eastern Washington. They are 1-7 and have a roster strength of 70. We beat them 85-46.

Pait led the way with 21 points, 8 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals, and 1 block. He shot 7 of 14, 5 of 11, and 2 of 3.

McCurry with 10 points, 1 assist, and 1 turnover.

Sowers with 7 points, 4 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal.

Mendoza with 12 points, 5 boards, and 5 assists.

Moye with 12 points, 8 boards, 2 assists, and 3 blcoks.

Enzweiler with 15 points, 6 boards, and 3 blocks.


Our next game is against UC Riverside. They are 3-5 with a roster strength of 70. No stars on their team. If Pait can't shut down this SF, he'll be facing a demotion.

[Eaglesfan27]

19:02 - Sowers with a spectacular dunk, but he hurt his ankle on the play. This doesn't look good at all, he has to be carried off the court :(

We are up 4-0. We go big: McCurry, Pait, Mendoza, Enzweiler, and Moye.

16:31 - They score their first basket. We are up 13-3.

10:41 - Very sloppy last 3 minutes. We were up 24-8 at one point. It is now 26-15 as I rest the starters. The early report on Sowers is that he may have broken his ankle. :(

I bring in Sead, Lang, Humphrey, and Rollins, leaving Enzweiler at PF.


3:24 - They are the worst team I've seen in a long time at handling our full court trap. Also, their PG is slow enough that Sead is able to dominate him. We are up 52-22 as I bring back some of our starters.


Halftime: We lead 60-25. I'll call off the full court trap now..

Pait is the player of the half with 13 points, 3 boards, and 4 steals.


9:58 - I pull my starters. We lead 84-40.

7:02 - I empty my bench. We lead 92-45.



We win the game 98-60.

Pait is the player of the game with 25 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and 4 steals. He shot 9 of 15, 3 of 7, and 4 of 4.

McCurry with 12 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks, and 2 turnovers. He shot 3 of 3 from the field and 6 of 9 from the line.

Mendoza with 14 points, 8 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 2 turnovers. He shot 5 of 10, 0 of 2, and 4 of 4.

Moye with 7 points, 10 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.


Humphrey led the bench with 23 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, and 1 steal. He shot 8 of 15, 3 of 7, and 4 of 4.

Sead with 4 points and 6 assists.

Enzweiler with 5 points, 4 boards, and 3 steals.

Lang with 4 points and 3 boards.

[Eaglesfan27]

We get the bad news the next day: Sowers didn't break his ankle, but he has a severe high ankle sprain. He will be out about 4 weeks.

I reluctantly put Sead back in the starting lineup as I don't think any of my other SF's are quite fast enough to play full time SG. We'll go with Sead, McCurry, Pait, Mendoza, and Moye for now.



Dec 29, 2029 -

Tonight, we have a tough raod game vs Mississippi State. They are 8-1 with a roster strength of 89.

Pait leads us to the win, 80-70.

Pait with 24 points, 5 boards, and 1 steal. He shot 10 of 14, 2 of 5, and 2 of 2.

Sead with 6 points, 4 assists, and 2 turnovers. He shot 1 of 4.

McCurry with 10 points, 2 boards, and 2 assists.

Mendoza with 16 points, 7 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.

Moye with 8 points, 6 boards, and 2 steals.


Humphrey led the bench with 5 points, 5 boards, and a block.


At 10-2, we are now 10th in the media poll.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dec 31, 2029 -

Tonight we host 1-8 Northern Colorado. I decide to go ahead and sim it as we should easily blow them out.

We beat them 85-56. Sead with 5 points, 6 assists, and 1 steal. He shot 1 of 6.

McCurry with 17 points, 2 boards, anda 2 steals.

Pait with 9 points, 5 boards, a steal, and a block. He shot 2 of 10.

Mendoza with 13 points, 9 boards, 3 assists, and 1 block.

Moye with 15 points, 4 boards, and 2 blocks.


Enzweiler led the bench with 9 points and 11 boards.


Now, time for a quick preview of the Pac-10.

[Eaglesfan27]

Here is the conference listed in order of roster strength:

1. #12 Stanford is 8-2 with a roster strength of 93. They are a well balanced lineup featuring stud sophomore Dedric Finn who is now rated 88 overall. They have a great bench.

2. #15 Washington is 10-2 with a roster strength of 93. They are slightly weak at PG where they start a good but not great sophomore. The rest of their lineup is well balanced and Freshman SF Esa Gennie is brilliant already.

3. USC is now #10 in the polls. We are 11-2, although with a soft schedule. Our roster strength is a 92 despite Sead starting.

4. Oregon is 9-3 with a 92 roster strength. They are also a bit weak at PG. The rest of their lineup is good with the biggest threat being JR SG Russ Grimes.

5. Arizona is 4th in the polls. They are 12-0. Their roster strength is 90. Their bench is relatively short, but they have a strong starting 5 that features 3 SR's and 2 JR's.

6. UCLA is 8-4 with a 88 roster strength. They are starting 3 SR's and 3 JR's. They are very weak at C, but the rest of their starting 5 is very good. SR PF Corey Douglas is ready to have an explosive season.

7. Cal is 7-3 with a 87 roster strength. They are starting a talented FR PG, Otis Urbitis who I tried very hard to get. He's rated 78 overall and would be starting for us if he had come here. They are also starting FR at PF and C. If they develop as expected, they could have a very strong starting 5 in a year or two..

8. Arizona State is 8-3 with a 86 roster strength. They are another young team that is starting 3 sophomores and 2 juniors. They are relatively weak at both guard positions.

9. Oregon State is 5-5 with a roster strength of 83. That is despite being a veteran laden starting 5 with 2 seniors and 3 juniors. They are weak at SF, PF, and C. JR PG Marcus Blue is their best player.

10. Washington State starts 4 SR's and 1 FR with the FR PF Elmore Lamkin being one of their best players. They are weak at both guard spots. Samuel Snow at C is their only star quality player.


Stanford is leading the conference in scoring at 86 ppg.

Washington leads with 17.6 assists per game.

We lead in rebounding and steals (34.5 and 9.4)

Snow of Washington State is the leading scorer so far at 23 ppg.

Hazel at Oregon is the leading rebounder at 9.9 per game so far.

Hull, Stanford, leads the conference in assists at 6.1 per game.

Finn, Stanford, leads the conference in steals at 2.4 per game.



Brady Mendoza is considered the best overall player in the conference! Interesting, I guess that goes by more than just overall rating.

Ginnie, Washington, is considered the best freshman.

Boxley, Washington, is considered the best pure shooter.

Hull, Stanford, is considered the best playmaker.

Boxley, Washington, is considered the best pro prospect.

Douglas, UCLA, is considered the best defender.

[Eaglesfan27]

We start off the conference schedule hosting the Oregon State Beavers. Oregon State is without their usual starting PG who ruptured his Achilles and is getting a medical redshirt. Let's take a closer look at their starting 5:

JR PG Marcus Blue is 5'11 187 and he has elite speed which should give Sead fits. He's a good distributor, and a very good finisher in the lane. He's a subpar defender. He's rated 83 overall. He's averaging 16 ppg, 5.7 apg, and 3.4 rpg.

SR SG Homer Kann is 6'7 229 and he has excellent athleticism. He's a good post up player. He's averaging 15.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg, and 1.7 spg. He's rated 82 overall.

JR SF Clayton Mims is battling a sore wrist. He's 6'5 217 and is generally a below average player in most areas who doesn't thrive in any area. He's averaging 7.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg, and 1 spg. He shoots just 34% from the field. He's rated 70 overall.

SR PF Cyril Wolfe is 6'8 223 and is rated 73 overall. He is an above average midrange shooter, but is below average in most other areas. He's averaging 6.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg.

JR C Leslie Burrowes is 6'8 204 and is rated 72 overall. He's a good passer for a F/C. He's averaging 7.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg, and 0.9 apg.

The bench is led by JR SG Derek Akingbala and JR SG Rico Carson. Both ard rated 75 overall. The rest of their bench is in the high 60's to very low 70's.

[Eaglesfan27]

15:00 - Due to their speed at guard, we decided to go with a 3-2 zone from the beginning of the game mixing in some 1-3-1. So far, it is working well. We are up 7-4.

11:28 - Pait with a drive into the lane, he is hammered by their defender, he goes down holding his knee! We are up 14-8. We bring in Enzweiler at PF and slide Mendoza to SF, but the 2nd unit will be coming in soon.

9:44 - We go on a 8-0 run that was fueled by a Sead steal and breakaway dunk. We lead 20-8.


8:12 - We bring in the 2nd unit: Hodge, Lang, Humphrey, Enzweiler, and Rollins. We lead 22-12.

4:00 - Our 2nd unit is doing a nice job. We lead 32-21.

3:00 - I bring back my starters. We lead 32-23.

2:21 - Moye picks up his 2nd foul.

Mendoza with a great last 2 minutes.



Halftime: We lead the game 45-23.

Mendoza is the player of the half with 15 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals.

Our zone defense is working much than expected, mainly because they have bad outside shooters.


16:33 - Mendoza picks up his 3rd foul but will remain in the game. They have started the half strong. We still lead 45-30.

15:49 - McCurry gets a 3rd foul on Kann.

9:22 - Thanks to the injuries, Hehn gets into the game. We use him at PF with the rest of our usual 2nd unit. We lead 63-40. I'd love to see this unit protect the lead the rest of the game and rest my starters.


Wow. They did a great job of slowing it down, playing good defense, and holding onto the lead.


We win the game 73-49.


Mendoza is the player of the game with 19 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and 3 steals. He shot 7 of 11, 1 of 2, and 4 of 4.


Sead with 6 points, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 turnovers. He shot 2 of 3 (all breakaway dunk attempts) and 2 of 2 from the line.

McCurry with 13 points, 1 board, 1 steal, and 1 block. He shot 5 of 11.

Pait with 5 points and 2 boards before he left the game with the injury.

Moye with 6 points, 5 boards, 5 assists, and 1 block. He also had 3 turnovers.


Enzweiler led the bench with 6 points, 8 boards, and 2 assists.

Humphrey with 5 points and 2 boards. He didn't do too well without Pait opening things up for him. He shot 2 of 8.

Hehn with a nice 9 minutes - 3 points and 4 boards.

Rollins with 2 points, 5 boards, and a block in his 18 minutes.


Now, to get news on Pait's MRI..

[Eaglesfan27]

Good news! Pait has no structural damage and should be able to play through the injury which will take 1-2 weeks to heal.

Jan 10, 2030 -

Our next game is at Arizona. They are now 13-1 as Stanford beat them. They will be a tough opponent.


We win a shootout! 95-89.

Mendoza led the effort with 26 points, 5 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. He shot 8 of 16, 3 of 6, and 6 of 7.

Sead with 4 points, 2 boards, and 6 assists. Only 1 turnover. He shot 2 of 4.

McCurry with 7 points, 7 boards, and 6 assists. He shot 2 of 8.

Pait despite the injury scored 18 points. He also had 4 boards, 1 block, and 5 turnovers. He shot 6 of 15, 2 of 8, and 4 of 4.

Moye with 9 points and 4 boards.

Humphrey led the bench with 13 points and 5 boards. He shot 5 of 6.

Enzweiler with 10 points. Lang with 8.




Next up is a game at Cal. They are 7-6 (0-3.) A look at their starting 5:


FR PG Otis Urbitis is 6'0 184 and is rated 78 overall. He comes in as an excellent 3 point shooter and a good ball handler. Slower than I expected when I was recruiting him, but he's still a very good athlete. Defensively, he is a bit of a mess right now. He's averaging 11.5 ppg and 2.8 apg.

SO SG Trey Hornsby is 6'3 193 and is rated 83 overall. He's also an excellent 3 point shooter. This team is full of good shooters. Defensively, he is weak. He is averaging 10.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, and 2 apg.

JR SF Daniel N'Diaye is 6'6 213 and is rated 84 overall. He's a good midrange shooter and a nice post up player. Defensively, he is the best player on the squad but is still just slightly above average. He's averaging 10.1 ppg and 5 rpg.

FR PF Rene Ridnour is 6'9 229 and is rated 75 overall. He's has a ton of potential, but he's raw right now offensively. He's a decent shot blocker. He's averaging 5.5 ppg, 5 rpg, and 1.7 bpg.

FR C Bart Ballard is 7'1 256 and is rated 78 overall. He'll play despite an ankle injury. He is going to be a great shot blocker. He's already a very good shot blocker. He also will become a great post scorer if he develops as expected, but he isn't there yet. He's averaging 4.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg, and 1.5 bpg.

The bench has 2 quality SF's:

SO Clifford Violette is 6'6 209 and is rated 81 overall. He's another excellent 3 point shooter. He's averaging 7.8 ppg and 2.3 rpg.

SO Ellis Oliver is 6'6 222 and is from Hawaii. He's rated 79 overall. He's a slasher who is one of the game's best dunkers. Defensively, he is a mess. He's averaging 6.5 ppg and 3.0 rpg.

I'll play them later.

[Eaglesfan27]

16:42 - Moye picks up his 2nd foul. He'll remain in the game for now. We are down 6-3.

14:26: Our offense is now hitting their shots. We lead 11-8.

13:16 - I sub in Enzweiler at center. We lead 13-8.

9:44 - I call a timeout and get my subs in. They are on a 10-0 run. They lead 18-15.

4:40 - We are down 28-25 as I bring back all starters except Pait who will get 1 more minute of rest.


They get a 3 at the buzzer from Hornsby.


Halftime: They lead 36-30.


Hornsby is the player of the half with 12 points.

Pait is missing wide open 3's. He has 8 points on 1 of 7 shooting.

McCurry with 6. Mendoza is also missing wide open shots. He is 0 of 6.



19:21 - Moye gets a 3rd foul on Ballard.

19:02 - Mendoza gets a 3rd foul on N'Diaye. Let's see if Pait can open up his offense against Violette.

13:26 - Sead gets a 3rd on Urbitis. We are down 45-40.

10:21 - Guys are playing sloppy and missing open shots, a bad combination. We are down 51-40 as I turn to the bench..

7:18 - Hodge gets a 4th foul on Urbitis. We are down 57-44.

6:20 - Hornsby makes another 3. Time to get my starters in and see if we can make a run. Down 60-44.


An embarassing loss. We lose the game 67-57. Their defense wasn't even very good, but we missed many wide open shots today.


Hornsby is the player of the game with 21 points, 8 boards, 2 assists, and a block. He shot 8 of 16, 5 of 9, and 0 of 0.


None of our players shot well today.

Sead with 4 points, 1 assist, and 5 turnovers. He shot 1 of 3.

McCurry with 12 points, 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 3 turnovers. He shot 3 of 9.

Pait with 17 points, 2 boards, 0 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks. He shot 3 of 14, 2 of 6, and 9 of 12.

Mendoza with 6 points, 4 boards, 3 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 2 of 12.

Moye with 4 points, 11 boards, and 3 blocks. He shot 1 of 6.


Rollins led the bench with 6 points and a board.

[Eaglesfan27]

Jan 17, 2030 -

Oregon is struggling due to injuries. They are 9-7 and are coming to our place today. They will be without 2 of their best players for this game.


We beat them 86-66. Good bounce back win. Sead with a much better game as he scored 9 and had 6 assists.

McCurry with 16 points, 5 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 6 of 12.

Pait with 5 points, 4 boards, and 2 blocks. He shot 1 of 7.

Mendoza with 20 points, 8 boards, 3 assists. He shot 6 of 13.

Moye with 9 points, 5 boards, and a block.


Humphrey led the bench with 8 points, 8 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block. Rollins with 7 points and 4 boards.





Our next game is hosting Washington. They are 12-5 (2-3) as they have been hit by injuries as well including their star freshman, Gennie who has been out for a few weeks with a separated shoulder. He will miss this game, but all of their other players are back.


SO PG Gaston Hornsby is developing nicely this year. He is now rated 82 overall. The 6'0 190 pound player has the best first step and best speed in the conference. He is an average passer, average shooter, and an average defender. He's averaging 7.7 ppg and 2.1 apg.

SR SG Damir Boxley is 6'3 234 and he is the best pure shooter in the conference. He's a fast athletic player who is also a solid defender. He's averaging 15.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg, and 5.2 apg.

JR SF Tamal Appleby is 6'3 206 and is rated 88 overall. He's a well rounded player with elite athleticism. He's averaging 10.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 4.4 apg, and 1.4 spg.

SR PF Delbert Jahnke is 6'8 266 and is rated 87 overall. He's one of the best big men in the conference at scoring and is a decent defender. He has tremendous combination of speed, quickness, and strength. He's averaging 16.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg, and 1.9 apg.

SO C Lance Appleby is 7'1 270 and he is rated 83 overall. He's become an excellent scorer down low. He's a great shot blocker. He's a decent overall defender. He's averaging 14 ppg, 6.8 rpg, and 2.4 bpg.


The bench is also special:

SO SG Bryant Kohn is rated 86 overall and is 6'7 215. He is a very good shooter with excellent athletic ability. He's averaging 7.6 ppg, 1.3 rpg.

SR PF Mick Bradshaw is 6'8 260 and is rated 85 overall. He's averaging 7.1 ppg and 4 rpg.

FR C E.F. Muhammad is 7'0 271 and is rated 80 overall. How did he slip under my radar? He's an excellent shot blocker but has only played 3 mpg this year.

The rest of their bench is in the high 70's.

[Eaglesfan27]

15:01 - McCurry gets a 2nd foul on Tamal Appleby. They bring in Kohn. We are tied at 8.

13:59 - Mendoza gets a 2nd foul on Lance Appleby. They bring in Bradshaw. We lead 10-8 as Mendoza misses the FT for the 3 point play.

13:12 - Pait hits his 3rd 3 of the game. He has 11 points. We need a huge game from him today. We lead 13-8.

12:12 - McCurry with a brilliant drive into the paint, he hits the reverse layup and is fouled by Bradshaw (his 2nd.) Muhammad comes into the game. We lead 16-10.

10:16 - We bring in Hodge, Lang, Humphrey, Enzweiler, and Rollins. We lead 19-12.

8:29 - Thanks to 2 offensive boards, we milk the clock for almost 2 minutes before they even get a possession. Still 19-12.

6:55 - McCurry did a good job on Boxley, but against Lang he hits back to back 3's. We lead 21-18.

5:33 - We lead 22-20 as I put my starters back into the game.

5:04 - Mendoza picks up his 3rd foul and will sit the rest of the half.

2:12 - They are on a 7-0 run. We are down 29-24. I call a timeout and talk to the guys about finishing the half strong.

1:33 - Pait with a 3 (after missing his last 2) and then Pait with a steal that leads to a fastbreak foul. We are down 29-28.


Halftime: We are down 33-30.


Pait is the player of the half with 15 points, 3 boards, 1 steal, and 1 block.

16:30 - McCurry gets a 3rd foul on Tamal. We are tied at 40.

13:50 - Hornsby with 2 quick 3's for them and Boxley with another. We are down 49-40.

12:12 - McCurry answers with a 3, a dunk, and a steal for a fastbreak foul. We are down 49-47.

9:33 - We tied it at 49, but they answered with a flurry of baskets to make it 57-49. We've closed it back within 2. 57-55 but our starters are exhausted. I bring in the 2nd unit and hope they can buy some time. We need Humphrey to get hot..

4:40 - I put back Sead, McCurry, and Mendoza. We are down 72-63. They ran a full court trap against Hodge that led to some quick baskets for both sides.

3:02 - I get the rest of my starters back. We are down 76-66.


We lose the game 82-72. They had too many weapons. If they remain healthy, I predict they will be a Final 4 team.

Boxley was the player of the game with 21 points, 5 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 7 of 9, 5 of 6, and 2 of 3.

They also had 14 points and 7 assists from Hornsby who torched Sead.

They got 14 points, 12 boards, and 3 blocks from Jahnke.

Lance Appleby with 10 points, 8 boards, and 3 blocks.



Sead with 0 points, 4 assists, 3 turnovers. He shot 0 of 4.

McCurry with 23 points, 2 boards, and 1 assist.

Pait with 26 points, 5 boards, and 4 steals. He shot 8 of 17, 4 of 11, and 6 of 8.

Mendoza with 6 points and 4 boards. He shot 3 of 10.

Moye with 7 points and 4 boards.

[Eaglesfan27]

After the game, we get some good news. Sowers is now 100% and ready to return to the lineup.

I debate and decide to go with McCurry at the point and Sowers back at SG. Sowers isn't as special when facing speedy SG's, but he is still good.


I decide to withdraw my scholarship offer to Noah Hendriks. He is from Peoria, IL and he has made it clear to me that while he likes USC, he wants to stay close to home. It looks like the 5 star PG is going to pick Kansas.

I decide to offer that scholarship to 3 star PG Oliver Liberty. He's ranked 110th overall. He is from Scottsdale, AZ and he has flown under the radar for the most part but our staff loves him. He's 6'2 190 and they grade him out at A- potential. UTEP is our biggest rival for him and they have a big lead since they have been going after him hard from the beginning.

Next up is a game at UCLA which has a banged up team. Their top player, Corey Douglas, is out for another 3-4 weeks with a high ankle sprain. 1 of their other starters, Greene, is banged up but will play.

UCLA is 11-6 (3-2) despite the injuries. A look at their starting 5:

JR PG Jayson Rand is rated 80 overall and is 5'9 166. He doesn't excel in any area, but he is good in most. He's averaging 11.7 ppg and 3.0 apg.

SR PG Reid Byerson is 6'4 211 and is the only star with Douglas out. He's a great 3 point shooter and has excellent athleticism. If McCurry struggles to stay in front of him, I could be forced to go back to Sead sooner than planned. He's averaging 12.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg, and 2.3 apg.

JR SF Deng Angounou is 6'7 242 and is rated 81 overall. He's a good midrange shooter. He's averaging 9.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg, and 2.4 apg.

FR PF Henry Greene is 6'9 208 and isn't ready to be a starter yet. He's rated 76 overall. He has tremendous speed for his size, but that is all. Otherwise, he is average at best. He's averaging 2.5 ppg, 2.2 rpg.

SR C Steven Dodd is 6'10 242 and is rated 72 overall. He is from Los Angeles. He is slightly below average in most areas. He's averaging 3.8 ppg and 2.1 rpg.

Without Douglas, I think this should be an easy game and I think UCLA is about to go on a losing streak.

[Eaglesfan27]

11:46 - McCurry just doesn't have the speed to stay in front of their fast PG. We are down 16-10.

10:33 - Down 16-11, I turn to my bench. Sowers in particular is exhausted.

6:16 - UCLA is on a 15-0 run. We are down 31-14. I can't believe this is happening. I call a timeout and lay into the team. I also bring back most of the starters: Sead, McCurry, Pait, Mendoza, and Moye.

5:20 - Moye with 5 quick points including a dunk and the foul.

5:00 - Moye with 2 quick fouls on Dodd. We are going to him and he is responding. 7 quick points from him. We are down 33-22.


Rand is giving Sead a lot of trouble as well.


Halftime: We are down 42-30.


Rand is the player of the half with 11 points and 3 assists.


Moye leads our team with 16 points and 4 boards. He had a great last 5 minutes. He is going to need a strong 2nd half for us to win.

14:52 - We have no answer for Rand. I'm surprised. Sead picks up his 4th. We bring in Hodge to see if he can slow him down. Also, their full court trap is killing us this game. Moye is tired. We bring in Enzweiler. We are down 52-38.

8:46 - Our starters took advantage of time against their 2nd unit to tie it at 59, but now our starters are exhausted and they are bringing back their starters. It is going to be up to Humphrey and Sowers to keep scoring..

3:22 - We are within striking distance as my starters return. Down 74-68. Sowers with 5 points during that stretch and everyone else chipped in a bit.

2:40 - Mendoza with a nice post up move scores. We get a stop.

1:58 - Mendoza misses a 12 footer. Deng draws a foul on Pait. He makes both FT's.

Mendoza has a dunk attempt blocked by Dodd!

We get a stop.

1:02 - Pait misses a 3. Moye with the rebound. Moye with a nice hook for the basket. We are down 76-72.

31 seconds - We force a missed shot, but Deng gets the offensive board. We have to foul him. He makes both FT's.


We lose the game 83-74. Very disappointing.

Embarassing, Dodd was the player of the game. He managed to put up 16 on us! He also had 5 boards.

Rand finished with 15 points and 7 assists.

Byerson with 16 points.



Moye led us with 20 points, 9 boards, 3 assists, and 2 blocks. He shot 7 of 10. We should have gone to him more in the 2nd half, but they did a good job of fronting him and denying the ball.

Sead with 0 points, 0 assists, and 6 turnovers.

Sowers with 5 points, 1 board, 1 assist, and 1 steal. He shot 2 of 5. He couldn't blow by anyone this game except 1 play where he had the benefit of a nice screen by Mendoza.

Pait with 19 points, 1 board, 3 steals, and a block. He shot 6 of 12, 2 of 6, and 5 of 6.

Mendoza with 13 points, 5 boards, 4 assists, and 3 steals. He shot 4 of 10. He also had 5 turnovers.


Enzweiler led the bench with 4 points and 4 boards.

Humphrey was 0 of 5.

[Eaglesfan27]

We are now 3-3 in Pac-10 play and our confidence is fading. Fortunately, we have just what the doctor ordered, a trip to WSU. They are 11-7 (3-3) with a roster strength of 83.


We beat them 78-54. Their center, Snow had 34 points!

Sead with 2 points, 2 assists, and 2 turnovers.

McCurry with 11 points, 3 boards, and 1 assist.

Pait with 17 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks.

Mendoza with 9 points, 8 boards, 6 assists, and 2 steals.

Moye with 7 and 7.

Enzweiler led the bench with 13 points, 6 boards, and 3 blocks.

Humphrey with 10 points, 3 boards, and 3 assists.

Sowers had 8 points off the bench on 2 of 3 shooting. He was 4 of 4 from the line.


We are now 15-5 (4-3) and we drop to 18th in the media poll. We need to get on a winning streak. Next up is a game at home vs ASU. They are 12-6 (4-3.) Their roster strength is 86.

Their best players are:

SO SF Mawel Haywood is 6'8 225 and he is their highest rated player at an overall of 81. He is a good defender. He's averaging 7.7 ppg and 3.8 rpg.

SO SF Cardell Marokivc is 6'8 227 and is rated 80 overall. He's a very good interior scorer and a decent mid range shooter. He's averaging 9.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg.

JR PF Kevin Klein is 6'9 259 and is rated 80 overall. He's a good shot blocker. He's averaging 9.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg, and 2.3 bpg.

SO PG Dale Riddick is 5'11 184 and is rated 79 overall. He's even faster than UCLA's PG and could give us big problems. He's averaging 8.8 ppg, 5.4 apg, and 1.2 spg.

JR SG Logan Gatling is 6'7 217 and is rated 76 overall. He is a solid 3 point shooter. He's averaging 10.2 ppg, 4.3 rpg, and 3.3 apg.

The bench is all in the low 70's. I'll play them later.

[Eaglesfan27]

14:53 - Sead with a very bad start. He just picked up his 2nd foul. We'll bring in Hodge. We are down 12-10.

9:53 - Down 20-18, I rest my starters and bring in Humphrey, Sowers, Enzweiler, and Rollins.

7:00 - Sowers who has been all over the court takes a charge and goes down holding his knee :( We are tied at 27 thanks to 5 quick points by Sowers. Lang comes in and Humphrey slides to SF.

4:45 - Humphrey has dominated the last 2 minutes with 2 quick steals that led to fastbreak baskets and a 3. We are up 34-27.

Humphrey is dominating the passing lanes with his long arms. 2 more steals and we are up 38-27.

2:45 - I bring back all of my starters except for Sead and Pait. Humphrey is on fire and deserves to finish the half. We are up 44-30.


Halftime: We lead 50-36.

Humphrey is the player of the half with 13 points, 3 boards, and 6 steals.

Sowers has been cleared to return in the 2nd half.

Humphrey is on a hot streak and will start the 2nd half.



13:50 - Humphrey is slowing down. I bring back Pait to get our offense going. We lead 54-44.

9:06 - Pait isn't doing anything, but Moye has been brilliant the last 4 minutes. He and everyone else is tired. I rest my starters with a 64-50 lead. Sowers will come back at SG and Humphrey will come in at SF where he dominated.

2:41 - We lead 70-61. Our reserves are tiring. I bring in the starters to finish it out.



We win the game 75-69.

Humphrey is the player of the game with 17 points, 6 boards, and 6 steals. He shot 4 of 9, 0 of 2, and 9 of 10.

Sead with 2 point, 1 assist, and 4 turnovers.

Hodge with 4 points, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, and 0 turnovers in the same number of minutes..

McCurry with 6 points, 3 boards, and 1 steal. He shot 2 of 7.

Pait with 9 points, 1 board, 1 steal, and 1 block. He shot 0 of 6 and was 9 of 10 from the line.

Mendoza with 7 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and 1 steal.

Moye with 15 points, 8 boards, 2 assists, and 2 blocks. He shot 7 of 9.


Enzweiler with 2 points and 3 boards.

Sowers with 6 points and 1 turnover.

Lang with 4 points.

Rollins with 3 points and 2 boards.

[Eaglesfan27]

Feb 2, 2030 -

Today we host #9 Stanford. They are 15-3 (7-1.) I'll be surprised if we win since McCurry and Sowers are banged up and they have a well balanced team.


We lose 89-68.

Sead with 2 points, 1 assist, and 4 turnovers.

McCurry with 13 points, 1 board, and 1 assist.

Pait with 12 points on 4 of 11 shooting.

Mendoza with 12 points, 8 boards, and 3 assists. He shot 4 of 8.

Moye with 7 points, 5 boards, and a block.


Sowers led the bench with 8 points and 3 boards.


At 16-6, we drop to 21st in the media poll. Our next game is hosting 10-9 Cal.

[Eaglesfan27]

19:16 - Pait collides with their massive center when going for a dunk and comes down holding his ankle in obvious pain. We bring Sowers into the game.

14:55 - Sowers just picked up his 2nd foul of the game, but will remain in for now. We are doing what we did so successfully early in the year, running our offense through Mendoza in the high post. I don't know why we got away from that for a bit. We are tied at 10 as our offense is flowing freely.

9:15 - Sowers, Mendoza, and Moye all take a breather. We are down 17-16. Mendoza has done a great job of distributing the ball. Pait has been cleared to return and will enter the game at SF.

7:20 - I rest Sead and McCurry. We are down 20-18.

5:07 - Their starting SF has gotten 2 quick fouls on Pait who is slowed by his injury. We are down 26-20.

4:10 - I bring back all of my starters with Sowers at SF. We are down 28-20.

Urbitis is tearing us apart now. He sure would have looked good in Cardinal and Gold.


Halftime: We are down 37-26.


Sowers is our leading scorer with 11 points. Mendoza has 6 assists.

Violette has 13 points and is the player of the half.



14:17 - On 2 switches, Sowers draws a 2nd and 3rd foul on Urbitis. We are down 46-36 as Urbitis continues to tear up our defense.

13:38 - Moye draws a 3rd foul on Ballard, their freshman center. Moye has had a huge 2nd half. We are down 48-38.

13:02 - Sead gets fouled on a 3 point attempt, but he misses 2 of 3. :(

12:12 - Mendoza misses a breakaway dunk attempt.

10:34 - We are down 54-47. I give all of my starters a few minutes of rest.. I need Pait to dominate the scoring here.

4:34 - Hornsby with a big 3 to end our run. We are down 64-55 as I bring back my starters.


Another loss. I'm tempted to just sim the rest of the year as this team isn't going to do much in the post-season. We lose the game 75-64.

With a quality PG, this could be a championship quality team. But, Sead isn't playing up to his practice ratings and we don't have any better options. Mendoza is doing a good job of directing our offense, but with Sead being almost no threat out there, guys are sagging off. Furthermore, his defense is bad.

Urbitis is the player of the game with 15 points and 9 assists, most of them against Sead.

Sead with 3 points, 1 assist, and 4 turnovers. He shot 1 of 4 and 1 of 3 from the line.

McCurry with 2 points, 4 boards, and 1 turnover. Without being set up by a great point guard's drive and kick, he is a fairly worthless shooter who can only score when he can beat his man off the dribble.

Pait with 2 points and 2 blocks. After his big freshman year, he has been a disappointment. He is averaging more points at 14.4 ppg this year, but his shooting percentage from the field has gone down from 53% to 41%. From the arc, he has gone down from 47% to 32%.

Mendoza with 10 points, 6 boards, and 8 assists. He shot 4 of 12.

Moye with 14 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, and 2 blocks. He shot 7 of 12.

Sowers approached his career high with 24 points tonight on 7 of 11 shooting. He was 9 of 14 from the line.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our next game is at home vs #11 Arizona. They are 17-4.

They beat us 82-51.

Mendoza led us with 12 points, 6 boards, and 4 assists.

Sead with 3 points, 0 assists, and 3 turnovers. McCurry with 5 points and 5 boards. Humphrey led the bench with 8 points.

We are now 16-8 (5-6) and have dropped out of the top 25. This season has reinforced to me how important it is to have a quality PG.


I've been contemplating it for a bit with that last game being the breaking point, and I decide to go ahead and sim out the year.


Feb 14, 2030 -

Our next game is at 11-12 Oregon which has also been disappointing this year. At least they have injuries to blame..

We pull of the win 71-69. McCurry with 16 points. Moye with 16 points. Pait with 14.


Feb 16 -

We play at Washington. They are 17-7 and have also been hit by injuries. They beat us 76-72. McCurry with 22 points. Pait with 16 points, 5 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 4 of 14. Sead with 0 points and 0 assists.

[Eaglesfan27]

Feb 21 -

Today we host 12-12 WSU. Should be a winnable game..

We beat them 73-58.

Sead with 7 points and 4 assists. McCurry wtih 11 points and 3 boards. Pait with 9 points and 10 boards. He shot 3 of 10. Moye with 16 points, 8 boards, and 3 blocks.


Feb 23 -

Today we host 16-9 UCLA.

We beat them 72-67 as Mendoza has a career high 32 points, 5 assists, and 3 boards! I'll miss Mendoza. McCurry with 16 points and 7 assists.

We are now 19-9 and 4th in the Pac-10. I guess we still have a good shot at making the Big Dance, but I know we aren't going to the Final 4.


Feb 28 -

We play at 15-10 ASU. This game could be critical to our chances of making the post season..

We lose 74-64. Sead with 1 points, 1 assist, and 3 turnovers.

McCurry with 8 points on 2 of 9 shooting.

Pait with 9 points on 2 of 8 shooting.

Mendoza with 13 points and 6 boards.

Sowers led the bench with 5.


Mar 2, 2030 -

Today we play 20-5 Stanford.

We lose 86-66. Pait led us with 20 points on 8 of 11 shooting. McCurry with 16 points on 6 of 15 shooting.


Our final game of the regular season is at Oregon State. They are 12-15. We should be able to beat them to finish with 20 wins..

We beat them 80-49. Moye with 20 points, 10 boards, and 3 blocks. Pait with 10 points on 4 of 12 shooting. Enzweiler with 16 points off the bench. Humphrey with 12. Sowers with 8.


We finish the regular season at 20-11. I'll sim the post-season after football.

[Eaglesfan27]

Pac-10 Tourney:

Our first game is vs ASU. They are 17-12.


We win the game 70-64. That was my 500th career win! Pait with 17 points on 6 of 13 shooting. Mendoza with 14 points and 5 boards. He shot 5 of 10.


Our next game is in the Semi-Finals vs Oregon. They are now healthy and very dangerous despite a 17-15 record.

We pull off the shocking win 75-71. Enzweiler with 18 points off the bench to lead all scorers. Pait with 15 points on 6 of 15 shooting. Mendoza with 12 points, 6 boards, and 5 assists on 4 of 7 shooting.


In the Pac-10 Final, we'll play Washington. They are 24-8 and are 20th in the media poll.

We lose to them 75-72. Much better than I expected from this team. Certainly should be enough to get us into the Big Dance.

Pait led our team with 16 points and 11 boards. He shot 7 of 14. McCurry with 13 points. Moye with 9.


Time for an abbreviated selection show:

[Eaglesfan27]

The #1's: Vanderbilt, Saint Joseph's, San Diego State, and Iowa.


Stanford got a #2 Seed in the East. They'll play UNC Asheville in their first game.


Washington got a 3 seed in the South.

Arizona is a 5 seed in the Midwest. They'll play Colorado State first.


Niagara is the #5 seed in the West with a 24-6 record.

We are a #7 seed in the West. We'll face #10 Florida who finished 21-11.

Siena won the MAAC and is #2 in the West. They are 28-2.


ACC, SEC, and Big East each got 7 teams. A-10 got 6. Big Ten and Pac-10 each got 4. MWC with 3. Big 12, MAAC, and Sun Belt with 2.

[Eaglesfan27]

Crazy that I'm going to sim the tourney too, but I don't want to play one more game with Sead as my main starting PG unless it is briefly due to injuries:


We beat Florida 80-76 in the opening game. We did this despite 0 points, 1 assist, and 4 turnovers from Sead. Worst scholarship offer ever..

Pait led the way with 18 points on 7 of 12 shooting. Mendoza with 18 points and 3 assists. Moye with 15 points.

Their PG had 24 points and 8 assists.


Our next game is against #2 Siena. Siena has become a powerhouse and has a roster strength almost as high as ours. Theirs is a 90...

They beat us 70-68.

Sead with 4 points, 2 assists, and 4 turnovers.

Pait shot 1 of 14. McCurry led the team with 14 points on 5 of 13 shooting.

Mendoza with 13 points, 6 boards, and 3 assists in his final game.


The Final Four:

#1 Vanderbilt vs #3 Nevada

#1 Saint Joseph's vs #9 Xavier


Vanderbilt and Saint Joseph's each win easily.


Vanderbilt crushes Saint Joseph's 113-62 to win the Championship. Wow. Vanderbilt with 46 points and 12 assists from their JR Superstar PG, Antonio Howard. That may be the highest totals I've ever seen in a simmed game. Howard is projected a lottery pick.. hopefully he goes pro.

They also got 25 from their SR SG. Both players were in the top 10 of their H.S. classes their senior years.

[Eaglesfan27]

Vanderbilt built themselves a great top 10 to win that title. Every starter was rated at least 88 for overall ability. Their top 5 bench guys were all 83 or higher. Their senior SG was a 92.


USC just offered me a 5 year extension which I accepted! :)


McCurry was drafted in the 2nd round. Mendoza was a late 1st round selection.

Enzweiler graduated but went undrafted. We also lost 3 scrub walkons to graduation.


Stanford's coach has retired and Stanford has offered me their job. I turn them down. Other programs offering me their jobs include Miami, Duke, and North Carolina. Duke and North Carolina both fired their coaches. I turn them all down.

Time to start recruiting again..

[Eaglesfan27]

We don't get or lose any transfer players. UCLA lost a good PG who chose to head off to Colorado State.

First Day of signing period:

We lost out on both of the kids who we had offered scholarships:

4 star SG Demetrius Kirkland chose to stay closer to his home in Atlanta and picked Florida.

3 star PG Oliver Liberty shocked me by choosing UTEP over USC!?! WTF.

I had backed off 5 star PG Noah Hendriks and as expected he signed with Kansas.


The 1st week:

I offer Gerrod Halsch a scholarship. He is a 6'9 250 pound PF from Dayton Ohio who is a 4 star player who wants to come to USC. He is a very physical defender who really bangs on the boards. We need more guys like him.

I also fly out to visit a few potential starting SG's who are all 3 star players but all of them are borderline of being a 4 star. I also have my assistants breaking down their tape..


2nd week:

The battle for Halsch is heating up. Villanova is coming after him hard. Ohio State is also in the mix and he wants to stay close to home from what I've heard. This is going to be a battle..

2 of the SG's that I was evaluating chose mid-majors. It's time to go after my man..

Keon Connolly is a bit shorter than I usually like in my SG but he is a good defender and shooter with excellent athleticism. He is from Corpus Christi, TX. He is ranked 113th overall.

Dominik O'Donnell is a much bigger player at 6'5 219. He is from Killeen, TX. He is ranked 173rd overall. Our staff doesn't have as good of a feel for what his strengths are yet, but we believe he is a worse shooter.

Connolly is more interested in SC. I offer him the scholarship, but keep pursuing O'Donnell as a backup plan.

[Eaglesfan27]

3rd week:

O'Donnell signs with SFA.

Connolly is being pursued hard by Miami, Texas, and Florida now. However, we seem to have the jump on them. He is close to becoming a Trojan. I think we might be able to seal the deal this week.. I fly out for another visit.

We fly Halsch in for an official visit of the campus. It's a hard battle for him with Ohio State being our big competitor.


4th week: Jackpot! Halsch loves the campus and commits on the visit. Also, my flight out to Keon Connolly's home is productive. He signs his LOI. We got 4 quality student-athletes and I think this is going to be one of my best classes since I arrived here.

Let's review the entire class:

SR PG Rashard Galbreath is 6'0 179. He is from Modesto, CA. He is ranked 38th overall and 12th among PG's. He is a 4 star player who I've guaranteed will be the starter next year. He grades out by our staff as follows: Shooting B, Skills A-, Defense A-, Athleticism A, Rebounding C, IQ B, Potential A, Size C. He only averaged 8 ppg and 5.1 apg in the ABL.

PF Gerrod Halsch is 6'9 250. He is from Dayton, OH. He is ranked 78th overall, 8th among PF's and is a 4 star player. He grades out as follows from our staff: Shooting B+, Skills C+, Defense A-, Athleticism B, Rebounding A, IQ B, Potential B+, Size A-. He averaged 11 ppg, 9 rpg, and 3 bpg in the ABL.

PF Dameon Nelke is 6'10 206 and is from Toledo, OH. (Are we developing a nice Ohio pipeline?) He is ranked 79th overall and 9th among PF's. He is a 4 star player. He grades out as follows: Shooting B, Skills B-, Defense B+, Athleticism B+, Rebounding A-, IQ B+, Potential B+, Siza A-. He averaged 12.1 ppg, 8 rpg, 2.9 spg, and 3.3 bpg in the ABL.

Finally, we have Keon Connolly. He is 6'2 182 and is from Corpus Christi, TX. He is ranked 113th overall and 33rd among SG's. He grades out as: Shooting A-, Skills B+, Defense B+, Athleticism A-, Rebounding B-, IQ B-, Potential B, Size C+. He averaged 10 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 4.3 apg, and 2.1 spg in the ABL.


Overall, the class is graded as the 8th best in the nation!

The top 10:

1. Saint Joseph's - 3 5 star recruits!
2. Oregon - 3 5 star's, 2 4 stars.
3. Texas Tech - 2 5 stars, 2 3 stars.
4. Ohio State - 2 5 stars, 1 4 star, 1 3 star.
5. UConn, 1 5 star, 2 4 stars.
6. Xavier - 1 5 star, 2 4 stars.
7. West Virginia - 1 5 star, 1 4 star.
8. USC - 3 4 stars, 1 3 star.
9. Washington - 1 5 star, 1 4 star.
10. San Diego State - 1 5 star, 1 4 star.

UCLA is 13th.

North Carolina's new coach brought in the 15th best class.

Wake Forest is 17th and Niagara is 18th. :)

Stanford signed a few of my rejects. Their class is 35th as they signed 4 3 star's. This could be the beginning of their downfall :)

[Balldog]

That's a nice looking class!

[Eaglesfan27]

A look at the squad after spring practices. There are a few clear disappointments, but also some pleasant surprises. First, I'm going to look at the freshman:

FR Rashard Galbreath is a huge disappointment at first glance. He's only rated 71 overall. He is 6'1 184 now. His jumper needs a bunch of work according to our staff and his stamina is horrendous. On the plus side, he is quick and fast, he is a good passer, a decent enough ball handler, and a very good perimeter defender. Oh yeah, he's not Sead. He'll start from day 1 to help maximize his chances to reach his potential which our staff still thinks is elite.

FR SG Keon Connolly isn't as good as advertised either at first blush. He's a good shooter, but he needs to work on his defense, ball handling, and passing. I'm debating on whether or not to redshirt him. He is now 6'2 189 and rated 74 overall.

FR PF Dameon Nelke is 6'10 206. He's fast, he's a good defender, and he's a good dunker. He has very nice hops. He's rated 75 overall. If it wasn't for Halsch, he could get major minutes this year.

FR Gerrod Halsch is better than expected. He's still 6'9 250 and he plays with a mean streak in practice. He's our best rebounder, a good dunker, a VERY good shot blocker with an excellent vertical and quickness. Most unexpectedly, he is a good offensive post player as well. His biggest issues are his stamina and his passing. He could become a special player. I think he starts from day 1.

Now, onto the rest of the roster:

RS SR Sead Novakovic is 6'0 180 and is rated 79 overall but plays well below that level in actual games. His ball handling is questionable, his passing has become decent, his top end speed has become good, but his first step is terrible so he can't create any room for himself. He'll be our backup PG.

SO PG Mitchell Hodge is 6'5 206 and is rated 69 overall. He plays better than that rating and could get a few minutes here and there. He's a decent defender and has an ok midrange shot.


RS JR SG Friedrich Lang is making a legitimate case to start. It's a toss-up between him and Sowers. Either way, Lang deserves some minutes this year. He is 6'5 220 and is rated 82 overall. His best attributes are his defense and speed, but he lacks explosion.

RS FR SG Bernard Mack is 6'4 222 and is now rated 74 overall. Doesn't excel in any areas and is a horrible ball handler. Won't play much this year.


At SF, we have our strongest players. RS SR Kareem Humphrey has finally earned a starting role as Pait scored in bunches last year, but was too inefficient. Humphrey is 6'8 221 and is rated 88 overall, my highest rated player. He is the best 3 point shooter on the squad, the best shooter in traffic, and he has elite speed for a SF. His defense still isn't very good, but neither is Pait's or Sowers'. He is a great ball stealer as he showed in that one game where he got extended minutes at SF last year. He has very quick hands.

RS JR Branden Pait won't like it, but he'll go back to being an explosive scoring option off the bench. He is 6'6 221 and is rated 86 overall now. He's a good 3 point shooter, a very good dunker, but he plays subpar defensively. His speed is elite for a SF.

SO SF Teddy Sowers is 6'5 207 and is rated 82 overall like Lang. However, he has a better first step, a better shot, and is an equal defensively. He is a better ball handler and passer. His stamina will be an issue, but Lang will sub in as needed. Sowers will get the start at SG.

Our only two PF's are the aforementioned freshman.

At C, we are mostly going to rely on Moye who has become a reliable scoring option through his work this offseason. He's a 7'0 248 pound senior who is still a bit slow, but he's a very good post up scorer and a solid defender in the post. He is rated 85 overall.

SO Wallace Rollins is 7'0 255 and is rated 74 overall now. I expect an improvement from last year's subpar numbers. He should be a good post scorer, but he is too soft on the boards for his size. He also has bad stamina.

RS Walk-on SO Bennett Hehn is 6'11 240 and is rated 72 overall. He'll only play if we have injuries.


We should be losing Humphrey, Moye, and Sead. There is a chance Pait may go pro as well. Recruiting priorities will be:

1. Center
2. SF
3. PG

[Eaglesfan27]

A look at the early recruiting:

There is a local superstar SG this year! I must pursue him! Allen Sanderson is from Compton, right down the road. He is a 6'4 189 pound SG. He's a 5 star All-American who is ranked 16th overall and 6th among SG's. We start out in his top 3, but he is wide open right now with it being unlikely that he'll sign anywhere early. The rest of his top 3 is SDSU and Stanford. Hopefully, he won't like their new coach..

Actually, this is a VERY good year for local kids. I may not go PG, SF, C after all. I'm going to try to get 3 of the best local kids and lock down the area.

Oh my, another great player not too far away is SR PG Curtis Desilos. He is from Antioch, CA. He is ranked 7th overall and 4th among PG's. He heavily favors Stanford, but hopefully I can chip into that..

This year's class truly has the most talent I've ever seen in California. At least a dozen guys who are in the top 100 nationally..

[Eaglesfan27]

We are ranked 18th in the first Media poll of the year.

We have a very good shot at Allen Sanderson.

It's a very long shot for Desilos who wants to go to Stanford. There are too many closer PG's who are very good to keep pursuing Desilos. I'm going to try to steal away a very quality local kid who is leaning heavily to UCLA right now. Franklin Howel is a 4 star PG who is ranked 34th overall. He's got great size at 6'6 200 and our staff thinks he has great speed right now.

We also offer a scholarship to Lloyd Diallo. He is a 6'9 235 pound PF who could play some center for us. He's from Los Angeles and is ranked 31st overall and 2nd among PF's. It's a battle between us and UCLA for him as he wants to stay in town..


These are going to be the most exciting recruiting battles I've had in a long time..

I told my AD to work on arranging a more challenging schedule for us this year. Our first game is no pushover as we'll face Saint Mary's, and we have some much tougher games coming. I've also told him to schedule Wake Forest and Niagara. Saint Mary's is rated 82 overall in roster strength. With my starting this young kid at PG, we are currently rated 89.

Time to see if the kid can really play.

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm back to using my point guard as the primary ball handler and have moved away from our high post offense of last year..

18:40: Sowers picks up 2 quick fouls. We lead 3-2 thanks to a 3 by Humphrey.

16:33 - Galbreath to Humphrey for an alley-oop that gets our crowd screaming. We lead 8-6.

14:22 - Halsch with 4 points from offensive boards already. We lead 12-10.

12:25 - Halsch is just physically dominating his man. 10 points for him already. We lead 18-12.

10:12 - It's become a 10-0 run. We lead 24-12. Halsch with 14 as he continues to pound it inside and show some great post moves.

9:10 - We make it 28-12 before they hit a 3 to end our run. We lead 28-15 and our crowd continues to go crazy.

7:02 - Our crowd has quiet down and fatigue is finally hitting us. We lead 34-19 as I rest my starters. Halsch has had an amazing start just by dunking it a lot and showing a few very nice post moves. I bring in Sead, Lang, Pait, Nelke, and Rollins.

20 seconds after he comes in, Pait hits a 3. Maybe he is just a guy who has to come off the bench to thrive..

Pait hits about half of the multiple 3's he jacks up.

1:12 - We lead 45-28 as I bring back my starters to finish out the half.


Halftime: We lead 50-30. A great start to the season!

Halsch has had the most production out of any PF that I've had in a long time. A great 1st half. He has 17 points and 6 boards and is the player of the half.

Galbreath with an up and down half - 6 points, 2 assists, and 3 turnovers.

Humphrey is thriving at SF. He has 10 points and 3 steals. His long arms cause so much disruption when we trap. Even when we don't, he gets steals by playing passing lanes.

Pait with 9 at the half.


15:01 - Our team is completely dominating them. 65-32.

10:45 - With a 72-40 lead, I bring in the 2nd unit along with my 2 end of bench guys, Connolly and Mack. Pait may not like it, but I'm giving him the rest of the night off if we don't let it get close.

Connolly hits his first shot, an open 3.

45 seconds later, Mack hits a 3!

8:30 - Mack with another 3. Our defense is playing bad, but our offense is keeping the lead. We lead 81-50.

Sead is still Sead, he misses his first attempt, a 3.

6:01 - Mack with another 3! He might have to get more PT this year afterall.. Sead is getting some easy assists off these shots.

5:16 - Connolly with a 3 off the screen. Wow. This offense might be much better than I thought this year. We lead 89-56.


We win the game 94-65.


Halsch is the player of the game with 25 points, 9 boards, 2 assists, and 3 steals. In a new feature I'm going to try out, I'll post a few thoughts about each player's performance as well as a grade. I'll be factoring in my impressions of their overall contribution that game. Of course, Halsch gets an A. Offensively, he was very efficient most of the game until he tried a few jumpers late when it was out of reach. Defensively, he completely shut his man down. Great rebounding as well. He shot 10 of 16 for the game and 5 of 5 from the line.

Galbreath gets a B-. 6 points on 2 of 3 shooting is very nice. 7 assists is great, but 4 turnovers was bad. Also, he did give up a few easy drives.

Sowers gets a solid B. He was efficient offensively and defensively. 5 of 8 shooting for 11 points, 2 boards, and 3 assists. He played well in the flow of the game.

Humphrey gets an A. His ability to poach the passing lanes is awesome, perhaps the best I've ever seen. He finished with 10 points, 5 boards, and 5 steals. He shot 4 of 8 from the field.

Moye gets an A-. Offensively, he wasn't asked to do much with Halsch dominating inside. However, he was very efficient when he did try to score. He rebounded well. The only mark against him was some shoddy interior defense at times. He finished with 9 points, 9 boards, and 3 assists.


Pait gets a B. Defensively, he was below average as usual. Offensively he finished 3 of 7 with 9 points.

Lang didn't do enough for me to notice. He only played 6 minutes. No stats put up.

Nelke didn't do much offensively, but he was solid defensively. Rebounding was ok for 17 minutes. He finished with 2 points, 3 boards, and 1 assist. A solid C.

Sead surprisingly gets a B (last year every game would have been an F I think.) Helped by the surprising shooting of Mack and Connolly, he finished with 7 assists and only had 2 turnovers. Defensively, he gave up too many points and assists to get the A.

Connolly with a B-. He scored 11 points on 3 of 8 shooting (2 of 3 from the line.) However, as expected his defense wasn't very good and he gave up 9 points. But, he outscored his man and I'm happy with that.

Mack was very efficient offensively, but he was even worse than Connolly on the defensive end. He gets a B- because of his higher offensive efficiency. He gave up 15 points I believe, but he scored 11 on 4 of 5 shooting (3 of 4 from the arc.)

Rollins didn't do anything offensively, but he rebounded well and played solid defense. 6 boards, 1 block. A solid B as he shut down his man on the defensive end and only took 1 shot.

I think this team is going to be a ton of fun this year. :)

[Eaglesfan27]

PF Lloyd Diallo had a great time visiting our campus this weekend. It's definitely between us and UCLA and he will sign early. Our staff feels he has "A" potential and I really want him. However, one of his top priorities is playing time, I hope that doesn't scare him away from us.

SG Allen Sanderson had a great time visiting the campus as well. It is between us and SDSU for him and he seems likely to sign early. I drive over to his house for a visit.


Our next game is fairly easy as we'll play at Buffalo. They are 1-1 with a roster strength of 73.

As expected, we blow them out 93-62.

Galbreath with 10 points, 4 assists, and 0 turnovers. Moye dominated the game with 24 points, 8 boards, and 2 blocks. Humphrey, Pait, and Lang each had 13 points. Nelke had 9 points, 5 boards, and 3 blocks.

Our next game is at #24 Purdue. They are 2-0. Their roster strength is 85.

Their star player is SG Chen Yan who is 6'0 180 and is rated 82 overall.

They also have 2 very good players, an undersized but talented C Marcullus Cade who is 6'7 240 and rated 81 overall and PG Jimmie Arenas who is 5'8 178 and is rated 80 overall. The rest of their team is in the low 70's. I'll play that later this week.

[law90026]

Still a great dynasty to read!

[hoopsguy]

Good luck with the new season and on the recruiting trail. Looks like you have an opportunity to accelerate a potential UCLA slide with a couple of recruiting wins against them. Oh, and losing top recruiting targets to SDSU is not acceptable. Don't go annoying the board after getting the five year deal :)

[Eaglesfan27]

15:02 - They start out in a 2-3 zone in which they sack off Galbreath. It leaves Galbreath wide open, but he is missing wide open shots. He is 2 of 5 with 5 points. We lead 7-5.

11:35 - Our offense started clicking and we started running up and down the court. We lead 17-11 as I rest my tired starters. Galbreath just picked up his 2nd foul before the change. Connolly gets into the game over Lang..

Their zone is leaving the 3's from the wing open. Connolly drills a 3.. and another. Then, they rush out, he fakes it, and drives by his man for a dunk! 25-14.

They respond with a 8-0 run with a 3 over Sead, a 3 over Pait, and a foul on the inside against Nelke.

Connolly finally ends the run with another 3.


Connolly is on fire. The rest of the 2nd unit cannot hit anything.


Halftime: We lead 37-32 as I left the 2nd unit in mainly due to Connolly's shooting. I didn't mean to leave them in that long.

Connolly is the player of the half with 18 points on 6 of 8 shooting, 5 of 7 from the arc. He'll get to start the 2nd half with the rest of my starters..


15:01 - Connolly hit 3 more 3's to start the half and they had no choice but to finally switch up their defense to cover the 3's from the wing better. We lead 49-43.

13:00 - Connolly is now exhausted, but they are covering him much better anyway. The inside is now open and we are doing damage down low. I bring in Sead, Sowers, and Nelke to rest the tired players. We lead 56-52.

8:59 - Rollins comes in for Moye who is very tired. We lead 65-55.

4:51 - An odd lineup now as I try to get all of my starters rested for the last 3 minutes: Galbreath, Lang, Pait, Halsch, and Rollins. We lead 70-66.

2:40 - Halsch with 6 straight points. I bring in the following to close it out: Galbreath, Connolly, Sowers, Halsch, and Moye. We lead 76-70.


We win the game 78-71. A very solid road win.

Connolly is the player of the game with 27 points and 2 boards. He shot 9 of 12 and 8 of 11 from the arc. His defense wasn't very good, but with that offensive efficiency and production he gets an A for today's game.

Galbreath - Missed wide open shot after shot. Finished 2 of 12. 7 points, 5 assists, 4 turnovers, 3 boards, and 2 steals. His defense was decent at least. D+.

Sowers - Was very efficient offensively, but his man put up 15 points and most of it was against him. Good rebounding. 10 points, 4 boards, 1 assist on 2 of 3 shooting. Gets a C+.

Humphrey - Shot 1 of 7, but he generally stopped his man when he was in the game. Finished with 7 points, 3 boards, and 3 assists. C+

Halsch - Dominated the game at the end. Played solid defense throughout, holding his man to 2 of 10 shooting. Efficient enough offensively with 4 of 8 shooting and 10 of 12 from the line. 19 points, 2 boards, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. He gets an A.

Moye - His man burnt him time and again tonight and ended up with 19 points and 12 boards. Moye was 1 of 5 from the floor. He finished with 4 points, 6 boards, and a block. Gets a D-

Pait - 0 points, 0 of 6 shooting, only 2 boards, poor defense. Gets an F tonight.

Lang - Only played 2 minutes.

Nelke - Allowed his man to outscore him, but he made some nice plays on the defensive end. Offensively, he was bad at 1 of 5 shooting. Gets a D.

Sead - 2 points, 1 assist, 1 turnover, and 1 steal. He didn't do much when he was on the floor, but he avoided mistakes. His man put up at least 6 points on him when he was in the game. Gets a D.

Rollins - Solid defense, solid rebounding (3 boards in 16 minutes), and he didn't take any shots. A C+.

[Eaglesfan27]

Nov 23, 2030 -

Today we host Loyola Marymount. They are 4-2 so far this year.


We beat them 70-53.


Galbreath with 6 points and 6 assists. Sowers with 10 points, 7 assists, 3 steals, and a block.

Humphrey with 9 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, and 3 steals. Halsch with 9 points, 9 boards, and a block.

Moye with 17 points, 3 boards, and 2 blocks. Pait led the bench with 7 points. Nelke with 6 points.



Our next game is at Kansas. They are 4-0 with a roster strength of 90. Ours is now up to a 90 as well. They are ranked 15th in the media poll. We are 14th at 4-0. It turns out that Kansas doesn't think Noah Hendriks is as good as I hoped he was. They are starting an average junior at the point instead:

JR PG Esmond Bryan is good at 3 pointers and not a whole lot else. He is rated 76 overall. He is averaging 10 ppg and 8 apg due to the excellent talent around him.

SO SG Hawley Lufkin is 6'0 185 and is rated 83 overall. He is a dynamic athlete who is an excellent 3 point shooter. He's averaging 12 ppg and 3 apg.

SR SF Glenn Hicks is 6'6 213 and is rated 87 overall. He can score from anywhere on the cort. He's a great dunker, a great slasher, a great 3 point shooter. His defense is terrible, but this guy is a true offensive superstar. He's averaging 26.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg.

SR PF Marques Odia is a rugged player who is 6'8 255 and is rated 85 overall. He'll be the first real challenge for Halsch all year. He's a good inside scorer. He's averaging 13 ppg, 9 rpg, and 3.7 bpg.

They lack a true C. SO PF Toree Winans starts at C. He is 6'9 230. He is rated 80 overall. He is a good low post scorer. He's averaging 10 ppg, 5.3 rpg.

The bench is thin at PF and PG, but strong at SG and SF with 4 players who are rated in the high 70's. FR Noah Hendriks is the primary backup PG.

[Eaglesfan27]

15:34 - Moye draws a 2nd foul on Odia. We lead 8-3.

15:25 -Galbreath picks up his 2nd foul, but will remain in the game for now.

12:45 - Humphrey is abusing Hicks at the defensive end. Humphrey with 10. We lead 16-9.

8:45 - I rest Humphrey and the rest of the starters. Humphrey has 18 points. We lead 29-18.

4:01 - We bring back our starters. We lead 39-26. Connolly and Pait both had a very nice 4 minute span.

A great ending to the half as our starters clamp down.


Halftime: We lead 50-30.

Humphrey is the player of the half with 16 points and 4 boards. Even more impressively, his length has bothered Hicks who is 2 of 8.

Halsch and Moye each have 9 at the half.


19:25 - Moye gets a 3rd foul on their center who sits again.

14:00 - With a 66-36 lead, I tell my guys to slow it down.

7:24 - I pull my starters, hopefully for good, but they are closing the gap. 78-55.


We win the game 92-68.

Hicks lit it up once Humphrey left the game.

Humphrey is the player of the game, he played great defense, and finished with 25 points, 4 boards, and 3 steals. He shot 8 of 17, 2 of 7, and 7 of 8. Solid A effort for that defense and point production.

Galbreath with 8 points, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 2 turnovers. He held his man to 0 points and 4 assists. A-. He shot 2 of 5.

Sowers with 11 points, 2 boards, and 1 assist. He shot 4 of 6. His man was their leading scorer with 21 points, but most of them weren't against Sowers. B+.

Halsch with 9 points, 7 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks. He shot 3 of 4 and 3 of 3 from the line. His defense has given us a new intensity. B+.

Moye with 15 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and a block. He held his man to 3 points and kept him in foul trouble throughout. Highly efficient shooting with 4 of 6 from the field and 7 of 8 from the line. A.

Pait with 17 points to lead the bench. He shot 6 of 8, 5 of 6 from the arc. A grade.

Nelke didn't do much on the offensive end, but he played decent defense and had 2 boards in 12 minutes. C.

Sead with 0 points, 5 assists, and 0 turnovers. Defense was decent. B+.

Connolly with 7 points, 1 board, and 1 assist. So-so defense. C+ as he wasn't efficient with 3 of 9 shooting. Still, I'm glad I resisted the urge to redshirt him. He'll get regular bench minutes, although I feel bad about Lang getting left out of the rotation..

Rollins - Good defense and 3 boards in 12 minutes. Didn't take any shots, but played within the flow of the offense. B.



Now, it is time to see who signs where early..

[Eaglesfan27]

NO! UCLA beats us out for PF Lloyd Diallo. :( They also signed a very good 4 star PG.

Even worse, SDSU beats us for Allen Sanderson! :(

Stanford takes 2 of the top 5 star PG's in the state. :(

Washington also gets a 5 star PG from in their state. :(

We strike out on everyone we were pursuing early. I don't understand why these schools are beating us. I'm one of the most respected coaches in the nation now (overall rating of 96 as a coach.)


Time to refocus. There are a bunch of very good consolation prizes, including some who might sign during this early period.

I offer Jerard Dillard a scholarship. He's a 4 star SG who is ranked 27th overall and 11th among SG's. He's from Santa Ana, CA. He's 6'2 178 and is graded as follows by our staff: Shooting A-, Skills B+, Defense A-, Athleticism A-, Rebounding B-, IQ B+, Potential A-, Size C+.


I also offer Jarron Wade. He's a 4 star PF from Long Beach, CA. He's ranked 84th overall and 9th among PF's. He's 6'9 243. He grades out: Shooting B-, Skills B, Defense A, Athleticism B+, Rebounding A-, IQ B+, Potential B+, Size A-.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dec 7, 2030 -

We face 2-5 Wyoming.

As expected, we beat them 83-63. Balanced scoring with Galbreath, Sowers, Humphrey, and Halsch each having 12 points. Moye with 9 points. Halsch also had 10 boards and 4 blocks. Nelke with 10 points and 3 boards to lead the bench.

Now, to find out if my recruiting yields any good results..



We lose Wade to SDSU as well! WTF!?!

We do get one bit of good news as Jerald Dillard signs with USC! Hopefully, he is the player that our staff thinks he is..



I can't believe I'm losing so many guys to SDSU, so I take a closer look at SDSU's staff, and I don't get why I'm losing guys to them at all. They have a very good coach in Jairus Jacobsen, but he isn't very charismatic, not as much as I am. He is a very disciplined, and he is a great teacher. He also runs a very high tempo offense and is excellent at offense. Maybe that is it.. Maybe it is the fact that he has had SDSU in many tourneys over the years and they finished 31-4 last year? Do I need to fire my recruiting coordinator after the year, who is very charismatic and hire a better teacher? Everyone on their staff are good teachers who can help players grow the most. Maybe that is the answer..


All of the top California kids have now been snatched up except for 6'6 PG Franklin Howel. I continue to pursue him. He's ranked 34th overall and 17th among PG's. I'd love to have a PG with his size and skill set to run my offense, but he seems to leaning towards UCLA. His biggest concern is playing time and Galbreath might be scaring him away. I'll keep pursuing him anyway.

I also start targeting several 3 star centers since all of the best PF's are now gone (plus Halsch and Nelke seem capable of filling those roles.)

[Eaglesfan27]

Our next game is hosting 4-4 Niagara. They are rated 82 in overall strength. Their best player is their SR PG, Alec Caldwell who is 6'2 200 and is rated 83 overall. He's averaging 15 ppg and 3 apg. The rest of their players are rated in the low to mid 70's. I'll play them later this week.

[Eaglesfan27]

19:14 - Moye and Sowers have already gotten 2 fouls on their center.

18:44 - Caldwell has gotten 2 fouls on Galbreath. I put in Sead.

14:56 - Tied at 11. Moye is our main scorer with 6.

10:50 - Tied at 18. I bring in Connolly, Nelke, and Rollins.

5:12 - We have worn them down inside and are pounding them with Nelke and Rollins. We lead 32-26.

3:10 - We lead 35-33 as I rest an exhausted Sead and Humphrey. I bring back our other starters. Lang comes into the game at SG with Sowers playing SF.

Sowers blows by his man, dunks it, and is fouled. He completes the 3 point play.

Lang with 2 3's to end the half.



Halftime: We lead 46-37.



Nelke is the player of the half. He did a great job during his time out there. He has 9 points, 1 board, 1 assist, and 2 steals.



17:06 - Moye with a dunk and the foul. That is the 3rd foul on their center. We lead 53-46. They have hit 3 quick 3's by their SF.

16:25 - Sowers gets a 3rd foul on their SF as he dunks it and makes the FT.

13:26 - We go back to an old duo - Humphrey at SG and Pait at SF. We lead 59-56.


7:57 - Moye is doing the most damage, now. We lead 73-60.

5:20 - Our guys are tiring. We lead 75-66. I rest Moye, Galbreath, Halsch, and Pait. We go with Sead, Sowers, Humphrey, Nelke, and Rollins for 2-3 minutes..

1:55 - Humphrey is tired and not playing well. I go with Galbreath, Lang, Sowers, Halsch, and Moye. We lead 80-76.

1:24 - Halsch with a 3 second violation. :(

Caldwell draws a quick foul and makes both FT's.

38 seconds: Moye misses an inside hook.

14 seconds - Halsch with a block of a 12 foot jumper. He gets the ball and quickly passes it to Galbreath who is fouled. Galbreath makes the 1st and misses the 2nd.

They get the board. Caldwell shoots a 3, misses it, Galbreath gets the long rebound and is fouled with 1.5 seconds left. He misses the 1st.. but makes the 2nd.



We win the game 82-78.



Humphrey is the player of the game with 14 points, 3 boards, and 3 steals. He shot 3 of 7, 0 of 2, and 8 of 10. Very good defense on his man at the other end as well. A.

Galbreath with 2 points, 6 assists, 1 steal, and only 1 turnover. But he was abused at the defensive end. Caldwell with 21 points and 9 assists. He gets a D.

Sowers with 13 points, 3 assists, 2 boards, and 1 steal. He shot 4 of 12. He played decent defense most of the game. B-

Halsch with 9 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals, and a block. He shot 3 of 4 and 3 of 4 from the line. He played terrific defense. A-

Moye with 14 points, 8 boards, 2 assists, and 2 blocks. He shot 6 of 10. A.

Pait with 5 points, 1 assist, and 1 block. He shot 1 of 5. Decent defense. He gets a C-.

Lang with 6 points and 1 steal in just 12 minutes. He shot 2 of 3 from the arc. Played good defense as well. He gets a B.

Nelke didn't play many minutes in the 2nd half. How did I let that happen after his strong 1st half? He finished with 9 points on 2 of 3 shooting and 5 of 6 from the line. Solid defense. A-.

Sead with 3 points, 3 assists, and 3 turnovers. He couldn't contain Caldwell at all. C-.

Connolly with 4 points and 2 boards in 8 minutes. Decent defense. B-.

Rollins with 3 points, 3 boards, and a block. Very good defense. B+.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dec 14, 2030 -

We are now 7-0. Our next game is at 6-2 Kansas State. They have a roster strength of 84.

They upset us 76-64 as Humphrey had a bad game. He shot 2 of 10 and allowed their SF to put up 21 points.

Galbreath with 8 points, 2 assists, and 2 turnovers.

Sowers with 6 points, 5 boards, and a block.

Humphrey with 4 points, 5 boards, and 5 turnovers.

Halsch with 2 points, 2 boards, and 3 blocks before he fouled out in 20 minutes.

Moye with 10 points, 3 boards, and 1 block.

Pait had 16 off the bench. Nelke had 8.



Our next game is at 6-3 Wake Forest. They a roster strength of 86. They have a strong starting 5 but not much depth:

JR PG Omari Mann is 6'2 188 and is rated 79 overall. He is a solid all around player. He's averaging 8.9 ppg, 4.8 apg, and 4.1 rpg.

SO SG Tobias Atako is 6'5 203 and is rated 78 overall. He's averaging 7.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg, and 1.6 spg.

SR SF Warren Quinn is their main scoring threat. He's 6'8 218 and is rated 83 overall. He is a terrific dunker with great drive ability. He's averaging 14.2 ppg, 9.8 rpg, and 2 bpg.

They have kept my twin towers!

SR PF Carson Beeler is the biggest PF I've seen at 7'0 240. He's rated 80 overall. He's averaging 8.7 ppg, 9.3 rpg, and 1.4 bpg.

JR C Brian Barnhill is 7'0 248 and is rated 83 overall. He's averaging 11.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg, and 1.9 bpg.

The best bench player is FR PG Jackson Temple who is rated 75 overall.

The rest of the bench is rated in the 60's.

[Eaglesfan27]

13:03 - Halsch and Quinn collide hard on a dunk attempt by Quinn. Quinn is called for the charge, his 2nd personal foul. Also, Quinn is holding his knee.. it looks bad. We are down 10-5.

11:05 - Beeler gets a 2nd foul on Moye. I rest all of my starters. We are down 13-8.

4:00 - Down 21-18, I bring back all of my starters.

3:20 - Sowers throws down a monster dunk after he beats his man.



Halftime: We are tied at 23. Our shooters are shooting badly, and they are playing very well defensively.

Beeler is the player of the half with 7 points and 7 boards. Halsch leads our team with 7 points.



9:23 - Our starters are very tired. We are down 41-38. I thought we would have worn them down by now. I bring in my 2nd unit..

4:44 - Nelke with 7 huge points. We lead 51-46. I bring back our starters.

They make it 51-49 before Humphrey fakes out his man and drives for the dunk.

2:30 - Mann with a 3 to make it 53-52.

Moye with an open 12 footer, but Barnhill with a quick dunk at the other end.

Sowers misses a dunk, but blocks a shot at the other end.

45 seconds: They steal it from Halsch and get a fastbreak. Moye with a foul to prevent the dunk. Atako misses the first FT... and the 2nd! Halsch with the board. We still lead 55-54.

20 seconds: Moye with a nice hook down low.

15 seconds: They attempt a quick 3 which rims out. Moye with the rebound. They foul him immediately.. he makes the 1st.. and the 2nd.

They hit a quick 3. They foul Galbreath. He misses the 1st.. but makes the 2nd. 60-57. 8 seconds left.

They miss a 3 at the buzzer as Sowers had good defense and made him shoot over him.


We win the game 60-57.


Halsch is the player of the game with 14 points, 4 boards, 2 steals, and a block. He shot 4 of 10 from the floor and 6 of 9 from the line. Beeler had 12 points and 11 boards against him but he shot 4 of 12. A good solid game.

Galbreath with 3 points, 0 assists, 2 steals, and 0 turnovers. He shot 0 of 5. He allowed their PG to score 11 points and 4 assists.

Sowers with 5 points on 1 of 9 shooting. 2 boards, 1 assist, and 2 steals. He played good defense all night long.

Humphrey with 6 points, 8 boards, 2 steals, and 2 assists. He shot 2 of 9. He held Quinn to 0 points, but Quinn's injury had something to do with that.

Moye with 8 points, 13 boards, and 1 block. He shot 3 of 7. Their center finished with 20 points and 10 boards.

Nelke led the bench with 7 points, 2 boards, and 1 steal.

Lang with 6 points on 2 of 3 shooting. Connolly with 2 points on 1 of 3 shooting.

Pait with 2 points on 0 of 4 shooting.

Sead with 3 points, 1 assist, and 0 turnovers.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dec 27, 2030 -

Our last OOC game is an easy one before we enter into the Pac-10 schedule. We host St. Francis (NY.) They are 3-8 with a roster strength of 68.

We beat them 82-56.

Galbreath with a career high 15 points and 8 assists (also a career high.)

Sowers with 12 points and 2 boards.

Humphrey with 6 points, 5 boards, 5 assists, and 6 steals.

Halsch with 10 points, 7 boards, and 2 blocks.

Moye with 11 points, 5 boards, and 2 blocks.


Pait led the bench with 9 points. Lang with 7. Nelke with 5.


We are 9-1 and are 21st in the media poll. I expect that to go up quickly if we keep winning once we start Pac-10 Play. Our first game is at a very good Cal Squad that is 11-1 and 23rd in the media poll. We'll look at them and the rest of the Pac-10 later this week.

[Eaglesfan27]

A look at the Pac-10:

1. Stanford is the class of the league with a 11-1 record and a roster strength of 94. Their new coach inherited the best PG-SG combo in the conference in Dedric Finn and Mustafa Hull. Kurtis Byerson is an excellent center.

2. Washington is right there with Stanford. A 9-2 record with a roster strength of 94. They are a more balanced team with 5 star starters including super sophomore SF Esa Gennie who is rated 88 overall already.

3. Oregon is 10-2 with a roster strength of 91. SF is their only relative weakness. They are very strong at SG with Senior Russ Grimes.

4. Cal is young and talented. They are 11-1 with a roster strength of 91. They start 3 sophomores and could be extremely dangerous in a year or two. They are led by SR SF Daniel N'Diaye who is a well rounded player.

5. USC is 9-1 with a roster strength of 90. I think Halsch has proven that he is better than his ratings.

6. UCLA is 8-2 with a 88 overall roster strength. They are a nice blend of youth and experience with 2 SR's, 2 SO's, and 1 FR. SR PG Jayson Rand is their highest rated player, but I think SR SF Deng Angounou is their most dangerous player.

7. Arizona is 8-2 with a roster strength of 87. They are led by SR SG Thomas Arenas and SR C Tommie Cuic. They are starting 2 FR at SF and PF.

8. Arizona State is 8-2 with a roster strength of 87. They have 3 JR's in the starting lineup. JR SF Mawel Haywood is their most dangerous scorer.

9. Oregon State is 10-3 with a roster strength of 85. They are starting a downright bad freshman at PF, but they have won against a soft schedule and because of 3 solid SR players. SR PG Marcus Blue is by far their best player.

10. Washington State is 4-7 with a roster strength of 82. Their best player is JR PG Brian Benson who is rated 78 overall. Freshman C Denver Fowler looks like he'll be a very good player in the future for them and could be a building block..


Stanford is leading the conference in scoring at 82.4 ppg.

Washington is leading the conference in rebounding at 33 rpg.

Stanford is leading in assists at 17.2 apg.

We are leading in steals at 12.6 spg.

Arizona State leads in blocks per game at 5.2.

Washington's Center Lance Appleby is the leading scorer at 20.5 ppg.

Stanford's Hull leads the league in assists at 7.1 per game.

Humphrey leads in steals at 3.6 per game.

Arizona State's PF Klein leads with 2.7 bpg.


Stanford's Finn is considered the best player in the conference with an overall roster strength of 91.

Oregon's FR C Gardner is considered the best freshman in the conference with a rating of 82.

Washington's SG Kohn is considered the best pure shooter.

Stanford's Hull is considered the best playmaker.

Stanford's Finn is considered the best pro prospect.

Grimes of Oregon is the best defender.

Next up, we play at Cal.

[Eaglesfan27]

15:02 - Balanced scoring. We are down 8-7.

11:45 - Humphrey gets a 2nd foul on N'Diaye. We lead 11-10.

10:05 - We bring in the 2nd unit. We are tied at 13.

2:45 - Sead and Lang with a nice stretch there. We lead 26-23 as I bring back my starters.



Halftime: We lead 33-28. Very nice balanced offense from our squad.

Moye is the player of the half with 8 points, 4 boards, 2 steals, and a block.



15:00 - We are tied at 36. Guys just aren't hitting shots in the 2nd half.

12:05 - Halsch with 4 straight points. We are tied at 42.

10:05 - Galbreath picks up his 3rd foul. We are down 46-45. I bring in my 2nd unit.

4:56 - I put back my starters. We are up 57-56 thanks to some nice outside shooting from Sead!

Halsch with a quick bucket down low.

Their star center, Ballard, answers in kind.

Ballard with a steal from Halsch, he starts the fastbreak which Urbitis finishes. Urbitis has 15 so far. We are down by 1.

3:37 - Moye gets an offensive board, puts it back in and draws the foul! He makes the FT. We lead 62-60.

Moye with a block that starts a fastbreak.. Humphrey is fouled on a dunk attempt. He misses them both.

N'Diaye with a quick 12 footer.

Humphrey responds with a 16 footer after rolling off a screen. Humphrey with a steal at the other end. We lead 64-62 with 2 minutes left.

After we miss a 12 footer by Galbreath, N'Diaye hits a quick jumper to tie it at 64.

53 seconds - Halsch with a nice post move to score. We lead 66-64.

45 seconds left - Galbreath with a steal.

10 seconds left - Humphrey has his shot blocked.

3.8 seconds - They miss a 3 by N'Diaye. Moye with the rebound and is fouled. He makes both FT's to seal it.

They hit a 3 at the buzzer, but it doesn't matter.


We win the game 68-67.


Moye is the player of the game with 15 points, 5 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Great game with efficient offense (5 of 6 from the field, 5 of 5 from the line) and very good defense against a quality center as he held him to 10 points on 5 of 10 shooting.


Galbreath with 1 point, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 1 turnover. He allowed Urbitis to put up 15 points and 6 assists.


Sowers with 6 points, 2 boards, and 4 turnovers. He shot 1 of 5. He did well defensively against Hornsby.


Humphrey with 7 points and 3 boards. He shot 3 of 9. He did reasonably well against N'Diaye who was 4 of 10.

Halsch with 14 points, 4 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 6 of 7. He held their PF to 4 points on 2 of 6 shooting.


Sead with 7 points on 3 of 3 shooting!

Lang with 7 points on 3 of 4 shooting.

Nelke with 7 points, 3 boards, and 2 blocks on 2 of 3 shooting and 2 of 2 from the line. Nice range on that 3 pointer he shot.

Pait with 4 points and 2 boards. He shot 1 of 6.

[Eaglesfan27]

Jan 4, 2031 -

Our next game is at WSU. They are 4-8.

It's closer than expected, but we beat them 75-64. Pait led all scorers with 11 points on 2 of 9 shooting.

Galbreath with 10 points and 4 assists.

Sowers with 8 points and 5 boards. Humphrey with 10 points, 4 boards, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.

Moye with 9 points, 5 boards, and 2 blocks. Nelke with 7 points and 3 boards.

During the game, Galbreath suffered a hamstring injury that will have D2D for a few weeks. Lang suffered a bruised rib that shouldn't hamper him too much.


Next up is hosting UCLA. They are 8-4.

SR PG Jayson Rand leads the squad. He is 5'9 168 and is rated 84 overall. He is a fast player who is a good defender and has a good handle. He's averaging 14.7 ppg and 4.5 apg.

SO SG Dean Laurie is 6'2 186 and is rated 80 overall. He is a decent shooter, but nothing special. He's a good athlete. He's averaging 7.7 ppg and 1.5 spg.

SR SF Deng Angounou is 6'7 244 and is rated 83 overall. He's a very good midrange shooter who is a bit reluctant to shoot at times. He's averaging 8.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg, and 2.3 apg.

SO F Henry Greene is starting at PF. He's 6'9 210 and is rated 80 overall. He's developing a nice post game. He's averaging 6.9 ppg, 3.2 rpg, and 1 bpg.

FR C Abe Butch is their rated FR and is starting off the year well. He's 6'9 265 and is rated 77 overall. He's averaging 7.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg, and 2.5 bpg.

The bench is all in the mid to high 70's. I'll play them tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

Before the game, I finally decide who to offer the final scholarship to:

Timon Zimmerman is a massive center from Houston, TX. He is 7'2 271 and is a 3 star player who is ranked 288th overall and 14th among C's. Our staff thinks he will be a great rebounder and a strong post defender and I'll need either a starter or backup C out of this class.

Now, it is time to beat UCLA.



11:06 - Humphrey has been our main scorer early. All of the starters are tired and will come out. We are tied at 14.

4:52 - High tempo from our 2nd unit against their starters. Pait and Nelke were scoring quickly. We are tied at 29 as my starters return.


Great finish by our starters.


Halftime: We lead 44-32.

Humphrey is the player of the half with 13 points, 4 boards, and 2 steals.

Sowers with 7, Pait and Halsch with 5.



16:31 - Moye draws a 3rd foul on Butch. We lead 49-39.

9:31 - Our offense has EXPLODED. We are pounding them inside and that is opening up 3's. We are up 81-50.

6:30 - I left my starters in longer than I planned, but it is the hated Bruins, so I don't feel bad. We are leading 92-60 as I pull my starters. I'll also slow down the tempo finally.


We win the game 105-70.

Humphrey is the player of the game with 27 points, 6 boards, 5 assists, 5 steals, and 1 block. He shot 10 of 13, 2 of 4, and 5 of 5. He played solid defense as well.

Galbreath did a good job defensively and he was excellent offensively with 2 points, 8 assists, and 3 steals. He only had 1 turnover.

Sowers with 17 points, 2 boards, and 2 steals. His defense was decent. He shot 7 of 14, 2 of 3, and 1 of 2.

Halsch with 12 points, 7 boards, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. He shot 4 of 9. He played excellent defense.

Moye with 19 points, 9 boards, 4 assists, and 2 blocks. He played well defensively. He shot 7 of 16, and 5 of 8 from the line.


Nelke led the bench with 12 points and 5 boards in only 12 minutes. He shot 4 of 4 from the field and 4 of 4 from the line.

Pait with 10 points, 2 boards, and 1 assist. He shot 3 of 6.

Rollins with 3 points and 5 boards in 12 minutes.

[Eaglesfan27]

Jan 12, 2031 -

Our next game is hosting Washington. They are 11-3 and ranked 20th in the media poll. Their star C and SG are both injured for the game, but will play through the injuries..


We win the game 80-65!

Moye led the way with 20 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, and 3 blocks. He shot 6 of 14, 8 of 8 from the line.

Pait also had 20 points in 22 minutes off the bench. He shot 7 of 16, 3 of 7, 3 of 4.

Humphrey with 8 points, 6 boards, and 5 assists in 23 minutes.

Lang with 9 points and 2 assists. Nelke with 8 points, 4 boards, and a block in 17 minutes.

Big win for us :)

Unfortunately, Rollins hurt his back in the game and will be out 1-2 weeks.


We are now 13-1 and 10th in the media poll.

Our next game is at Oregon State. They are now 10-6 (0-3.) Their best player SR Marcus Blue is out with a back strain. Most of their starters are in the mid 70's in overall rating. Their best player is JR PG Jay Woodard who who is averaging 18 ppg and 4.3 apg since he moved into the starting lineup. I'll play them later today.

[Eaglesfan27]

15:00 - We are up 12-5 thanks to good 3 point shooting by Sowers who has 6.

10:02 - We are up 21-11 as I rest my starters. Sowers has 13.

4:52 - We are up 28-18 as I bring back my starters.



Halftime: We lead 40-30.

Sowers is the player of the half with 15 points.



A miserable 2nd half. Our shots aren't falling, Moye is the only player scoring and Woodard is hot and torching Galbreath..

9:58 - I rest my starters as they tie it at 52.

6:15 - We end a 10-0 run with a nice drive by Pait that draws a foul. We are down 60-54.

5:01 - We have a big task ahead of us. Down 64-54 as my starters return.

4:40 - Galbreath with a drive to the hoop off a screen.

4:24 - Moye with a block that leads to a Humphrey fastbreak dunk and the foul.. he completes the 3 point play!

4:04 - Humphrey with a block that starts a Galbreath fastbreak. He is fouled. He misses the 1st, but makes the 2nd. Down 64-60.

2:45 - Halsch forces a miss, but then misses a hook shot down low. The next possession, they score against Halsch. We are down 66-60.

2:25 - Humphrey with a 2 that was just inside the arc.

1:46 - We force a miss and Halsch draws a foul down low. He misses both FT's.

1:23 - Galbreath with a steal, he passes to Sowers who is fouled on the fastbreak. He misses the 1st.. and the 2nd, but Moye with an offensive putback dunk! 66-64.

48 seconds - Halsch with a block. We have a 2-on-1... Galbreath to Sowers for a dunk! Tied at 66.

37 seconds - Moye fouls down low. Their PF hits both FT's.

30 seconds - Sowers blows by his man and is fouled before he can dunk it. He makes the 1st... and the 2nd. Tied at 68.

They miss a contested 18 footer with 4 seconds left, Sowers was on him.. Moye with the rebound, passes it to Galbreath.. he dribbles just inside the arc, time is up.. he shoots just before the buzzer.. and it bounces off the rim. We are going to OT.

Galbreath is exhausted, Sead with play with the starters in OT.


4:26 - Sowers misses a 3, but Humphrey flies in out of no where to get the offensive board.

3:56 - Sowers draws a foul with a nice drive. He makes both FT's.

3:32 - Humphrey with a steal that leads to a Sowers fastbreak dunk on which he is fouled. He gets the FT as well.

Their SG hits a 12 footer. He has 25 points today!

2:16 - Humphrey hits a 3 from the corner. We lead 76-70.

Sead with good defense on a 3 attempt by Woodard.

Sowers misses a shot. Halsch forces a miss at the other end. 1 minute left.

20 seconds left: Their SG, Akingbala, hits a 3 to keep them in it.

They intentionally foul Sead. He makes the 1st.. but misses the 2nd. Humphrey with the offensive board. He makes 1 of 2.

Woodard misses a quick 3. That should end it.


We win the game 79-73.

Sowers is the player of the game with 25 points, 2 boards, and 1 assist. He shot 8 of 17, 3 of 8, and 6 of 10. He didn't do well defensively as their SG finished with 28 on 10 of 18 shooting.

Galbreath with 4 points, 7 assists, and 1 turnover. He shot 1 of 5. He played decent defense, particularly in the 1st half.

Humphrey with 16 points, 6 boards, 2 assists, 5 steals, and 2 blocks. He shot 6 of 10, 2 of 5, and 2 of 3. His defense was excellent.

Halsch with 8 pooints, 5 boards, and 2 blocks. He held his man to 2 points. Excellent job.

Moye with 16 points, 14 boards, 3 assists, and 3 blocks. He played a nearly perfect game. He held his man to 6 points. He shot 8 of 10.


Sead led the bench with 5 points. Pait was 0 of 8 shooting tonight. Whatever happened to that freshman magic?

[Eaglesfan27]

Jan 19, 2031 -

Today, we travel to play ASU. They are 9-5 (1-3) with a roster strength of 88.

*Due to a power outage I lost the original sim of this game. I tried 3 times to get the original result, but now I keep winning it.*


We win the game 82-65.

Galbreath with 2 points, 2 assists, and 2 turnovers.

Halsch with 3 points, 3 boards, and 1 block. He shot 1 of 3.

Moye with 19 points, 6 boards, 2 assists, and 2 blocks. He shot 8 of 12.

Pait led the bench with 11. Sead with 7 points and 2 assists. Nelke with 8 points.


My staff convinces me after the game that since Galbreath is hurt, I should let Sead start a few games..


Our next game is against Stanford at home. They are 16-1 (6-0.) they are 4th in the media poll. However, they recently lost their starting C Kurtis Byerson to an ankle injury that will last 2-3 weeks. They will give the ultimate test to Sead and Galbreath..

JR PG Dedric Finn is 6'1 180 and is rated 91 overall. He has great speed, defense, passing, and is a very good shooter. He's averaging 16.2 ppg, 5.1 apg, and 1.5 spg.

SR PG Mustafa Hull is starting at SG. He's 5'11 186 and is rated 91 overall. He's even faster than Finn and is undoubtedly the fastest guy in the conference. He's a great ball handler, great passer, very good defender, and very good shooter. He's averaging 15.2 ppg, 4 rpg, and 5.5 apg.

SR SG Gerrod Annen is starting at SF. He's 6'3 208 and is rated 86 overall. He's fast, a great 3 point shooter, and is a good defender. He's averaging 9 ppg.

SO F Germain Park is starting at PF. He's 6'6 201 and is rated 83 overall. He's another very fast player who is a very good rebounder for his size. He can stretch the floor. He's averagoing 7.6 ppg and 4.8 rpg.

SR C Kurtis Byerson is rated 86 overall but he is out for this game. Instead, they will start PF/C Randy Stivers. He is 6'8 243 and is rated 82 overall. He's averaging 6.4 ppg and 5.5 rpg.

They are very thin at PF and C, so I'll try to pound it inside this game.

They have 3 guards who are all rated 82-84. The rest of their bench is in the low 70's.


Edit: Byerson isn't hurt on the replay.. This will be a much more dangerous team I face. Stivers slides to his natural PF, Park to his SF, but Hull and Finn remain the starters. This will make things much harder on Humphrey, Halsch, and Moye this game..

[Eaglesfan27]

*You might want to skip this post. Power went out last night just as the final buzzer of the game sounded. It was out for 3-4 hours, so I'm just posting this now. Next post will be the replay. Hopefully it goes as well as the original game below did*


18:02 - Moye already has 2 dunks, one on a nice pass from Sead and 1 on a putback. We lead 6-2.

15:01 - Moye is dominating inside. We lead 13-4! Moye with 8.

Sead has done a very good job on defense.

7:35 - I left my starters in too long and now they have given up 5 quick easy points. We lead 29-22 as I bring in my 2nd unit.

I try to keep pounding them inside, but Rollins misses 3 straight attempts including an open dunk.

2:05 - I bring back my starters. We are up 31-29.

Stivers hits a 3 at the buzzer to end the half.


Halftime: We are tied at 35.

Moye is the player of the half with 17 points and 3 boards.


15:01 - Halsch and Moye are dominating down low. We lead 51-39.

10:11 - We lead 61-44 as I rest my starters. Moye and Halsch continued to be my dominant scorers.


Nelke with a few big dunks and they seem completely deflated. We lead 65-46.

My bench finishes out the game as they never get closer than 19 points.



A huge win, 80-59.

SOB! The power just went out (it is stormy outside tonight) in my home before I could save the game. :(

Moye had 30 points and 8 boards. Hopefully, when I replay the game tomorrow, it will go as well.

I also know Nelke had a great last 10 minutes, hitting a few midrange jumpers and mixing in some dunks. He had 10 or 12 points.


Oh well, I'll have to replay this tomorrow.


Edit: Well crap! Byerson isn't hurt now that I've resimmed those days. Looks like Moye will have a much harder challenge..

[Eaglesfan27]

15:00 - Byerson is doing a very good job keeping Moye out of his favored spots. We are down 9-5.

13:39 - Sowers and Hull collide on a shot attempt by Hull, Sowers is holding his leg and screaming in agony. Lang will come into the game.

9:49 - I turn to the bench. We are down 20-14. Moye is getting shut down by Byerson.

4:00 - We are down 40-26 as I bring back my starters with Mack at SG.



Halftime: Halsch with a very good last 4 minutes. We are down 44-36.

Hull is the player of the half with 14 points. Almost all of his shots are falling.



18:52 - Moye draws a 3rd foul on Byerson. Maybe he can start dominating now..

18:07 - Moye gets a 3rd foul on Stivers. We are down 46-40.

17:44 - Moye with his first dunk of the night.

16:54 - Moye with his 2nd dunk.

16:03 - Sead picks up his 3rd foul. I bring in Galbreath.

14:44 - Moye with 10 straight points. We lead 51-50.

11:24 - Our crowd is going crazy. Moye has 19 points, most of them in the 2nd half. We lead 60-52.

8:44 - Byerson is back, but Moye has it going now and he doesn't want to come out of the game. The crowd is feeding my players with their energy. We lead 66-59.

6:00 - Moye's confidence is sky high now. He just hit 2 14 footers. We lead 74-67.

Byerson is trying to come right back at him, but Moye is forcing misses.

3:04 - Halsch fouls out. We lead 80-67. Nelke comes in for him.

58 seconds - Finn hits a pair of 3's over Galbreath. They steal it and get the ball back. We lead 82-76.

Finn misses this 3 and Moye gets the board and is fouled.



We win the game 86-81.

Moye is the player of the game with 33 points, 11 boards, and 2 blocks. He shot 14 of 20, 0 of 0, and 5 of 9. Could this be his breakout performance on the way to 2nd half MVP style season?

Halsch with 16 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. He shot 5 of 6 from the field and 6 of 7 from the line.

Sead with 8 points, 4 assists, and 1 turnover. He shot 2 of 3.

Sowers with 4 points before he was hurt. I hope the injury isn't too serious..

Humphrey with 7 points, 7 boards, 2 steals, and 1 block. He shot 2 of 7.


Nelke led the bench in scoring with 8 points and 3 boards. Galbreath with 6 points, 4 assists, 2 boards, 1 steal, and 1 turnover. He shot 2 of 3.


Hopefully, the MRI will give good news about Sowers..

[Eaglesfan27]

The MRI comes back and while it isn't good news, it could be a lot worse. No tear of his ACL, just a severe strain. Doctors recommend he rest for 3-4 weeks which will keep him out most of the rest of Pac-10 regular season play.

Lang will get a chance to start at SG and show us what he can do.


Jan 25, 2031 -

Today we host Arizona. They are 12-4 (4-2.) We are now 16-1 (7-0.)


We beat them 73-57.

Sead helped cement his spot as the starting PG today. He finished with 8 points, 8 assists, and 1 turnover. He shot 2 of 4 and 4 of 4 from the line.

Moye continues his strong play with 26 points, 7 boards, and a block. He shot 11 of 17, 1 of 2, and 3 of 4.

Lang with a nice debut, 13 points, 3 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 3 turnovers. He shot 4 of 10, 4 of 9, and 1 of 5.

Humphrey with 7 points, 10 boards, 2 steals, and 1 block. He shot 3 of 11.

Halsch didn't take any shots today. He finished with 0 points, 8 boards, and 2 blocks.


Pait led the bench with 13 points on 5 of 13 shooting.

Nelke and Galbreath each had 3. Galbreath had 3 assists as well.



At 17-1, we rise to 5th in the media poll.

Our next game is hosting Oregon. Tjey are 15-6 (5-4.) We both have a 91 roster strength now. They have a well balanced starting 5:

SR PG Nikola Dalgarn is 6'0 197 and is rated 84 overall. His strengths are his defense and athleticism. He is averaging 13 ppg, 4.6 apg, and 1.8 spg.

SR SG Russ Grimes is 6'5 229 and is rated 90 overall. He is strong in every phase of his game. His biggest weakness is his tendency to sometimes get stupid fouls. He is averaging 14.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 3 apg, and 1.4 spg.

FR SG Donatas Kleinzweig (who I pursued aggressively) is starting at SF for them. He is 6'3 194 and is rated 79 overall. He is an excellent athlete. He's averaging 7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, and 1 spg.

JR PF Jasper Borchardt is 6'10 270 and is rated 86 overall. He is a great rebounder, a very good passer, and a good scorer. He's averaging 11 ppg, 6.6 rpg, and 1.1 bpg.

FR C Altron Gardner is a very impressive freshman. He is 6'11 235 and is rated 82 overall. He is a shot blocking extraordinaire and a very good rebounder. He looks like he has the potential to become a very good scorer in time. He is averaging 6 ppg, 7.7 rpg, and 2.4 bpg.

The bench is led by a pair of 6'8 SF's - Jomo Chadwick and Brad Sheppard. Both are capable players with overall ratings of 79.

The rest of the bench is in the mid 70's.

I'll play them later today.

[Eaglesfan27]

19:29 - Lang hits his first shot of the game, a 3.

14:20 - We are playing fantastic team defense and every player has scored 1 basket. We lead 11-2.

7:15 - My starters are finally tiring. We are up 23-11.


Grimes lit up Connolly who only hit 1 of his shots.


Halftime: We lead 36-24.


Moye is the player of the half with 6 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and 2 blocks. Humphrey has 8 points at the half.

Grimes has 13, 10 against Connolly.



8:18 - Very good play from my starters for the first 8 minutes. Sloppy the last 3-4. We are up 66-46 as I rest my starters. Humphrey has been stroking the 3's this half. He has 20 points.

A decent finish from my bench.


We win the game 78-61.

Humphrey was the player of the game with 20 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 7 of 11, 6 of 7, and 0 of 0.


Sead with 2 points, 5 assists, and 2 turnovers. He played good defense throughout.

Lang with 3 points, 2 boards, and 2 assists. His defense was average. He shot 1 of 6.

Halsch with 12 points, 6 boards, and 1 assist. He shot 5 of 5 and played terrific defense.

Moye with 16 points, 7 boards, 3 assists, and 2 blocks. He also played terrific defense. We shut down points in the paint today.


Pait led the bench with 11 points on 4 of 6 shooting (3 of 4 from the arc.)

Nelke with 5 points and 5 boards. He shot 2 of 3 (1 of 1 from the arc.)

Connolly with 5 points on 2 of 8 shooting. His defense was bad today. Grimes had 21 points, most of them against him.

[Eaglesfan27]

We are now 18-1 and 4th in the media poll. Here are the top 10:


1. Saint Joseph's (19-0)
2. Pitt (20-2)
3. Alabama (19-2)
4. USC (18-1)
5. San Diego State (19-0) Maybe this is why they are beating me out for players. They have managed to turn themselves into a perpetual tourney attendee. However, they have never made a Final 4. Their head coach is 448-152.

6. DePaul (17-3)
7. FSU (18-2)
8. Stanford (17-4)
9. Xavier (15-2)
10. Siena (23-1)


Feb 6, 2031 -

Today we travel to play at Washington. They are 13-7 thanks to injuries. They are 24th in the media poll. They are without their star SG Tamal Appleby (rated 90 overall) due to a broken wrist.


Despite the injury, they have too much firepower as we lose a shootout, 92-85.

Sead finished with 2 points and 5 assists. His man scored 24 points and 8 assists.

Lang with 11 points, 3 boards, and 3 assists. He held his man to 11 points.

Humphrey with 22 points, 4 boards, and 3 assists. He shot 7 of 17, 4 of 7, and 4 of 4. He held Gennie to 11 points on 4 of 10 shooting.

Halsch with 9 points, 4 boards, and 1 assist. He held his man to 11 points.

Moye with 14 points, 5 boards, and 1 assist. He held their star C to 13 points and 6 boards.

Pait led the bench with 9 points and 2 boards.

Nelke with 7 points, 5 boards, and 1 block in 14 minutes.


Our next game is at UCLA. They are 11-9 (3-7, 8th in the Pac-10.) We beat them 105-74 earlier in the year, and I'd love to see a repeat performance.

[Eaglesfan27]

15:00 - We are down 6-5. Moye has all of our points.

10:06 - Sead is starting to tire and is giving the ball up to their full court trap. We are down 17-12. Moye has almost all of our points and is now exhausted. I rest all of my starters.


4:23 - Good job by my bench. We are down 23-21 as I bring back my starters.



Halftime: We are down 31-29.


Moye is the player of the half with 18 points, 6 boards, and a block.


18:51 - Halsch draws a 3rd foul on Butch who came over to help and block his dunk. Halsch goes down and is holding his knee. We are tied at 31. Nelke comes into the game.

14:41 - Nelke with 4 quick points on interior baskets. Nelke with a 16 footer. Nelke with a block. We are up 41-35.

6:30 - They just hit a 12 footer to end a 6 minute 16-0 run by us. We now lead 63-43.

4:40 - I finally pull/rest my starters as their defense is now breaking down. We lead 69-52.


We win the game 75-56.

Moye is the player of the game with 27 points, 9 boards, 1 block, and 1 steal. He shot 10 of 15 and 7 of 12 from the line. He also played excellent defensively. He held their center to 4 points for the game.

Sead with 4 points, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 3 turnovers. Rand had 9 points against him, all on 3's.

Lang with 2 points, 5 assists, 3 turnovers. He shot 1 of 7. He also allowed their SG to score 13 points on 6 of 12 shooting.

Humphrey with 12 points, 5 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal. He shot 4 of 8. Their SF, Angounou also had 12 points.

Halsch with 5 points, 3 boards, and 1 block before he was hurt. I hope his tests come out ok..


Nelke led the bench with 14 points, 11 boards, 3 assist, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. He shot 3 of 5 from the floor and 8 of 9 from the line.

Pait and Connolly each had 4 points. Rollins with 3 points on 1 of 3 shooting. He also had 5 boards.

[Eaglesfan27]

Good news on Halsch! It is just a sprained knee and he'll be able to play through it.

Feb 13, 2031 -

Today we host 12-12 Oregon State.

We beat them 85-75.

Sead with 15 points and 7 assists! He shot 4 of 7 and 6 of 6 from the line.

Lang with 3 points, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.

Humphrey with 6 points, 5 boards, and 5 assists. He shot 1 of 6.

Halsch with 9 points, 4 boards, and 3 blocks.

Moye with 20 points, 8 boards, and a block.


Pait led the bench with 14 points. Mack with 9 points. Nelke with 5 and 5.


Our next is hosting ASU who we beat 82-65 earlier in the year.

[Eaglesfan27]

15:00 - We are up 11-7. Humphrey with 2 early 3's.

10:00 - Lang and Sead are having their best games as a Trojan! We lead 22-10.

7:04 - Last 2 minutes have gotten sloppy defensively. We lead 29-16. I rest my starters.

5:04 - Pait with a block, gathers in the carom, and a breakaway dunk with a foul. He completes the 3 point play. He has 8 points already. We lead 42-20.

2:45 - Pait gives up a 4 point play. We lead 47-28.

My 2nd unit finishes the half.



Halftime: We lead 52-33. A strong well balanced effort.

Moye is the player of the half with 11 points, 5 boards, and 2 blocks.

Sead with 2 points and 5 assists at the half. Lang with 8 points. Pait leads the bench with 11 at the half.



15:00 - As good as they were in the 1st half, the team comes out completely flat in the 2nd half. 52-44.

9:55 - The offense finally started clicking 4 minutes ago thanks to 2 big shots by Humphrey. We lead 63-50.

5:52 - I rest my starters, possibly for the rest of the game. We lead 69-58.



We win the game 78-68.

Moye is the player of the game with 15 points, 7 boards, 3 blocks, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 7 of 12 and 1 of 1 from the line.

Sead with 2 points, 8 assists, and 1 turnover. He held his counterpart to 2 points and 4 assists.

Lang with 8 points, 2 assists, and 3 steals. He shot 2 of 9. His counterpart had 20 points on 6 of 11 shooting. Their backup SG/SF had 21 points off the bench.

Humphrey with 14 points, 2 boards, 1 assist, 3 steals, and a block. He shot 5 of 11, 4 of 9, and 0 of 0. Their backup SF scored some of his points against Humphrey.

Halsch with 7 points, 6 boards, and 2 blocks. He held his man to 2 points.


Pait with 14 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 blocks off the bench. He shot 5 of 9.

Nelke and Connolly each had 8 points.

[Eaglesfan27]

Feb 20, 2031 -

Sowers is back from his injury and will start in our next game at Arizona. They are 16-6 and are playing very good basketball right now.

We pull off the tough road win, 78-75.

Moye led the way with 25 points, 8 boards, and 2 blocks. He shot 8 of 16, and 9 of 11 from the line.

Humphrey and Pait each had 8 points. Nelke with 7. A few guys with 4 or 5 points including Lang, Rollins, and Sowers. Sowers was 2 of 9 in his first game back.


We are now 7th in the media poll with our 22-2 record. Our next game is at Stanford. They are 11th with a 20-5 record. Sead has a sore finger, but will still play. They are completely healthy. We pulled off the win 86-81 at home earlier in the year. This will be another tough game.

[Eaglesfan27]

15:13 - Sowers has come out on fire! He has 11 points thanks to 3 3's. He and Galbreath have shown the most growth this year in practice. We are up 14-3.

9:38 - I rest my starters. We lead 24-13. Sowers with 12 points, Moye and Humphrey each have 4.

Their guys dominate my bench, particularly Byerson against Rollins.

3:29 - I have my starters return to the game. We are up 26-23.


Halftime: We lead 30-23.


Sowers is the player of the half with 12 points.

7:45 - I rest my starters. We have a 57-45 lead. Humphrey has been great this 2nd half. He leads all scorers with 22 points.

2:50 - I bring my starters back. It is 59-52.

2:06 - Byerson blocks a Moye attempt and starts a fastbreak which Finn finishes.

1:33 - Sead draws a foul in the lane! He makes both FT's. 61-54.

1:14 - Byerson makes a little hook shot.

44 seconds - Sowers drills yet another corner 3! 64-56.

34 seconds - Sowers steals it from Finn. They foul him. He makes both FT's.

27 seconds - They miss a quick 3. Moye with the board. They seem content to let it run out now.


We win the game 66-56.

Humphrey was the player of the game. He finished with 22 points, 3 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals, and a block. He shot 7 of 9, 5 of 6, and 3 of 5.

Sowers with almost an identical stat line: 22 points, 3 boards, 1 assist, and 2 steals. He shot 6 of 10, 4 of 6, and 6 of 6.

Sead with 4 points, 8 assists, and 1 turnover. Furthermore, he held their star PG to only 5 points and 6 assists.

Sowers owned Hull who finished with 3 points and 3 assists. He shot 1 of 9.

Halsch with 5 points and 8 boards. He did a decent job defensively.

Moye with 8 points, 3 boards, and 2 assists. Byerson scored 14, but at least half of them were against the 2nd unit.

Galbreath led the 2nd unit with 3 points and 1 assist.

Pait with 2 points on 1 of 9 shooting.

[Eaglesfan27]

Franklin Howel, the 6'6" PG who is ranked 34th overall, and who I would really like to be my starter, has made it clear that he is going to select UCLA over us. :(

So, I withdraw his offer and instead make an offer to Keon McDade, a 4 star PG from Seattle, WA who is ranked 51st overall. Our staff loves his potential and thinks he will be a good shooter with good ball skills.

Meanwhile, we continue to battle for Timon Zimmerman, the massive C from Houston, TX. We are in his top 3, along with Memphis and Louisville.


Our next game is at Oregon. They've been hit hard by injuries this year. They are 17-10.

We beat them 83-70.

Humphrey led our team with 28 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 3 blocks. He shot 9 of 13, 3 of 3, and 7 of 9.

Sowers with 12 points, 6 boards, 2 assists, and 2 blocks.

Halsch with 3 points and 8 boards.

Moye with 12 points, 6 boards, and a block. He shot 5 of 15.


Pait led the bench with 15 points. Lang with 8 and Rollins with 7.


We are now 24-2 and 4th in the media poll. Here is a look at the top 10:

1. Pitt (26-3)
2. Florida (25-3)
3. Alabama (25-3)
4. USC (24-2)
5. Siena (29-1)
6. Saint Joseph's (25-1)
7. Iowa (24-3)
8. Xavier (21-3)
9. San Diego State (25-2)
10. DePaul (23-5)


Our 2nd to last regular season game is hosting Cal. They are 19th in the media poll with a 22-6 record. We beat them 68-67 earlier in the year.

[TonyR]

Good luck on the recruiting front and here's to a strong finish to the season!

[Eaglesfan27]

Thanks, Tony. I've got that Championship feeling from this team again. I think if everyone can stay healthy, we are going to be tough to beat. Sowers and Humphrey are developing very nicely this season, Moye is a strong inside scorer now, Halsch provides a great interior defensive presence that is mobile enough to help on the perimeter, and Sead has actually become a good PG in his senior year.


Now, it is time to beat the Bears.

[Eaglesfan27]

18:06 - Humphrey draws 2 quick fouls on Ridnour. We are up 5-2.

12:11 - Halsch hurts his ankle on a dunk attempt. He has to be helped off the floor :( We are tied at 9.

8:55 - I bring in the rest of the 2nd unit. We are tied at 17.

3:00 - I bring back all of my starters (except for Halsch of course who is done with the ankle injury.) We are up 30-27.



Halftime: We lead 38-29.

Humphrey is the player of the half with 10 points, 2 boards, and a block.

Sead with 6 points and 4 assists at the half! Moye and Pait also each have 6 points.


15:00 - We lead 48-35. Nelke with 5 straight points.

9:43 - Our guys have taken it to another level the last 5 minutes. We lead 65-41. Nelke's ability to hit the 12-14 footer consistently is a big boost.

7:40 - Our starters finish the game off with a flurry of blocks, steals, and dunks. We are up 74-43 as I pull my starters.


We win the game 83-56.

Nelke wins player of the game. He finished with 17 points, 7 boards, 5 steals, 3 assists, and 2 turnovers. He shot 7 of 7 from the field and 3 of 4 from the line. I know he'll do a good job stepping in for Halsch if he is injured for any period of time, but it will weaken our 2nd unit and may call for some creative lineups.

Sead with a very nice game - 11 points, 7 assists, 2 boards, 1 steal, and 1 block. He held the heralded Urbitis to 5 points and 1 assist.

Sowers with 9 points, 2 boards, 2 steals, and a block. He shot 2 of 7.

Humphrey with 16 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 4 of 10.

Halsch with 2 points and 2 boards before he left the game with the injury.

Moye with 6 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, and a block. He shot 3 of 8 as Ballard did a good job keeping him away from his comfort spots.


Pait with 8 points and 4 boards. Lang with 7 points and 2 assists. Rollins with 5 points and 7 boards. Galbreath with 2 points and 2 assists.

[Eaglesfan27]

The good news is that Halsch didn't break anything. The bad news is that he has a severe high ankle sprain. He is out for 3-4 weeks and will miss the first two weeks of the Tourney at least.


Our last game of the regular season is hosting WSU. They are doing terribly with a record of 6-23.

We beat them 83-58.

Humphrey led the team with 25 points, 10 boards, 2 steals, and a block. He shot 8 of 11, 4 of 5, and 5 of 8.

Sead with 9 points and a career high 10 assists.

Sowers with 6 points, 7 boards, and 5 assists.

Nelke with 8 points, 3 boards, and a steal.

moye with 13 points, 2 boards, and 2 blocks.

Pait and Lang each had 7 points off the bench.


We finish the regular season with a 26-2 record and 4th in the media poll. Here are the Pac-10 Final Regular Season Standings:

1. USC 26-2 (17-1)
2. Stanford 24-6 (13-5)
3. Cal 23-7 (12-6)
4. Arizona 19-9 (11-7)
5. Washington 19-10 (10-8)
6. Oregon 18-12 (8-10)
7. Arizona State 15-13 (7-11)
8. Oregon State 15-16 (5-13)
9. UCLA 13-15 (5-13)
10. WSU 6-24 (2-16)

Guess UCLA isn't that close to us yet, even if they are stealing some great recruits.

Speaking of which, our first game in the tourney will be vs UCLA who beat Oregon state 72-63. I'll play them later today.

[Eaglesfan27]

15:00 - We are up 8-2. Humphrey with 5 points early.

10:00 - We are up 26-6. Moye is dominating on both ends. He has 10 points.

7:44 - I rest my starters with a 30-13 lead.

2:13 - I bring back my starters. The bench struggled for some reason. We are up 32-21.


Halftime: We lead 35-21.

Moye is the player of the half with 13 points, 4 boards, and 2 blocks.



9:21 - Our starters come out strong to finish this game off. We are up 60-30. I pull the starters.

During garbage time, Lang hurts his finger.

We win the game 75-48.

Moye is the player of the game with 22 points, 9 boards, 2 assists, and 2 blocks.

Sead with 2 points and 5 assists.

Sowers with 11 points, 3 boards, and 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 3 of 7.

Humphrey with 18 points, 8 boards, 3 assists, and 4 steals. He shot 6 of 7.

Nelke with 9 points, 8 boards, and 2 blocks.

Connolly lead the bench with 5.


Our next game is hosting Arizona. Lang has a broken finger but will be able to play through it. Arizona is completely healthy. They beat Washington 80-70 to advance to this game.

[Eaglesfan27]

16:33 - Moye with a defensive board, quick long pass to Sead who throws a perfect alley-oop to Sowers. The crowd at the Staples Center is going crazy! We lead 8-0.

15:00 - We lead 14-0! Sowers has 9.

13:30 - They finally score a basket. We lead 18-2. Sowers has 13 points as he imposing his will on both ends of the court.

12:19 - A ridiculous play - Our full court trap forces the 3rd or 4th steal of the game, Humphrey throws it to Sead who throws a behind his back alley-oop dunk to Nelke! Nelke is fouled on the play as well. He makes the FT. We lead 23-2.

7:17 - My starters are tiring now and the intensity is way down. We lead 34-12. I rest all of the starters. Since I want to emphasize defense, I go for size and put Hehn in at PF.

2:23 - Bad play from my 2nd unit. We turn it over too many times and play very poor defense. I bring back my starters. We are up 40-26.


Sowers hits a 3 at the buzzer to end a phenomenal half!



Halftime: We lead 47-29.

Sowers is the player of the half with 23 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He has shot 9 of 13.




19:11 - Moye picks up his 3rd foul. I leave him in.

15:28 - Moye picks up his 4th. I rest him for Rollins. We lead 55-40.

5:51 - Sowers hits an open 14 footer to give him 41 points this game. We lead 77-48. I pull my starters.


We win the game 82-54.


Sowers is the player of the game with 41 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and 3 steals. He shot 16 of 24, 6 of 11, and 3 of 4. He also held their SG, Thomson, to 2 points on 1 of 10 shooting.

Sead with 0 points, 9 assists, and 3 steals. Tehir PG finished with 4 points, 1 assist, and 4 turnovers.

Humphrey with 11 points, 3 boards, 5 assists, and 3 steals. He shot 4 of 8.

Nelke with 13 points, 8 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block. He shot 5 of 8. He held their PF to 9 points and 6 boards.

Moye with 4 points and 5 boards. Cuic went off once he left the game. Cuic was their leading scorer with 21 points.


Rollins led the bench with 6 points, 8 boards, and 2 blocks.

[Eaglesfan27]

Stanford takes care of Cal 78-58 to advance to play us. A quick look at our roster's improvement:

Humphrey is now rated 91 (plus 3.) Pait is an 88, Moye is an 88, Sowers is an 85, Lang is an 84, Sead is a 82, Halsch is a 79 overall, Nelke is a 77. They are all plus 2.

Galbreath is a 75 (plus 4!), Connolly, Mack, and Rollins are all 75's as well. Hehn is a 74, not bad for a walk-on.

Stanford's top 8 players:

JR PG Dedric Finn is rated 92 overall. If he doesn't go pro early, I don't know what underclassmen will in this game.

SR PG Mustafa Hull is rated 90 overall.

SR C Kurtis Byerson is rated 86 overall.

SR SG Gerrod Annen is rated 86 overall.

R PG Courtney Videnov is rated 84 overall.

SO SF Germain Park is rated 83 overall.

SO SG Kaylan Sola is rated 83 overall. He is one of the best 3 point shooters on the team.

SO SG Brent Wooten is rated 83 overall. The other great 3 point shooter on the team.

JR PF Randy Stivers is rated 83 overall.

Will be a tough game, but I've beat them twice this year. 66-56 at their place and and 86-81 at our place. I'll play them later.

[hoopsguy]

Hopefully you can keep up this form into the NCAA tourney. It feels like this has been your most dominant team yet, although I don't think (could be wrong) that the talent on paper is off-the-charts.

Just imagine what you would be doing if you were winning the recruiting battles with UCLA, Stanford, San Diego State, etc :)

[Eaglesfan27]

Hopefully you can keep up this form into the NCAA tourney. It feels like this has been your most dominant team yet, although I don't think (could be wrong) that the talent on paper is off-the-charts.

Just imagine what you would be doing if you were winning the recruiting battles with UCLA, Stanford, San Diego State, etc :)

Yes, I agree with you. I don't think this team has the best overall talent that I've had but they are really clicking right now. Once I put Sead back in the lineup that gave a huge boost to my team unity and it really helped us click defensively. Humphrey might be the best ball stealer I've ever had - he's great in the full court trap and 1-on-1 situations. He has tremendously long arms in the game and his steal rating is the highest I can remember having in a player. He really starts a lot of our rallies.

Moye is almost as good of a scorer as Sockwell was, but he has more weapons around him so I don't have to constantly feed him the ball.

Sowers could end up being my best player ever if he stays for 4. He's only a sophomore. Next year, he may get to move to his more natural SF position.

Halsch and Nelke both play better than their overall rating, and I think they are going to have great careers. If Pait could get it going consistently, I would feel even better about this team.

If Rutgers can make this a blowout tonight against UCF, I'm looking forward to getting in the Conference Final game.


Also, as far as the recruiting battles, I think it is time for my long standing recruiting coordinator to "retire." I think I need to get a young coach in who is a great developer of players. Maybe if I have two great teachers as assistants, I'll get these 5 star players that want great coaching. Even if I don't, I'll help develop the rest of my roster a bit quicker I'd imagine.

[Eaglesfan27]

15:00 - We are up 8-6. Humphrey has 6 for us early.

10:11 - We lead 14-11. Humphrey with 8. Sowers with 4. Moye is missing most of his early shots, but has 2. I rest all of my starters except for Nelke.

3:42 - Connolly and Pait with some great offense. We lead 31-25 as I bring back my starters.



Halftime: We lead 36-30.

Humphrey is the player of the half with 11 points and 1 board.


14:00 - We lead 47-39. Sowers has 8 points in this half.

9:57 - We lead 54-48. Finn and Hull are keeping them in it.

7:52 - We rest our starters (except Nelke who might play 40) with a 61-51 lead.

3:39 - I bring back my starters. We lead 64-56.

2:33 - Sowers hits a 3 and then gets a steal.

1:52 - Nelke with an offensive board after Humphrey misses a shot. We'll get to burn off another 30-35 seconds.

45 seconds - They have given up and aren't going to try to extend the game.


We win the game 69-60. We are Pac-10 Champions.

Sowers was the player of the game with 19 points, 4 steals, and 2 boards. He shot 6 of 9, 1 of 2, and 6 of 6. Hull did score 15, but at least 6 of them were against my 2nd unit.

Sead with 2 points, 8 assists, 2 steals, and 2 turnovers. Finn has 12 points and 7 assists against him.

Humphrey with 16 points, 3 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 7 of 14. He held his man to 1 of 8 shooting.

Nelke played all 40 minutes. He finished with 6 points, 10 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks. He shot 2 of 6. Hopefully, our first tourney game is a blowout, so he can rest plenty.

Moye with a rough night. 8 points, 2 boards, and 1 block as Byerson neutralized him. He shot 3 of 9.

Connolly led the bench with 8 points on 2 of 6 shooting. Pait with 5 and Galbreath with 4.

Now, it is time for the Tourney selection show. I'm sure we are one of the #1 seeds.

[Eaglesfan27]

The #1 seeds are:

USC. We are the top #1 and are in the East. Saint Joseph's (south), Pittsburgh (midwest), and Iowa (west.)

We'll play the Play-in-Winner first.

Other teams in the East:

#8 Vanderbilt (20-9) vs #9 Oklahoma State (21-12)

#5 Pepperdine (26-5) vs #12 Navy (25-7)

#4 Clemson (26-8) vs #13 Hampton (27-4)

#6 Kansas (21-11 ) vs #11 Old Dominion (23-7)

#3 Stanford (26-7) vs #14 UTSA

#7 Wake Forest (21-11) vs #10 Arkansas (21-12)

#2 San Diego State (29-2) vs #15 Northern Iowa (17-12)


Interesting South Teams:

#8 Arizona (20-10) vs #9 Michigan (21-12)

#6 North Carolina State (23-9) vs #11 Rutgers (21-10)

#2 Siena (32-1) vs #15 F. Dickinson (21-9)


Midwest:

#8 Nebraska (20-10) vs #9 Purdue (21-12)

#7 Georgia State (26-5) vs #10 Duke (20-13)


West:

#5 Cal (24-8) vs #12 Saint Mary's (22-9)

#6 Washington (19-11) vs #11 Miami (OH) 21-8


ACC gets 8 teams in, Big 12 - 7, SEC and Big East with 6, Pac-10 with 5, Big Ten and MAC with 3, A-10, WCC, and CAA with 2.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our first game will be against Jacksonville (18-15) as they beat Alcorn State 59-57.

They have only 1 player rated over 70, SR SF Hector Madera who is rated 72 overall and is 6'7 217. He is slow, but is a good shooter. The rest of their team is all in the low 60's to mid 50's. We should be able to beat them handily.

[Eaglesfan27]

15:00 - We lead 8-4.

11:52 - Our offense explodes as shots are falling all over the court. We lead 20-6.

8:18 - I rest my starters as we have a 26-10 lead.

2:45 - I bring back my starters after a bad showing by my bench. We lead 36-22.



Halftime: We lead 44-25.

Humphrey is the player of the half with 11 points, 5 boards, 3 steals, and a block.


9:27 - I pull my starters. We lead 80-35! Great balanced scoring. Great defensive effort.


We win the game 92-50.


Humphrey is the player of the game with 21 points, 8 boards, 6 steals, and 5 assists. He shot 7 of 11 and 7 of 10 from the line.

Sead with 4 points, 6 assists, and 5 steals.

Sowers with 15 points, 5 boards, 4 assists, and 4 steals. He shot 6 of 9.

Nelke with 14 points, 6 boards, and 2 blocks. He shot 5 of 8.

Moye with 16 points, 5 boards, and a block. He shot 7 of 10.


Rollins led the bench with 10 points and 4 boards in 16 minutes.

Pait with 7 points.

[Eaglesfan27]

Oklahoma State is 22-12 with a roster strength of 86. They beat Vanderbilt 80-58 to advance to play us.

They are led by their JR PG Christopher Mack. He is 6'6" 196 and is rated 82 overall. He is a strong physical player with great top speed but average lateral quickness. He is a solid defender who is a good shot blocker. He is an above average midrange shooter. He is averaging 11.4 ppg, 5.1 apg, 3.1 rpg, 1.9 spg, and 1.2 bpg.

JR SG Jimmy Paul is a solid teammate for him. He is a 6'6" 229 pound player who is rated 81 overall. He is the best 3 point shooter on the team. He is a solid defender but isn't much of a playmaker. He is averaging 15 ppg, 3.5 rpg, and 1.4 spg.

SR SF Prosper Ames is a solid 6'8" 250 and is rated 76 overall. His strength is his biggest asset. He tends to be slow, and isn't a good defender unless he can lean into his man. He is averaging 5.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg, and 0.4 spg.

SR PF Clent Cook is 6'11" 258 and is rated 74 overall. He is average in most areas and relies on his size. He averaged 8.4 ppg, 5.8 rpg, and 1 bpg.

JR C Rand Brady is 6'9 240 and is rated 75 overall. He is a good passer for a big man but doesn't excel in any other areas. He is averaging 4.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg, and 1.1 apg.

The bench is all in the mid 60's to low 70's.

[Eaglesfan27]

14:42 - Sowers draws a 2nd foul on Paul. We are down 6-4.

8:22 - We are down 19-16 as I rest my starters.

2:25 - I bring back my starters. We are down 29-27.



Halftime: We lead 33-31.

Moye is the player of the half with 9 points and 3 boards. Sowers with 8.


14:06 - We take a 44-37 lead as they call a timeout. Humphrey is lighting it up now..

8:38 - A brief rest for my starters. We are up 53-48.

4:00 - Galbreath hit a trio of threes allowing me to keep the bench in longer than expected. We are up 64-52.

2:13 - I bring back my starters. We lead 64-56.


We win the game 67-56 as our defense clamps down.

Humphrey is the player of the game with 16 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 5 of 12, 4 of 8, and 2 of 2. He held their SF to 3 of 9 shooting.

Sead with 2 points, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 2 turnovers. Their tall PG had a big game against him with 18 points and 5 assists.

Sowers with 14 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, and 1 steal. He shot 3 of 8, 7 of 8 from the line. He held their SG to 2 of 10 shooting.

Nelke with 2 points, 6 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and a block. He shot 1 of 5. Their PF had 4 points against him.

Moye with 11 points and 6 boards. He shot 5 of 10. Their center had 4 points against him.


Galbreath led the bench with 9 points and 2 assists. He shot 3 of 3 all from the arc.

Pait with 7 points. Connolly with 2.

[Eaglesfan27]

The Sweet 16 Matchups:

#1 USC (31-2) vs #4 Clemson (28-8)

#3 Stanford (28-7) vs #10 ARkansas (23-12)


#1 Iowa (31-3) vs #5 Cal (26-8)

#2 Alabama (28-5) vs #3 Tennessee (28-6)


#8 Arizona (22-10) vs #12 Baylor (21-11)

#3 DePaul (29-6) vs #7 Boston College (23-12)


#1 Pittsburgh (32-3 with the highest overall roster strength I've ever seen 99!) vs #4 FSU (25-7)

#3 Xavier (24-5) vs #10 Duke (22-13)

[Eaglesfan27]

Clemson is a team that has stockpiled talent at both guard positions but left themselves almost bare at the Forward and C positions.

SR PG Derek Yeager will start. He is 6'2 186 and is rated 87 overall. He is an excellent shooter and ball handler. He is averaging 15.7 ppg, 3.3 apg, and 1.4 spg.

G Damien Morton will start at the SG spot. He is 6'1 212 and is rated 85 overall. He is a more athletic player who slashes to the rim with ease. He is averaging 12.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, and 2.3 apg.

SR SG Trey Gary will start at the SF spot. He is 6'5 210 and is rated 85 overall. He is a fast quick player with extremely fast hands. He is averaging 7.8 ppg, 2.7 rpg, and 1.9 spg.

SR PF Jevon Modica will start at PF. He is 6'8 241 and is rated 79 overall. He is a very good shot blocker and has a nice offensive game from within 6 feet. He is averaging 7.7 ppg, 7.2 rpg, and 2.1 bpg.

So PF Erwin Clarke starts at C. He is 6'7 233 and is rated 77 overall. He doesn't excel in any area, but he is a good midrange shooter for a big. He is averaging 5.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg, and 1.2 bpg.

They have zero backup PF's or C's.

They have 3 high quality backup guards who are all rated 85 or better. They have 2 mediocre SF's who are rated in the low 70's.

[Eaglesfan27]

18:55 - Nelke just got a 2nd foul on Modica (Moye got the 1st on him.) We are tied at 2.

15:04 - Their full court trap is giving us problems. Also, they are doing a good job of denying the post. We are down 10-8.

9:51 - They are constantly running their full court trap and jacking shots ASAP. Very high tempo. We are tied at 24.

5:02 - The crowd is going crazy with this tempo and emotion is carrying my guys. Also, there have been a bunch of timeouts called throughout. We are winning 42-33 as we are breaking their pressure more easily now. Nelke is thriving in this running/dunking style.


Halftime: We allowed ourselves to be drawn into their gamestyle, but we are winning 56-46. All of our starters played the full 20.


Nelke is the player of the half with 22 points, 4 boards, 1 assist, and 1 block. He has shot 5 of 5 from the field and 12 of 13 from the line.


14:13 - I suddenly realize that I need to stop playing their style of ball, it is keeping them in it. I rest Moye who is very tired and Humphrey who is in foul trouble and tired. We lead 67-65. We are going to slow it down now..

9:12 - Pait has missed a pair of wide open 3's and they have tied it at 70. All of my remaining starters are tired. I go with the entire 2nd unit plus Moye at C. We are going to pound it inside with him.

7:23 - Moye with a dunk and foul. He converts the 3 point play. We lead 76-73.

3:11 - We are up 88-80 as my guys have been pushing the tempo again on some fast break opportunities.

2:33 - Moye with a 8 footer and the foul. He misses the FT. We lead 90-80.

1:27 - They hit a quick 3 to make it 90-85. I bring back all of my starters.

44 seconds - We miss a post shot by Moye. They attempt a quick 3 which misses. Nelke with the board and he is fouled. He misses the FT's.

34 seconds - Billings hits a quick 3. 90-88. They foul Sead. He makes the 1st.. and misses the 2nd. Humphrey with the offensive board! They foul him. He misses the 1st.. and makes the 2nd. 92-88.

29 seconds - Humphrey tips a pass and Nelke collects it on the bounce. They foul him. He hits both FT's.

23 seconds - Humphrey blocks the 3. They foul him as he gets the ball. He makes both FT's.


We win the game 97-90.

Nelke is the player of the game with 29 points, 8 boards, 1 assist, 1 block, and 1 steal. He shot 7 of 7, and 15 of 20 from the line.


Sead with 9 points, 7 assists, and 6 turnovers. He shot 1 of 1 from the field and 6 of 10 from the line.

Sowers with 12 points, 4 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. He shot 3 of 10.

Humphrey with 11 points, 9 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, and 5 turnovers.

Moye with 27 points, 8 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks, and 3 turnovers. He shot 9 of 17 and 9 of 11 from the line.

Pait led the bench with 3 points on 1 of 4 shooting.

Rollins, Galbreath, and Connolly with 2 points each. Galbreath had 6 assists in just 9 minutes!

[Eaglesfan27]

The rest of the Sweet 16 Results:

#10 Arkansas beat #3 Stanford 77-65. Finn hurt Stanford by shooting 2 of 15. Arkansas got 13 from their PG and SF and 19 from their C.

#5 Cal beat #1 Iowa 95-60! Urbitis had a huge game with 27 points and 10 assists. Ballard, their center, also had a big game for Cal with 29 points and 7 boards.

#2 Alabama beat #3 Tennessee 100-92. Bama got at least 16 points from 4 of their 5 starters.

#8 Arizona beat #12 Baylor 77-50. Zona got 24 from their C, Cuic and 20 from their PG Arenas.

#3 DePaul beat #7 Boston College 83-80. DePaul got 50 points from their
starting PG and SG (23 and 27 respectively.)

#1 Pittsburgh needed 45 points from their starting PF, Olson, to beat #4 FSU 83-82.

#3 Xavier walloped #10 Duke 100-57. Xavier had at least 20 points from their SG, SF, and C.



Arkansas is missing their best player, SF Marco Carbaugh, due to a broken foot. They have a well balanced, but unspectacular starting 5:

SO PG Odie Nabors is the youngest of the group. He is 6'2 183 and is rated 79 overal. Normally, he is lightning quick but he is playing with a sprained ankle that is sure to slow him up. He is averaging 12 ppg and 5 apg this year.

JR SG Skip Munyagi is a 6'5 218 pound player who is rated 82 overall. He is a very good 3 point shooter. He is averaging 10.1 ppg, 2.8 rpg, and 2.4 apg.

SR SF Vincent Wood is 6'6 229 and is rated 83 overall. He is an excellent midrange shooter with some 3 point range. He is a subpar defender. He is averaging 14.3 ppg and 6 rpg.

JR PF Cassiano Garnett is 6'10 256 and is rated 74 overall. He is a solid rebounder. He is averaging 3 ppg and 6 rpg.

JR C Andry Lagana is 6'10 275 and is rated 79 overall. He has developed a solid offensive post game. He is averaging 12.9 ppg, 5.5 rpg, and 1.5 bpg.

The bench is very thin and is mostly populated by guards. They are all rated in the low 70's.

[Eaglesfan27]

16:20 - Moye has drawn 2 fouls on Lagana. We are up 6-4. They go with an extra guard.

15:32 - Sowers gets a 2nd foul on Munyagi. We lead 8-4.

12:06 - Sowers and Howell, their backup SG, collide on a dunk attempt by Sowers. They both go down.. and Howell is hurt. Sowers makes both FT's. We are up 15-7.

5:18 - I rest my starters. We are up 27-11.


Halftime: We lead 39-15. A great 1st half in every regard.

Moye is the player of the half with 11 points, 9 boards, and 2 blocks.

Sowers has 8 at the half.



9:56 - Couldn't ask for much more than this going into the Final 4. We are up 74-36 as I pull my starters.



We win the game 84-52. We are going to the Final 4!


Moye is the player of the game with 21 points, 15 boards, 1 assist, and 3 blocks. He shot 6 of 8 and 9 of 9 from the line.

Sead with 12 points, 10 assists, 2 steals, and 2 turnovers. He shot 3 of 4 and 6 of 6 from the line.

Sowers with 15 points, 2 boards, and 1 steal on 6 of 11 shooting.

Humphrey with 10 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block. He shot 4 of 9.

Nelke with 4 points, 9 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block. He shot 1 of 4.

Pait led the bench with 10 points. Galbreath with 3 points and 3 assists.

[Eaglesfan27]

The rest of the Elite 8 Results:

#5 Cal upset #2 Alabma 90-86 to advance to play us! Cal had 24 points and 8 assists from Urbitis. Every starter was in double digits. Ballard with 20 points, 8 boards, and 3 blocks.

#3 DePaul beat #8 Arizona 66-56. DePaul was led by PG Forney who had 16 points and 6 assists.

#3 Xavier upset the #1 team Pittsburgh 74-72. Pitt got 34 points and 7 boards from Olson, but it wasn't quite enough as Xavier's PF Mayes had 21 points, 10 boards. Every starter on Xavier was in double digits.


We've beat Cal twice this year, 83-56 at home and 68-67 at their place in a very tense game.

Cal's Center Ballard broke his nose last game, but he will play through it. Cal has a very talented well balanced starting 5 and features several players they beat me out for:

SO PG Otis Urbitis was heavily pursued by me last year and now he has become a very good player. He is 6'0 190 and is rated 86 overall. He is a great 3 point shooter and is an all around well rounded player. He is expected to go pro this year, but somehow I doubt he will. He is averaging 12 ppg, 5.1 apg, and 2 spg.

JR SG Trey Hornsby is 6'3 203 and is rated 86 overall. He is a well rounded player who doesn't excel in any one area except FT shooting. He is averaging 12.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg, and 3.0 apg.

SR SF Daniel N'Diaye is 6'6 217 and is rated 88 overall. He is their best midrange shooter. He is averaging 11 ppg, 5. 6 rpg, and 1.4 spg.

JR F Ellis Oliver is starting at PF. He is 6'7 233 and is rated 86 overall. He is a well rounded player. He is averaging 6.6 ppg and 4.4 apg.

SO C Bart Ballard is 7'1 266 and is rated 83 overall now. He is a very strong interior player who is a good shot blocker with very good mobility for his size. He is averaging 14.3 ppg, 7.1 rpg, and 2.0 bpg.

The bench is led by JR SF Clifford Violette who is 6'6 211 and is rated 86 overall and JR SF Al Bazin who is 6'6 220 and is rated 83 overall. SO PG Freddy Zuzak is another very good bench player who is the 2nd best 3 point shooter on the team. He is averaging 6 ppg in limited minutes.

[Eaglesfan27]

Halsch is healthy and will start for us. However, Nelke will get plenty of action with the way he has played for us..

15:00 - We are down 8-5. Halsch scored our first 4. Hornsby has 6 for them.

12:20 - Moye has picked up his 2nd foul and he is tired. I rest him and Halsch. We are down 14-9.

9:10 - Galbreath comes into the game. We are down 19-17. Nelke has had a huge block and a few other nice plays already.

6:40 - Seconds after he returned to the game, Moye picks up his 3rd foul. He'll sit for the rest of the half. We are down 25-19. Nelke is going to play some center for us as I'll bring Halsch back.

3:17 - Nelke has hit 3 mid range jumpers in a row. Ballard is slow covering him out of the paint. We are down 32-29.


Halftime: We are down 38-32.


Urbitis is the player of the half with 9 points and 4 assists.

Nelke leads our team with 14 points.


18:52 - Moye picks up his 4th foul! I leave him in.. We are down 40-34.

15:05 - Sead with a drive into the paint gets a 3rd foul on Ballard. We are down 44-42.

10:14 - I rest Halsch and Moye. We are tied at 47.

6:20 - I bring back Moye. I rest Sead, Sowers, and Humphrey. We are down 56-49.

Pait misses a quick 3, but Moye with an offensive putback slam! That is his first basket in this game in which he has been dominated by Ballard.

40 seconds later, Moye misses a fastbreak dunk as it rattles off the back of the rim. Moye gets the offensive board and puts it in.

3:20 - After Ballard misses a dunk, we get a quick basket by Moye on the other end. He is fouled as well. He makes the FT. We are down 59-58. We bring back the rest of our starters.

2:54 - We press the secondary break after a missed 3... Sowers on the wing, dribbles into the lane and is fouled by Ballard. He misses the first FT. He makes the 2nd.

2:44 - N'Diaye with a quick 14 footer. He has 16 points so far.

2:32 - Sead draws a foul in the lane. He makes both FT's.

2:12 - Humphrey gets called for reaching in. N'Diaye makes both FT's.

1:54 - Urbitis steals it from Sead and takes it the distance for a layup. Down 65-61.

1:31 - Moye with a hook shot. He now has 11 points after a very slow start.

1:02 - Urbitis runs a perfect pick and roll with Ballard who slams it home.

43 seconds - They steal it from Sead, but Humphrey steals it right back. He takes a corner 3 a few seconds later... and misses it. They get the board. We have to foul. They make both FT's.

17 seconds left - Urbitis stole it from Sead who stole it back from Urbitis.. he sets up Humphrey who hits a 3. Down 69-66. We intentionally foul. Urbitis makes both FT's.

9 seconds left - Humphrey misses a 3.


We lose the game 75-66. An unexpected and bitter loss in the Final 4.

Ballard was the player of the game as he finished with 22 points and 8 boards. N'Diaye also hurt us bad with 20 points and 5 boards. Urbitis also did well against us with 17 points and 8 assists. Hornsby had 12 more as their starters did almost all of the damage.


Nelke led us with 14 points and 5 boards. He also had a block. He shot 5 of 8.

Moye with 11 points, 7 boards, and a block. He shot 5 of 12.

Halsch with 13 points, 4 boards, and 1 block. He shot 5 of 10.

Sead with 6 points, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 3 turnovers. He was 1 of 8.

Sowers with 7 points, 2 steals, and 3 turnovers. He was 2 of 10.

Humphrey with 9 points, 6 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 3 of 6.


Pait was 1 of 5 with 2 points. Galbreath led the bench with 3 points and 2 assists.

So close.. but not enough.

[Eaglesfan27]

DePaul beat Xavier 62-56 to advance to the National Championship Game..


DePaul beat Cal 78-74 to win it all.

DePaul was led by their backcourt which had 42 points (23 by PG Forney and 19 by SG Slater.)


Here is a look at some of our player's final stats for the year:

Moye led the team with 15.3 ppg, 6.6 rpg, and 1.1 bpg.

Humphrey with 13.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.6 spg, and 2.2 apg.

Sowers with 11.4 ppg, 2.7 rpg, and 1.5 apg.

Galsch with 8.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg, and 1.2 bpg.

Pait with 8 ppg, 1.6 rpg.

Nelke with 7.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg, and 1.2 bpg.

Lang with 4.7 ppg.

Sead with 4.4 ppg and 4.6 apg.

Galbreath with 3.9 ppg and 3.4 apg.

Connolly with 3.9 ppg.

Rollins with 2.6 ppg and 3.0 rpg.



Rice's SR C Burton Felton won Player of the Year. He averaged 25.1 ppg, 9.5 rpg, and 2.8 bpg.

SR C Allen Greene of Northern Colorado won Mid-Major Player of the Year. He averaged 30.6 ppg (highest I've ever seen!), 9.5 rpg, and 2.6 bpg.

SR SF Kareem Humphrey won Defensive Player of the Year, presumably for his high number of steals.

Felton won Big Man of the Year.

FR SG Kashien Gardner of Florida won Freshman of the Year. He averaged 8.1 ppg, 4.0 apg, and 3.4 rpg.


No Pac-10 Players made either 1st or 2nd team All-American or Freshman All-American Team.

I won Pac-10 Coach of the Year.

Washington's Lance Appleby won Pac-10 Player of the Year. He finished with 20.1 ppg, 7 rpg.

Halsch won Pac-10 Freshman of the Year.

Humphrey was 1st team All Pac-10.

The rest of the team:

SR PG Mustafa Hull 15.0 ppg, 4.7 apg, 4.4 rpg. Stanford.

SR SG Russ Grimes, Oregon 14.7 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 2.4 apg.

SR PF Tommie Cuic, Arizona 17 ppg, 6.3 rpg.

JR C Appleby, Washington.

Moye was 2nd team Pac-10.

Galbreath and Halsch made the Freshman team along with:

SG Kleinzweig, Oregon 6.9 ppg, 3 rpg.

SF Jacobson, Arizona 6.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg.

C Butch, UCLA 8.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg.

[Eaglesfan27]

Humphrey was drafted in the 1st round. Moye was drafted in the 2nd round. Sead graduated. No other players left the team.


A bunch of programs offer me a job including Seton Hall, Oregon, and Louisville. I turn them all down.

Oregon hires the head coach from Applachian State. Hopefully, he won't be such a good recruiter..

As planned, I encourage my long time recruiting coordinator Lance Collum to retire. I hire Tyler Grove, a veteran coach who is considered an elite developer of talent. Guys who want to be coached up to help them reach their potential, can't pick too many better places now..

I've got two great teachers, who aren't great recruiters, but I'll focus on being the sole closer when it comes to recruiting battles. Hopefully, this works better in helping me land the truly elite players.

[Eaglesfan27]

Cal lost the highest profile transfer as SO PG O.J. Payne transferred to CS Fullerton.

Now, it is time to close in on some recruits who can round out my class.


As expected, Howel signs with UCLA. The big PG could be a thorn in my side for years. Fortunately, by turning my attention away from him, I did secure a very good PG as Keon McDade signed with USC on the 1st day of the 2nd signing period.

Keon is 6'0 159 and is rated 51st overall. He is a 4 star player. He is from Seattle, WA. He is graded out as follows by our staff: Shooting A-, Skill A+, Defense A-, Athleticism B+, Rebounding C, IQ B+, Potential B+, Size C. He averaged 10.8 ppg, 5.4 apg, and 1.5 spg in the ABL. He shot 44% from the arc in the ABL.

Things look very good for Timon Zimmerman to come to USC. If so, he'll close out the class. I fly to his home to see if I can get him to sign his LOI.


2nd week:

I think one more visit to Zimmerman's house is going to close out the deal. Hopefully, my scouting is right on this massive center.


3rd week:

Center Timon Zimmerman is now a Trojan! He's 7'2" 271. He is from Houston, TX. He is ranked 288th overall and 14th among C's. He is rated as follows by our staff: Shooting C, Skills C+, Defense B, Athleticism B-, Rebounding A, IQ B+, Potential B+, Size A+. He averaged 10.5 ppg, 13.8 rpg, and 1.4 bpg in the ABL. I think if we can develop him to his full potential, he'll be a monster for us in 2-3 years.

That finishes this year's class. Now, time to get to work fully on next year's class.


A reminder of our early commit:

4 star SG Jerald Dillard is 6'2 178 and is rated 27th overall. He is from Santa Ana, CA. Shooting A-, Skills B+. Defense A-, Athleticism A-, Rebounding B-, IQ B+, Potential A, Size C+.


A look at the top classes:

1. Saint Joseph's with 3 All American 5 star players!
2. Stanford with 3 5 star players, 2 All Americans.
3. Pitt with 3 5 star players.
4. Texas A&M with 2 5 star players and 1 4 star player.
5. Iowa with 2 5 star players.
6. Clemson with 4 4 star players.
7. UCLA with 4 4 star players.
8. Georgia Tech with 3 5 star players.
9. Kansas with 2 5 star players.
10. Mississippi State with 5 4 star players.

We are 24th this year. Washington is 12th, the only other Pac-10 team above us in recruiting.

Oregon finished 32nd with 1 4 star and 2 3 stars. I guess the new coach might not be the recruiter their old coach was.

Now, to get a look at our roster..

[Eaglesfan27]

At PG, we are full of potential, but we are young and inexperienced:

SO PG Rashard Galbreath is a player that our staff is very high on. He's had a very good offseason and our new coach thinks he can turn him into a very high level player soon. As it is, he is rated 76 overall with strengths being his quickness and speed. He is now 6'1 184. He needs to work on his outside shot and ball handling. He is the likely starter this year.

FR PG Keon McDade will get immediate PT and may push for the starter role. He is 6'0 167. He is slower than Galbreath and isn't as good of a defender, but he is a much better passer, ball handler, and shooter. He is rated 76 overall as well.

JR Mitchell Hodge will only get significant PT if there is an injury. He is 6'5 208 and is rated 72 overall.


SG is a position in flux as well, but we have one player who may be ready to step up into a star role:

RS SR Friedrich Lang has improved greatly under the new staff. He is now 6'5 220 and is rated 85 overall. He is a very fast SG, but doesn't have good lateral quickness or burst. He is a solid defender, a decent shooter, and an excellent dunker when he has an open lane. His defense will make him a strong contender to start at SG.

SO SG Keon Connolly is the likely main contributor off the bench. He's 6'3 195 and is rated 77 overall. He doesn't excel in any area, but as he showed last year, he can light it up when he is on a hot shooting streak. His defense needs work.

RS SO Bernard Mack is also in the mix at 6'4 233 and rated 77 overall. He is a bit more physical as a defender, but is more limited as an offensive player.

FR SG Jerald Dillard is a bit of a disappointment on first blush. He's rated 74 overall and is 6'2 178. He doesn't excel in any area and his defense is weak. Hopefully, he'll show some rapid improvement.

SF is my clear position of strength and leads me to the dilemma of whether or not Sowers should start at SG again:

RS SR Branden Pait is ready to start and deserves it despite his inconsistency. He's shown that he can be a steady scorer when he starts and he is now rated 89 overall, which is my best rated player. He's 6'6 221 and has finally shored up his defense. He now has no weaknesses to his game and he has many strengths. I expect him to be my first 20 point scorer in some time..

JR Teddy Sowers is 6'5 209 and is rated 86 overall. He's our most explosive dunker, our best midrange shooter, and a decent 3 point shooter. His defense isn't as good as Lang's, but he would be a reliable starter at SG.

At PF, we have 2 talented sophomores:

SO Gerrod Halsch is 6'9 254 and is rated 80 overall now. He is a beast of a shot blocker who compliments his physicality with a few nice post moves. He also is a truly great hustle player. He'll start for us.

SO Dameon Nelke is 6'10 210 and does a bunch of things well for us. He can spread the floor with his midrange shot. He is a good rebounder, a good shot blocker, and he has the best speed of any of our big men. He has a tremendous vertical as well. He'll get a bunch of minutes this year.

At C, I have a tough decision:

JR Wallace Rollins is 7'0 258. He's rated 76 overall. He doesn't have much more room to grow in our coaches' opinion. He has developed a nice offensive game in practice, but it hasn't showed up reliably in games yet. He is a good but not great rebounder. He'll be pushed by the freshman..

FR C Timon Zimmerman is now 7'3" 285. He's slow, but so is Rollins. He's already a GREAT rebounder. He's a very good post defender right now. He needs to work on his offense, but his sheer size will allow him to do some damage and as expected, he is a great dunker when he gets position. His strength is off the charts. I think I'll go ahead and let him start. We are young at so many other positions, that the PT will be worth it for the future..

JR C Bennett Hehn has developed very nicely for a walk-on. He is 7'0 250 and is rated 75 overall. He'll get some minutes this year as well. He is best at rebounding.


Guys that will definitely be leaving after this year: SF Pait and SG Lang. Possible early departure: SF Sowers.

Recruiting goals for this year's 2 scholarships:

1. Starting SF
2. SG or SF (likely will go for another SF.)

[Eaglesfan27]

Early recruiting targets:

SF Troy Toussaint doesn't have the elite accolades of some of the big names, but he is a 4 star who I've identified as a potential superstar in the future. I think this kid has an extremely high roof. He is ranked 64th overall and he is 6'6 221 now. He is a local kid from Cerritos, CA. Best of all, he has USC #1 on his list. However, SDSU is right with us. If I lose him to them, I might have to get my other coach to "retire" as well.

SF Dexter Del Rosario is the best player in the nation. I've never gone after #1 before, but this seems like a good player to pursue. He is from Queens, NY. He has USC in his top 3, and he is a player that my staff believes will live up to his props. Others in his top 5: Saint Joseph's, Siena, Niagara!, and UConn.

[Eaglesfan27]

I've gone back and forth on it, but I'm going to redshirt SG Jerald Dillard.

I've just had Troy Toussaint in for a visit. He loves the USC campus. His top priority is getting good coaching and I think he really likes my new assistant. We are now his #1 by a wide margin. I'll be surprised and very disappointed if I lose him to anyone. He should be ready to sign as soon as possible.

Dexter is going to be a much tougher battle. However, he assures me that being close to home isn't a priority. His top priority is playing time with good coaching being a 2nd priority. Hopefully, I can convince him that we have playing time for him... NC State has entered the picture and has vaulted to #1 on his list. UConn is going to be tough as well.


Our first game is at Niagara. I look forward to returning to my old campus and I'm sure they'll enjoy the revenue boost. They have a tough squad that is rated 81 overall. They are led by SO SG W.C. Krauser who is their best player at 78 overall. He's 6'6 220 and is very quick. SO G Jacques Truscott is a dangerous 3 point shooter. If I can shut them both down, this should be an easy victory. Their center is undersized and not very skilled, a nice first opponent for Big Timon to go against. I'll play them tomorrow.

[hoopsguy]

Bummer losing to Cal, but the NCAA games up to that point seemed a little scary for your guys. It seemed like this may have been a case of a team peaking just a little bit too early in the year. Either that, or the results finally started aligning with the talent (very good, but not elite).

My impression of that team was that they were at their best when Humphrey was having big games alongside Moye. But Humphrey seemed to fall to 3rd banana status in the latter parts of the year more often than not.

Best of luck with the new staff and the upcoming season.

[Eaglesfan27]

Thanks. I agree with you that when Humphrey was playing great on both ends, those were our most dominant performances and we may have gotten too focused on feeding it inside.

With the current group, I think Pait is going to be the #1 option and Sowers or Halsch will be the #2 option. Hopefully, the young guys will be able to gel quickly although I think this could be a re-loading year.

[Eaglesfan27]

15:00 - We are very out of sorts early. Zimmerman had his first block that led to a 2-on-1 breakaway and Galbreath threw a perfect pass but Pait failed to complete the dunk. He's also missed a few shots other than his first which was a 3. We are down 7-3.

9:35 - We feed the ball to Zimmerman on the fastbreak, he's at midcourt, he gets a head of steam and no one is going to risk trying to take the charge as he runs and dunks it for his first 2 points. We lead 14-11.

8:34 - Pait hits his 2nd 3 of the night. We are up 17-11 as I rest my tired starters.

2:14 - I put back my starters. We are tied at 21.


Halftime: We are down 26-25. We are shooting 26% from the field.


Pait is our leading scorer with 9 points on 3 of 8 shooting. Galbreath with 6 points and 2 assists. Look for us to give Halsch more touches this half.


19:00 - Beautiful pick and roll that leads to a Zimmerman dunk.

14:26 - Nelke in at PF. I'm going to try to maximize his time on the court in the 2nd half and see if he can play some SF as well. We lead 35-32.

9:13 - We lead 44-37 as Zimmerman has had 2 rim shaking putback dunks. Time to rest tired guys. I go with McDade, Connolly, Nelke, Halsch, and Rollins.

4:34 - I bring back my starters for a few minutes of action. We are up 57-41.



We win the game 67-49. I loved the level of defense I saw from the squad tonight.

Pait is the player of the game with 19 points, 4 boards, 1 assist, and 3 steals. He also had 1 turnover. He shot 6 of 14, 3 of 7, and 4 of 5.

Galbreath with 9 points, 8 assists, 1 steal, and 0 turnovers. He shot 2 of 3.

Sowers with 7 points, 2 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 2 of 9.

Halsch with 3 points, 4 boards, and 2 blocks. He shot 1 of 4.

Zimmerman with 14 points, 7 boards, 1 assist, 2 blocks, and 2 turnovers. He shot 5 of 6 and 4 of 6 from the line. He intimidated a bunch of shots.


Lang with 4 points. Nelke with 3 points and 4 boards. Rollins with 4 points, 4 boards, and a block. McDade with 3 points.

[Eaglesfan27]

Nov 13, 2031 -

Today we travel to play West Carolina. They have a roster strength of 68 and should be easily defeated.

We beat them 86-58.

Pait led the team with 18 points, 2 boards, and 1 block. He shot 6 of 12.

Zimmerman with 12 points, 4 boards, and 2 blocks. Sowers with 11 points and 6 boards. Halsch with 8 points, 8 boards, and 2 blocks. Lang led the bench with 9. Nelke with 8 points, 5 boards, and a block. McDade with 6 points, all on 3's.



This weekend, we are having Dexter Del Rosario in for a visit of the campus.

The visit goes very well, but I get the sense that he is leaning towards one of the East Coast schools.


Our next game is at Memphis. They are 3-2 with a roster strength of 82.

They are led by SR SF Jacques Michaud who is 6'7 229 and is rated 83 overall. He is a slasher who is averaging 14.6 ppg and 11.8 rpg. JR PG

Toree Warsaw is their other dangerous scorer. He is a 6'1 175 pound PG who is rated 77 overall and is very quick. He is averaging 11 ppg and 4 apg.

The rest of their starters are rated in the low 70's including their SR center Demtris Maldonado who is 7'0 240.

[Eaglesfan27]

16:21 - Zimmerman draws a 2nd foul on Maldonado. We are tied at 5. Pait has missed some easy shots early.

9:32 - We are down 14-12. I rest Galbreath, Sowers, and Pait (who is having a horrible start to the game.)

4:26 - McDade with a horrible few minutes of action. He got picked a few times on really bad passes. Nelke did not do a good job at SF this time either. We are down 30-18 as I rest Zimmerman and Halsch and bring back my starting PG, SG, and SF.

We played a perfect final 4:26 of the half. Everything was just how I wanted it. Great contests on every shot, good offensive execution, and better shooting.


Halftime: We are up 34-30.

Pait is the player of the half despite a horrid start. He has 9 points, 3 boards, 2 steals, and 1 assist. He is shooting 3 of 11, but is 3 of his last 3.



18:17: Zimmerman gets a 3rd on Maldonado. We are going to feed Zimmerman more this half.

14:40 - They have been forcing a fast tempo and we've been playing along. We lead 48-43.

6:41 - The collapsing defense on Zimmerman has opened up some great outside shots. We lead 68-56 as I rest my starters for a few.

3:18 - They are on a 6-0 run, I bring back my starters. We lead 72-66.

2:48 - They steal a Galbreath pass and get a breakaway dunk.

2:39 - They steal it from Galbreath in the backcourt and get fouled. They make both FT's. We lead 72-70.

2:10 - Zimmerman misses a hook shot and they rush down the other end and take a quick 3 which Michaud hits.

1:35 - Galbreath misses a 12 footer at the buzzer.

1:03 - They miss a 12 footer by Michaud.

37 seconds - Pait fakes out his man, drives into the lane, draws contact with Maldonado and makes the leaner! He swishes the FT! We lead 75-73.

9 seconds - Sowers fouls their SG. He makes both FT's. We are tied at 75.

They are covering everyone well, Galbreath gets a screen from Zimmerman and takes a 15 footer for the win.. and misses. We are going to OT.


3:49 - Galbreath and Pait have each missed a shot.

3:18 - Michaud hits a 3.

3:09 - They steal it from Galbreath and get a breakaway dunk and the foul which they make.

2:40 - They block a dunk attempt by Pait. We steal their outlet pass which allows Sowers to drive into the lane for the foul. We are down 81-77. Galbreath is tired. I bring in McDade (although I was tempted to try Lang at the point.)

2:28 - Sowers gets called for a foul.

2:06 - Pait has it stolen leading to a fastbreak dunk. We are down 84-77.

1:58 - Halsch gets fouled and makes 1 of 2.

1:34 - Zimmerman blocks a shot but it is called a goal tend. We are down 86-78.

1:24 - Zimmerman with a putback dunk after McDade misses a 3.

:51 - Zimmerman with a block that leads to a Pait fastbreak dunk. We are down 86-82. We intentionally foul. Their PG makes both FT's.

:30 - McDade drills a 3! 88-85.

:28 - We intentionally foul and they miss both FT's!

:13 - McDade gets a screen takes a 3.. and misses it. They get the board. They make 1 of 2, but get the offensive board. They make 1 of 2 again.

:03 - Pait drills a 3. Down 90-88.

They miss the 1st FT with 1 second left.. They make the 2nd. I'll need a long inbound and the quick turnaround 3... Sowers throws the long pass.. over Pait's head and out of bounds.


We lose the game 91-88.

Their PG was the player of the game with 22 points and 8 assists.



Galbreath with a tough night - 6 points, 1 board, 1 assist, 2 steals, and 5 turnovers. He shot 2 of 7.

Sowers with 17 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, 1 block, and 2 turnovers. He shot 4 of 8, 3 of 4, and 6 of 8.

Pait with 22 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 8 of 18, 2 of 8, and 4 of 4.

Halsch with 8 points, 8 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, and a block. He shot 2 of 5.

Zimmerman with 14 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, and 2 blocks. He shot 5 of 10 and 4 of 5 from the line.


Nelke led the bench with 8 points, 3 boards, and a block.

Lang with 6 points and 1 assist.

McDade with 3 points and an assist.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our next game is against Gonzaga in the "Orange County Shootout." Othe teams in the tourney include Arkansas State, Ohio, S. Illinois, The Citadel, CS Northridge, and Florida.


Gonzaga is 2-1 with a roster strength of 80.


They beat us 76-71. Galbreath had another bad game as did Sowers.

Galbreath with 3 points and 6 assists but he shot 1 of 6.

Sowers with 5 points on 1 of 8 shooting.

Pait with 17 points, 5 boards, and 1 assist to lead the team. He shot 5 of 10.

Halsch with 10 points, 10 boards, and 4 blocks.

Zimmerman with 11 points, 3 boards, and 1 block.

Nelke led the bench with 11 points.



I decide to sim the rest of the tourney. Our consolation game is against Arkansas State which is 1-2 with a roster strength of 77.

They beat us 76-68. Pait had 21 points on 6 of 18 shooting. Nelke had 10. No one else had more than 5 points. Galbreath shot 0 of 6. Sowers shot 1 of 5.


Our last game in the tourney is against the Citadel. They are 0-3 with a roster strength of 64.. if we don't win this, I'll have to consider some lineup changes..


We beat them 97-53.

Sowers with 22 points on 9 of 15 shooting. He also had 4 boards, 4 steals, and 2 blocks.

Galbreath with 12 points and 8 assists. Pait with 19 points on 7 of 14 shooting. Nelke led the bench with 10 points.


In the space of a week, we went from 11th in the media poll to unranked. We are now 3-3. We have one big game hosting Kansas before the early signing period starts. Kansas is a talented team with an overall rating equal to ours which is now a 90. They are also starting a FR C, but they have a veteran talented starting 5 besides him:

SR PG Esmond Bryan is 5'11 162 and is rated 83 overall. He's a great defender and a good 3 point shooter. He's averaging 6.3 ppg and 2.5 apg in relatively limited minutes this year as they have worked in some of the younger guards.

JR SG Hawley Lufkin is 6'0 185 and is rated 84 overall. He's the best 3 point shooter on the team and one of the best in the country. He's averaging 15 ppg, 4.0 apg, and 1 spg.

SR SF Courtney Avery is 6'6' 200 and is rated 83 overall. He's averaging 3.8 ppg and 5 rpg.

JR PF Toree Winans is 6'8 238 and is rated 84 overall. He's averaging 15.3 ppg and 6 rpg. If Halsch can shut him down, this should be a relatively easy win.

FR C Monte Kapono is 6'9 250 and is rated 75 overall. He's averaging 2 ppg, 3 rpg, and 2 bpg.

The key contributors off the bench are JR PF V.J Lukasiak who is 6'6 230 and is rated 82 overall, JR SF Ernesto Granger who is 6'7 227 and is rated 82 overall. Granger is the leading scorer off the bench at 8 points per game. The rest of the bench is rated in the mid 70's.

[Tellistto]

Good luck with the recruiting this season!

Tell

[Eaglesfan27]

11:01 - The first 3 minutes we were perfect as we jumped to a 7-0 lead. Then, Lufkin hit 2 3's and I thought we were in for a battle, but now our guys have run off a 14-0 run. We lead 21-6. Brilliant team defense today. I rest Galbreath and Zimmerman who are both tired.

7:02 - Our defense has completely fallen apart in the last 4 minutes as my starters have all tired. I go with the entire 2nd unit. We lead 27-19.

3:40 - I bring back Galbreath and Zimmerman. I just can't stop Lufkin from hitting those quick 3's off screens. He has 18 points now. We lead 33-26.


Halftime: We lead 41-34.

Pait is the player of the half for us with 13 points, 3 boards, and 1 assist.

17:34 - Galbreath throws it over the the top to Zimmerman who dunks it. That is the 3rd or 4th time they've done that today. Too bad our defense is falling apart. We lead 46-42.

15:52 - Pait catches it on the elbow and throws up a quick smooth shot. He's got 20 now as he is really working the midrange game. We lead 50-44.

11:28 - Zimmerman picks up his 3rd foul and is tired. I rest him and Galbreath. We are tied at 54.

7:36 - Galbreath and Zimmerman come down as the rest of the starters rest. We are down 65-62.

4:52 - Zimmerman picks up his 4th foul. We are down 70-68.

4:00 - Lufkin just hit a pair of 3's. We are down 76-68. He has 36 points. I bring back my starters.

3:33 - Sowers misses a wide open 3.

3:05 - Sowers with a steal and breakaway dunk... he is fouled as well and makes the 3 point play.

2:41 - Pait misses an open pull-up jumper.

2:12 - We force them to miss a 3, but Lukasiak with a putback dunk.

We close the gap to 80-76, but Sowers misses a dunk after making a great move to get to the hoop. They get the rebound and we have to foul. 39 seconds left as they hit both FT's to make it a 6 point game.

Galbreath misses an open 3. They get the board.


We lose the game 83-79.

Lufkin is the player of the game with 38 points on 13 of 17 shooting, 6 of 9, 6 of 7.


Galbreath with 2 points, 8 assists, 1 steal, and 1 turnover. He shot 0 of 2.

Soers with 12 points, 4 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 5 of 15.

Pait with 27 points, 2 boards, 1 assist, and 2 steals. He shot 11 of 23, 1 of 7, and 4 of 8.

Halsch with 9 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and a block. He shot 3 of 5.

Zimmerman with 13 points, 8 boards, 2 assists, and 2 turnovers. He shot 6 of 11.


Connolly led the bench with 7 points. Lang had 5.

Now to see if we get some good recruiting news..

[Eaglesfan27]

Yes! We got Troy Toussaint to sign with us! The 6'6 221 pound SF from Cerritos, CA is ranked 64th overall and 10th among SF's. He is a 4 star recruit. He averaged 14.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg, and 2.1 spg in the ABL. He shot 52% overall and 55% from the arc in the ABL. Our staff grades him as follows: Shooting B+, Skills B, Defense B+, Athleticism A-, Rebounding B-, IQ B, Potential A+, and Size B. Hopefully, he can live up to the potential we see in him.


Cal signed 2 very nice recruits this weekend as 4 star SG Damon Thomasson (46th overall) and 4 star SF Kalu Stevenson (62nd overall) signed with them.


Our chances with Dexter look like a long shot at this point. He is leaning heavily towards North Carolina State which has a huge need at the position. It's bad enough that I decide to back off my efforts of going after him and redirect them to the best local kid left, Cam Morgan.

Cam is a 4 star PF who is ranked 49th overall and he is from Los Angeles. My staff thinks he has the speed and athleticism to play the 3 or 4 spot. He's a truly great athlete.

[hoopsguy]

Sounds like Troy can really shoot the rock; surprised he is only B+ based on the numbers. Hopefully the staff is correct on the Potential ...

Do you feel better or worse about the current team after that Kansas game?

[Eaglesfan27]

Dec 2, 2031 -

Today, we play at Marshall. They are 5-1 with a roster strength of 80.

They beat us 71-63. Pait shot 2 of 16!?! Sowers was 3 of 9. Zimmerman was held scoreless. Nelke led the bench with 10 points. Lang had 9 and Rollins had 9.


I'm flying out to visit Cam, but I doubt I can get him to commit early.


We were too late going after Cam. He decided to go north to Stanford.

We also lost out on a 4 star PG who chose to sign with San Diego State.


Our next game is hosting Wake Forest. They are 6-2 with a roster strength of 86.

They are led by their SR C Brian Barnhill. He is a 6'10 250 pound center from Washington, DC who is rated 85 overall and is a very strong post player. He is averaging 16.1 ppg, 9.0 rpg, and 2.4 bpg.

SR PG Omari Moye is 6'2 194 and is rated 81 overall. He's become a very good 3 point shooter. He's averaging 10 ppg, 4.6 apg.

JR SG Tobias Atako is 6'4 211 and is rated 81 overall. He's also a very good 3 point shooter. He's averaging 10 ppg, 4.4 rpg, and 1.5 apg.

SR SF Silver Bremer is the weak link in the starting 5. He's 6'6 222 and is rated 72 overall. Even though he is starting, he doesn't play many minutes as they often go big.

FR PF Robinson Zuzak is 6'11 232 and is rated 73 overall. He's a very good rebounder. He's averaging 8.2 ppg and 7.5 rpg.

The entire bench is all rated in the high 60's to very low 70's.

[Eaglesfan27]

Sounds like Troy can really shoot the rock; surprised he is only B+ based on the numbers. Hopefully the staff is correct on the Potential ...

Do you feel better or worse about the current team after that Kansas game?


I'm surprised as well. I think is due to his "close shooting" rating which might be one of the worst I've seen on a top prospect if our staff is correct.

I feel better about this team after that game. We have issues, but we are going to improve as the year goes on. I see more growth from my players this year than I have in the past, presumably due to the new coach. That being said, unless Pait improves his consistency, I don't think this team is going to make the tourney and if they do, I doubt we'll make a deep run. This is more of a rebuilding year I think.

[Eaglesfan27]

14:55 - Sowers with a great first 5 minutes. We lead 9-4.

8:02 - Great defense from our club. We lead 17-8 as I rest my tired starters.

3:43 - Nelke is our offense for the 2nd unit. Fortunately, they are keeping up the great team defense. We lead 25-13 as they call a timeout.


Halftime: We lead 31-19.


Sowers is the player of the half 8 points, 2 boards, 1 steal, and great defense. He didn't allow their SG to score any points while he was in the game.


The 2nd half the team kept up the intensity and played some brilliant basketball. I finally pull my starters with 5 minutes to go. We lead 70-32.


We win the game 76-40.


Sowers is the player of the game with 25 points, 7 boards, 1 assist, and 2 steals. He shot 9 of 17, 4 of 8, and 3 of 4.

Galbreath with 11 points, 2 assists, and 1 turnover. He shot 4 of 8.

Pait with 14 points, 5 boards, 5 assists, and 3 steals. He shot 6 of 10.

Halsch with 0 points, 9 boards, and a block.

Zimmerman with 6 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, and a block. He shot 3 of 5.


Nelke led the bench with 11 points, 4 boards, and a steal. He shot 4 of 4.

Lang with 7 points and 1 steal.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dec 15, 2031 -

The easiest game on our OOC schedule is next. We host Coppin State. They are 2-8 with a roster strength of 64.

We beat them 98-60.

Pait with 25 points, 10 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 10 of 21, 3 of 10, and 2 of 3.

Nelke led the bench with 17 points and 6 boards. He shot 6 of 8.

Lang with 12 points off the bench. He shot 4 of 8.

Galbreath with 8 points and 5 assists. Sowers with 12 points and 6 boards on 3 of 9 shooting.

Halsch with 12 points, 6 boards, and 2 blocks. Zimmerman with 4 points, 5 boards, and a block.



I decide to turn up the pursuit of Dexter Del Rosario again. Simply put, there is no one left that I think would be a good use of a scholarship. If we don't get him (which seems the likely outcome), we'll just keep the scholarship for next year.


We are now 5-5 and preparing for 2 of our toughest OOC games. First up, we travel to play Michigan State. They are equal with us in roster strength. They are 5-3. They also have a young huge center:

JR PG Kerry Clemons is 6'4 189 and is a well balanced player who is rated 81 overall. He's averaging 5.4 ppg and 5.1 apg.

JR SG Jesse Perry is 6'4 197 and is rated 82 overall. He's also a well balanced player with no specific strengths. He's averaging 9 ppg and 2.6 apg.

SR SF Glen Bree is 6'5 220 and is rated 85 overall. He's excellent at playing the passing lanes and shooting the midrange shot. He's averaging 12.4 ppg and 3.6 rpg.

SO PF Herman Baldwin is 6'8 216 and is rated 79 overall. He's averaging 5 ppg and 5 rpg.

SO C Sid Eisentrout is 7'1 277 and is rated 77 overall. He's fast for his size and has excellent strength. He's averaging 18.6 ppg and 10.2 rpg.


The bench is led by JR PG J.C. Anagonye who is 6'1 200 and is rated 80 overall. He's averaging 6 ppg. The rest of the bench is in the mid 70's.

[Eaglesfan27]

15:44 - Eisentrout just got a 2nd foul on Zimmerman. I'll rest him. We are down 9-4.

12:33 - Spencer and Pait collide on a dunk attempt by Spencer.. Spencer is down and has to be carried off the court. We are down 14-10.

7:38 - My starters are tired. Sowers has been the main focus of our offense because he is hitting almost every shot he takes. We are down 22-21.


Our 2nd unit does a very good job so I leave them in to finish the half.


Halftime: We lead 32-27.

Sowers is the player of the half with 11 points and 2 steals. He is shooting 3 of 6.



9:03 - I rest my starters for a few. We are up 53-45. No dominant scorer for us in the 2nd half, but everyone is chipping in a bit.

Nelke and McDade run a perfect pick and roll that leads to a Nelke dunk and the foul.


4:20 - Nelke and Connolly are taking over offensively. Connolly is our SG of the future, i.e. next year. I leave the 2nd unit in to see if they can finish this out. We lead 65-52.


We win the game 69-59.

Nelke was the player of the game with 17 points, 4 boards, 2 steals, and 2 blocks in just 17 minutes. The coaches have been pushing for me to start him at PF with Halsch at C as they feel that Zimmerman needs more time to develop before he is ready to start. This game just pushed me to agree with them. He shot 7 of 9, 0 of 1, and 3 of 3. His range on his jump shot will be a major weapon in the offense.


Galbreath with 7 points, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 3 of 5.

Sowers with 14 points, 2 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 4 of 11.

Pait with 9 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, and a steal. He shot 3 of 8.

Halsch with 5 points, 5 boards, and 2 blocks. He shot 2 of 4.

Zimmerman with 4 points and 5 boards. He allowed their center to finish with 17 points and 17 boards.


Connolly with 10 points off the bench on 3 of 9 shooting. McDade with 5 assists, mostly to Nelke.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dec 29, 2031 -

Our last OOC game is another tough one as we host a very good Texas squad that is 9-1 and has a slightly higher roster strength than we do.

Nelke struggles in his first start, but the team really clicks as a whole. We blow out Texas 90-65!

Galbreath with 2 points and 7 assists.

Sowers with 18 points on 6 of 9 shooting.

Pait with 2 points, 3 boards, 5 assists, and 3 steals. He shot 1 of 14. :(

Nelke with 7 points and 2 boards. He shot 2 of 5.

Halsch with 11 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, and 1 block. He shot 5 of 11.


Lang led the bench with 18 points. Zimmerman with 7 points and 4 boards off the bench. Rollins with 10 points as the twin towers played well together in the 2nd unit.


We finish at 7-5 as we prepare for Pac-10 play this year. Here is a look at the conference:


1. This is the strongest Cal team that I've seen in my tenure here. They are very well balanced with a roster strength of 96. They are 11-1. They are starting 3 JR's and 2 SR's. The stars of the team are JR PG Otis Urbitis and JR C Bart Ballard. If those 2 remain healthy, they are going to be tough to defeat. They are currently 3rd in the media poll.

2. Stanford is 9-1 and has a roster strength of 92. They are a smallish athletic team with a bunch of new faces. They lost their two star guards to the draft, but they are starting 2 SR's and 3 JR's who are all talented. They don't have a standout player, but they also don't have any weaknesses except for their lack of size at C. They are 12th in the media poll.

3. Washington is 7-4 with a roster strength of 92. They center around superstar SF Esa Gennie who is now rated 91 overall. Their big weakness is at PF where they are starting a SF, Hodari Nana, who isn't quite ready for prime time. The scary thing is they are missing their 2nd best player SR SG Bryant Kohn to a broken hand. When he gets back in 3 weeks, look for them to make a major move in the standings.

4. USC. Despite being 7-5, we have the talent. Our roster strength has gone up from 89 to 91 over the course of this season. We are seeing great growth from our players. Pait is now rated 91 - I just wish it would show up on the court. He hasn't dominated like I'd expect.

5. Oregon is a team that could be on the way down with the retirement of their coach, but it won't happen for a year or two as they have plenty of young talent. They are 9-3 with a roster strength of 90. They are led by SR PF Jasper Borchardt who is in the running for All Pac-10 without a doubt.

6. UCLA is on the rise as much as I hate to admit it. FR PG Franklin Howel could be a difference maker. He is starting this year for them and is sure to take some lumps, but he'll be a great player one day with his combination of size and skill. He is currently rated 78 overall. They also start 2 sophomores including star C Abe Butch who will be a dominant player in the next year or so. No seniors on the team much less starting means plenty of growth opportunity next year. They are 8-3 so far this year with a roster strength of 89.

7. Arizona State is a senior laden team that is starting 4 SR's and a JR. They are led their forwards Mawel Haywood and Cardell Markovic. They are 8-2 with a roster strength of 88.

8. Washington State has finally showed signs of life. They have a new coach who has them playing some very good basketball. They are 9-2 with a roster strength of 86. They are starting 2 senior guards who lead the team, Brian Benson and Brice Mullins.

9. Arizona is going young this year except for SR PG Jessan Thomson. As a result, they are struggling with a 7-5 record. They have a roster strength of 85.

10. Oregon State feasted on weak OOC schedule, but should struggle in the Pac-10. They are starting a FR SG Channing Vukusic who isn't ready to start yet. The front court isn't very good. Their only quality starter is SR PG Woodard.


Leading Scorer: Woodard, Oregon State with 26.8 ppg. He's doing what he can to keep them afloat.

Top Rebounder: SF G. Park, Stanford - 9.8

APG: Woodard, Oregon State - 5.8 surprising to see that.

SPG: PG Benson, Washington State -2.4 per game.

BPG: A. Reyes, Oregon State - 2.4 per game.


Best Overall Player: SF Esa Gennie, Washington

Best Freshman: PG Mencio, Washington - rated 79 overall.

Best Shooter, SG Kohn, Washington - Rated 90 overall.

Best playermaker - JR PG Zuzak, Cal. Rated 84 overall.

Best Pro Prospect - SF Gennie, Washington

Best Defender - JR C E. Muhammad, Washington

[Eaglesfan27]

Jan 1, 2032 -

Our first game in Pac-10 play is at Arizona State. They are 8-2. A look at their starting 5:

SR PG Dale Riddick is 5'11 194 and is rated 83 overall. He's the best 3 point shooter on the team. He's averaging 14 ppg and 4 apg.

SR SG Karl Edwards is 6'5 237 and is rated 81 overall. He's their fastest player but doesn't have good lateral quickness. He's averaging 9.3 ppg and 1.6 spg.

SR SF Cardell Markovic is 6'8 234 and is rated 85 overall. He's their best post up man. He's averaging 11 ppg and 4 rpg.

SR F Mawel Haywood is 6'9 229 and is rated 86 overall. He has a killer midrange game and is a good post up player. He's averaging 15 ppg, 7.5 rpg, and and 1 bpg.

JR F Olli Stehly is starting at C. He's 6'8 210 and is rated 79 overall. He's their best rebounder. He's averaging 7 ppg and 7 rpg.

They do not have a true C on the roster and they are very weak at backup PF. Most of their bench players are rated in the low 70's with 1 exceptions:

JR PG Stacey Marukusovic is 6'3 197 and is rated 80 overall. He's averaging 8.6 ppg and 4.3 apg. The rest of the bench is in the low 70's or high 60's.

[Eaglesfan27]

17:17 - Sowers just got a 2nd foul on Cardell. We are tied at 4.

9:44 - We are playing tough defense, but our shots aren't falling. We are tied at 15 as I rest my starters.

2:29 - Zimmerman was great offensively but subpar defensively as he couldn't keep up with their smaller agile forward playing center. We are down 32-29 as I bring back my starters.


Halftime: We are down 36-31. We are 0 of 9 from the arc.


Edwards is the player of the half with 9 points and 2 boards.


15:02 - Some of our worst defense all year. We are down 52-42.

8:14 - Much better defense, but our offense isn't getting it done. We are down 58-52 as I bring in my bench.

Zimmerman with back to back baskets. We are down 63-60 with 5:30 to go.

They respond with a pair of 3's from Riddick. We are down 69-62 with 4:30 to go.

Zimmerman has a chance to tie it, but he fumbles a pass into the paint and they get a fastbreak the other way. We are down 71-67 with 3 minutes to go. I bring back all of my starters except for Nelke. Zimmerman will stay in the game.

Pait misses a 3. Sowers misses a 12 footer. They make a pair of 3's at the other end. We are in deep trouble with 2 minutes to go. Down 77-67.

1:19 - Halsch fouls out. We are down 80-70.

We lose the game 86-76.

Riddick was the player of the game with 28 points and 8 assists.

Edwards with 20 points.



Galbreath with 6 points, 6 assists, 3 steals, and 0 turnovers. He shot 2 of 3.

Sowers with 10 points on 2 of 13 shooting.

Pait with 14 points on 6 of 15 shooting.

Nelke with 8 points and 2 boards on 3 of 9 shooting.

Halsch with 8 points, 9 boards, and 1 block. He shot 4 of 10.

Zimmerman led the bench with 16 points, 5 boards, and a block in 15 minutes. He shot 8 of 11.

Rollins with 5 points and 6 boards.


A very disappointing loss. I'm tempted to sim the rest of the year as I feel this team needs a lot of seasoning before they will be ready for any real post season success.

[Eaglesfan27]

Jan 3, 2032 -

Today we play at the Bruins. I thought about playing this, but I'm going to go ahead and sim it as scheduled. I'm moving Zimmerman back into the starting role. I'll let Nelke thrive against the various 2nd units.


We take the Bruins to OT, but lose the game 106-102. Their freshman PG had a rough game with 6 points and 2 assists before he fouled out. Their star sophomore C had 32 points and 8 boards.

Pait led our scoring with 24 points, 3 boards, and 3 assists. He shot 7 of 14.

Zimmerman with 10 points, 5 boards, and a block. Nelke led the bench with 20 points. Rollins with 13. Galbreath only had 1 point and 4 assists.



The main reason I was thinking about playing this season out was to see how well I could do with Pait, but he seems to do better in the simmed games. I'm going to go ahead and sim this year out.


Jan 8, 2032 -

Today we host 9-2 Stanford. Wow. We upset them 74-73. Pait with 20 points on 6 of 17 shooting. Nelke with 13. Zimmerman with 12 boards. Galbreath with 4 assists.


Jan 10, 2032 -

We host 8-5 Washington which has overcome injuries thanks to their great depth. Wow. We upset them 58-57. Just as I give up on the team for this year, they start making a move ;) Sowers with 15. Pait shot 4 of 24! :O Nelke led the bench with 8 points and 6 boards. Galbreath with 8 assists. Zimmerman with 7 boards.


Jan 17, 2032 -

We play at Oregon today. They are 11-5. They beat us 105-58! Kleinzweig with 28 points. Nelke led our team with 14 points. Pait led the team with 8 boards. He shot 1 of 15.

We are now 9-8.

[Eaglesfan27]

Del Rosario has told me that we have zero chance and I've changed my mind about no one in this class being worthy of my last scholarship. Antone Dawson is a local kid from Riverside, CA who I've been keeping an eye on. He's a 4 star PG who is 6'0 174 and is ranked 56th overall. Our staff grades him out as follows: Shot A-, Skill A+, Defense A-, Athleticism A-, Rebounding C, IQ B+, Potential B, Size C. He averaged 10.6 ppg, 7.6 apg, 3.4 rpg, and 2.6 spg in the ABL. He shot 40% from the field and 33% from the arc. He has told me he wants to come to USC. San Diego State is his other top choice. While I like Galbreath and McDade, neither has completely blown me away yet.


Jan 22, 2032 -

Today we play at Arizona. They are 10-8. They beat us 84-77. Sowers led our team with 19 points and 6 boards. He shot 7 of 10. Pait with 12 points on 4 of 12 shooting. Galbreath with 5 points and 5 assists. Zimmerman with 10 points and 7 boards.


Jan 24 -

Today we are at Oregon State. They are 9-8. We are 9-9 now. As expected, we beat them and do it handily, 96-62. Pait with 28 points and 9 boards. Nelke with 22 points and 5 boards. Lang with 19 points.


Jan 29 -

We host WSU. They are 12-7. They beat us 74-70. Pait with 22 points on 9 of 18 shooting. Galbreath 12 points and 10 assists. Rollins led the bench with 14 points and 5 boards.


Jan 31, 2032 -

We end the month hosting a red hot Cal team that is 18-2 and 2nd in the media poll. They beat us 84-60. Sowers led the team with 15 points and 6 boards. Pait shot 2 of 14. He is such an inconsistent player. Well, actually he is either very bad or very good. I guess he has that type of consistency. Halsch with a nice game - 10 points, 10 boards, and 3 blocks.


We are now 10-11. At least, the team seems to be improving in practice..

[Eaglesfan27]

Feb 5, 2032 -

We travel to play Washington. They are 11-9 as injuries have hit them hard. They beat us 78-61 as Gennie put up 35 against us! Pait answered with 20 points on 7 of 11 shooting.


Feb 7, 2032 -

We play at Stanford today. They are 14-6. We upset them 80-72 despite Pait shooting 4 of 19. Lang led the team with 15 points. Sowers with 12. Zimmerman with 10 boards.


Feb 15 -

We host Oregon. They are 14-9. We beat them 73-68 behind 20 points and 10 boards from Sowers. Pait with 15 points on 4 of 14 shooting. Zimmerman with 10 points and 10 boards.


Feb 19, 2032 -

We host Oregon State (10-13.) We beat them 77-62. Pait with 16 points on 7 of 14 shooting. Sowers with 12 points. Nelke with 11 points and 8 boards.


Feb 21 -

We host Arizona (15-11.) We beat them 76-63. Pait with 24 points on 8 of 21 shooting. Connolly with 13 points. Lang with 10. Zimmerman with 10 boards.


We are now 14-12.

[Eaglesfan27]

Feb 26, 2032 -

We play at WSU. They are 14-12 as well. They beat us 72-54. Pait was 3 of 15. Sowers led the team with 10 points and 6 boards.


Feb 28 -

We play at Cal. They are 22-5 and still ranked 3rd in the media poll. They beat us 68-61 as Ballard had 20 points and 11 boards against us. Pait was 2 of 12. I never thought he'd be this bad after that freshman year.


March 4, 2032 -

We host UCLA today (14-13.) We beat them 82-65. Pait with 28 points on 9 of 19 shooting. Nelke with 17 points. Lang with 11 points. Galbreath with 7 points and 6 assists.


March 6, 2032 -

Our final regular season game is hosting ASU. They are 19-8. If we lose, we drop to .500. We lose 66-59. Pait with 20 points on 8 of 14 shooting. Sowers with 11 points. Galbreath with 8 points and 5 assists.


We finish the regular season 15-15 and face the Bruins in the 1st round of the Pac-10 Tourney. They beat us 72-58. Pait with 17 points on 7 of 21 shooting which ends his career at USC.

He did set a new career high in scoring this year at 16.2 ppg. However, he also set a career low in FG%. A look at his career arc:

Freshman year: 11.2 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 0.7 apg. Shot 53% from the floor.
Sophomore Year: 13 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.2 spg. Shot 40% from the floor.
Junior Year: 8 ppg, 1.6 rpg. Shot 38% from the floor.
SR Year: 16.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.5 spg. Shot 37% from the floor.

Despite that, his overall game is expected to make him a late 1st round pick.

[Eaglesfan27]

A look at other player's stats:

Sowers - 11.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg, and 1.2 spg. I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do at his natural SF position.

Nelke - 8.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 0.8 bpg.

Lang - 7.9 ppg, 2.2 rpg.

Zimmerman - 6.5 ppg, 5 rpg, 0.8 bpg

Halsch - 5.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.6 bpg. Without Moye helping him inside, he regressed big time from his freshman year.

Galbreath 5.5 ppg, 4.7 apg, 1.4 spg.


UCLA pulled off an upset of Cal in the Pac-10 tourney and then WSU upset UCLA in the Final to advance to the Tourney!

[Eaglesfan27]

Final Pac-10 Standings:

1. Cal 25-6 (14-4)
2. Washington 20-11 (12-6)
3. ASU 20-9 (12-6)
4. Stanford 20-10 (10-8)
5. Oregon 18-13 (9-9)
6. Arizona 16-15 (9-9)
7. WSU 22-12 (8-10) - Won tourney to advance.
8. USC 15-16 (8-10)
9. UCLA 17-16 (6-12)
10. Oregon State 10-19 (2-16)

Now onto the NCAA Tourney.

[Eaglesfan27]

The #1 seeds are: DePaul, Rutgers, Louisville, and Alabama.

Pac 10 Teams in the tourney are:

WSU (#9 in the South), #6 Arizona State (South), #9 Stanford (Midwest), #5 Washington (Midwest), and #2 Cal (Midwest.)

WSU lost in the 1st round to BC.

#6 Arizona State beat North Carolina in the 1st round, but lost to Florida in the 2nd round.

#9 Stanford lost to #1 Louisville in the 2nd round.

#5 Washington lost to #1 Louisville in the Sweet 16.

#2 Cal beat #1 Louisville 91-71 to advance to the Final 4.


The Final 4:

#1 Rutgers vs #3 Xavier

#1 Alabama vs #2 Cal


Xavier beat Rutgers 68-65.

Alabama beat Cal 82-79.

Xavier wins another NCAA championship! They won 80-76.

They got 28 points from Newsom, their SF. He is a SR who was ranked 10th overall in his class and is expected to be a 1st round pick in the draft.


Florida's SR C A.J. Humphries won Player of the Year. He averaged 23.2 ppg and 9.1 rpg.

Creighton's SR C Theodore Ramsdell won Mid-Major Player of the Year. He averaged 26 ppg, 9.8 rpg, and 2.3 bpg.

Alabama's coach won Coach of the Year.

Alabama's SR C Lonnie Scheer won Defensive Player of the Year. He averaged 2.6 bpg.

Humphries won Big Man of the Year.

No Pac-10 Players on any of the All-American Teams.


Cal's Coach won Coach of the Year.

Washington's SR PG Gaston Hornsby won Player of the Year in the Pac-10. He averaged 18 ppg and 5.8 apg.

FR PG Franklin Howel of UCLA won the Freshman of the Year. He averaged 6 ppg and 4 apg.

Pait made First Team All Pac-10. The rest of the team:

SR PG Hornsby, Washington.
SR SG Trey Hornsby, Cal. 13.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg.
SR PF Borchardt, Oregon 14.1 ppg, 7.6 rpg.
JR C Ballard, CAl 15.8 ppg, and 7.5 rpg.

Washington had 3 guys on the 2nd team including Gennie who only averaged 11 ppg.

Zimmerman made the All Pac-10 Freshman Team.

The rest of the team:

PG Howel, UCLA
SG Vukusic, Oregon State 6.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg.
SF Henning, Washington 0.9 ppg, 0.5 rpg.
PF Diallo, UCLA 1.6 ppg, 0.8 rpg.


Pait was drafted in the 1st round. Lang went undrafted. No other players left my team.

[Eaglesfan27]

This was only my 2nd time in 7 years at USC that I didn't make the tourney. The AD is still very happy with the job I'm doing.

Pittsburgh's Dixon finally retired. They offer me their job, but I turn them down along with Michigan State, Clemson, Arizona, and ND.

Pittsburgh hires Montana's head coach. Arizona hired the coach from SMC.


I keep my staff together.

Now to see if we get our PG or not..

[Eaglesfan27]

True to his word, Antone Dawson signs with USC on the 1st day possible. He wanted to be one of us, and now he is. At the very least, he should be a good replacement in 2 years when Galbreath graduates.

As expected, Dexter Del Rosario signed with North Carolina State. They got themselves a potentially great player.

Stanford and Cal each signed very good players today. I'm going to do a Pac-10 Recruiting recap in a bit. With my 2 scholarships done, I turn my attention fully to the juniors.


A quick look at where the top 10 recruits in the nation went:

1. SF Rosario - NCST
2. SF Ogunride - UConn
3. PF Nielsen - Florida
4. SG Admundson - DePaul
5. SF Stanley - Siena
6. SF Soson - Alabama
7. PF Salughter - Alabama
8. PF Snowden (From San Diego, CA) - Washington
9. PF Gillingham - Maryland
10. PG Bailey (from Montana) - Washington

Washington also got the #11 recruit, a SG from Oregon. They also got the #31 player, a PF from Seattle.

Pac-10 Recruiting Analysis:

1. Washington 4 players in the top 50, 2 in the top 10. By far, the biggest winner.

2. Stanford - 2 players in the top 50 - PF Cam Morgan (49th) and PG Edward Stephens (30th.)

3. Arizona - Signed big time local kid PG Stefan Pardon (33rd) and also got CA PG Kasey Pasco (32nd.)

4. Cal - Got 3 guys in the top 100 - SG Roscoe Hoskin (29th), SF Kalu Stevenson (62nd), and SG Hiram Starks (90th.)

5. USC - PG Antone Dawson (56th) and Troy Toussaint (64th) are a nice haul.

No other Pac-10 Team has even 1 guy in the Top 100 this year. I think we are seeing the beginning of the downfall of Oregon's power..

[Eaglesfan27]

The top 10 classes nationally:

1. Washington (gulp) 3 5 star players, 1 4 star, and 1 3 star.
2. Florida 3 5 star players.
3. UConn 1 5 star and 1 4 star.
4. San Diego State 1 5 star, 2 4 stars.
5. Tennesse 1 5 star and 1 4 star
6. Pitt 1 5 star, 2 4 stars.
7. Xaver 1 5 star, 2 4 stars.
8. Maryland 1 5 star, 1 4 star.
9. Alabama 2 5 stars, 1 4 star.
10. DePaul 1 5 star, 2 4 stars.

Now, it is time for a look at the roster.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our staff is doing a great job with player development!

JR PG Rashard Galbreath is 6'1 191 and is now rated 81 overall. Our staff believes he has done a great job working on his first step and his agility in general. They believe he is about ready to have a breakout year with his ability to penetrate the lane.

SO PG Keon McDade is 6'1 170 and is rated 80 overall. He's the best 3 point shooter on the team and we think he's finally got the confidence to let it fly more. He's also the best passer on the team.

Our staff is recommending we redshirt FR PG Antone Dawson. He is 6'0 179 and is rated 74 overall. He already is a very skilled passer, but his defense and outside shot need some work.

SR PG Mitchell Hodge is a guy I feel bad for. He's worked hard and is a nice guy, but he isn't going to see the court much for us if at all. He's 6'5 218 and is rated 76 overall.

JR SG Keon Connolly is ready to become a solid contributor. He's now 6'3 205 and he has developed a very nice midrange shot and can hit the 3 when open. He's also become a reliable ball handler who can break down guys off the dribble. His defense definitely needs work. He's rated 80 overall.

RS JR SG Bernard Mack is ready for more PT as well. He's 6'4 235 and is the better 3 point shooter. However, Connolly does most other things slightly better. He's rated 80 overall as well.

RS FR SG Jerald Dillard is the wild card in the equation. Our staff isn't too sure about him yet, but I like what I've seen in the early practices. He should become a very good player down the road. Rated 78 overall right now and is 6'2 183.

SR SF Teddy Sowers is happy to finally get a chance to play his natural SF position. He's 6'5 215, a bit than I'd like, but he's rated 90 overall and should be a very tough guard for most SF's. He has an explosive first step that SG's were having trouble with, so I expect him to be able to drive to the hoop a lot. He's also developed a killer pull up jumper and he has 3 point range. His defense has become very good and he has amazing hops.

Troy Toussaint has put on 10 pounds of muscle and is now 6'6 230. Our staff thinks I should redshirt him, but Troy is too confident to do that. Besides, he's our only other true SF on the roster. He's rated 74 overall. His best attributes right now are his midrange shot and his dunking. His defense and 3 point shot need work soon. He also needs to become a better passer.

JR PF Gerrod Halsch is ready to have his best season. He is now 6'9 262 and is rated 84 overall. He has great rebounding ability, a killer post game that he's worked hard on this offseason, and he always hustles hard.

JR PF Dameon Nelke has improved his already great speed and is among the fastest SF's I've ever had. He's 6'10 216. He's got a decent midrange shot, good rebounding, and solid defensive skills. He's rated 82 overall. He'll be our top sub off the bench.

So C Timon Zimmerman is now 7'4 290. He's worked really hard on his footwork and is no longer quite as plodding. Furthermore, he's worked hard on his post game and has two good moves now. His improvement and size have earned him the starting role. He's rated 77 overall.

SR C Wallace Rollins is 7'0 258 and is rated 78 overall. He's also worked a lot on his post game and he'll be a reliable scorer off the bench this year I believe.

RS SR Walkon Bennett Hehn has also done a nice job this offseason and I wish I could get him more PT. He's 7'0 250 and is rated 77 overall.


Projected Starting Lineup: Galbreath, Connolly, Sowers, Halsch, and Zimmerman.

Projected 2nd unit: McDade, Mack, Troy, Nelke, and Rollins

Redshirt: Dawson

Bench Warmers: Dillard (who might end up taking Mack's job) and Hehn.

Reserve guys: Hodge (who I also feel bad for.)


Guys who will be leaving after the year: SF Sowers, C Rollins, C Hehn, and PG Hodge.

Recruiting Priorities (3 scholarships available):

1) C
2) SF
3) PF, SF, or C. (Would also consider a star SG.)

[Eaglesfan27]

An odd schedule this year in which I have very few early games. I've already decided who to offer scholarships to:

1) Center Oly Vega from San Bernardino, CA. He's a 3 star who is ranked 147th overall and 7th among C's. He's the top C in California. He's also the biggest at 7'1" 244. He averaged 16 ppg, 9.5 rpg, and 1.4 bpg in the ABL while shooting 50%. Our staff believes he has a bonafide midrange jump shot as well as awesome dunking ability. Furthermore, they think he is a good shot blocker with good potential. They grade him out overall as follows: Shooting B+, Skills B, Defense B+, Athleticism B-, Rebounding A-, IQ B, Potential B+, and Size A+.

I've already visited him twice and he assures me that he wants to be a Trojan. The other schools in the picture with a legitimate shot are UNLV, SDSU, and Pepperdine. He has 14 schools interested in him overall.


Also, I offer SF Leo Annen. He's a 4 star SF from Berkley, CA. He's 6'7 199 and is ranked 77th overall. Our staff believes he is a good shot blocker and midrange shooter. He averaged 11 ppg, 8 rpg, and 2.3 bpg in the ABL while shooting 38% from the floor. He's interested in Stanford and Cal, but we are reportedly his top choice right now. He grades out as: Shooting B+, Skills B-, Defense B, Athleticism A-, Rebounding B, IQ B+, Potential A-, and Size B+.


Finally, we have our longshot..

SG Cheyne Blevins is from Denver, CO. He's ranked 5th overall. He has us in his top 3 along with Kansas and Nebraska. He is 6'2 183 and doesn't excel in too many areas yet, but our staff believes he has A+ potential as do the ranking services.


We start off our season with an easier game, against Idaho State. They are 0-0 with a roster strength of 75.

[Eaglesfan27]

14:35 - Connolly picks up his 2nd foul. We lead 10-5. Connolly is the leading scorer with 5.

12:11 - Sowers gets a rebound, dribbles it quickly up the court, spins away from the 1 defender between him and the basket, finishes going coast to coast, and then dunks it emphatically. We are up 16-8.

10:52 - Zimmerman picks up his 3rd foul. We bring on the 2nd unit. The crowd is chanting Troy's name.. We are still up 16-8.

10:20 - Rollins with the block.. we have a 2-on-1 fastbreak.. McDade throws it up for Troy who double pumps and slams it home!

7:40 - Rollins with a rebound, throws it to McDade who passes it to Troy, he beats his man to the hoop for the dunk and the foul! We lead 21-11.

2:48 - I bring back all of my starters except Zimmerman. We lead 31-18.



Halftime: We lead 34-22.

Connolly is the player of the half with 9 points. Sowers also with a nice half - 7 points and 3 steals.


The starters were playing so well, I just let them keep playing and playing..

3:48 - I finally pull my starters. We are up 71-40. :) Very balanced scoring, great effort from all of the starters. I bring in Dillard at SG and Hehn at C.

3:20 - McDade dribbles into the lane and kicks it out to an open Dillard for a 14 footer.

1:27 - Troy with a crossover beats his man, and dunks over a guard. He also gets the foul.


We win the game 83-42.

Zimmerman is the player of the game with 18 points, 5 boards, and a block.

Galbreath with 4 points, 6 assists, 1 steal, and 2 turnovers. He shot 2 of 6.

Connolly with 16 points, 1 board, and 1 steal. He shot 5 of 7, 1 of 2, and 5 of 6.

Sowers with 17 points, 6 steals, 2 boards, and 1 assist. He shot 6 of 10, 1 of 3, and 4 of 8.

Halsch with 1 points, 10 boards, and 1 block.

Nelke with 8 points, 4 boards, and 3 steals. He shot 3 of 5.

Troy with 10 points, 2 boards, and 2 steals in his debut. He shot 4 of 7, 0 of 1, and 2 of 3.

Mack and McDade each had 3. Dillard with 2.

[Eaglesfan27]

Next up is the first game in the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic. Our first game is against Youngstown State which has a roster strength of 72.

We beat them 79-66. Halsch led the way with 21 points, 5 boards, and 3 blocks. He shot 6 of 9. Sowers with 14 points, 6 boards, and 4 assists on 5 of 13 shooting. Conolly with 10 points on 3 of 7 shooting. Nelke led the bench with 8 points and 5 boards.


Our next game in the tourney is vs Portland State. They are 1-1 with a roster strength of 72. They don't have any quality starters. I'll play them tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

15:00 - Our superior athleticism is the key right now. We lead 10-4.

9:36 - We've been sloppy defensively the last 2 minutes. I rest my starters. We lead 22-11.

4:00 - I bring back my starters. We lead 40-17.


Halftime: We lead 50-21.

Zimmerman is the player of the half with 10 points, 7 boards, and 2 assists.

Sowers with 9, Connolly and Troy with 6 each.


9:39 - We played much looser defensively this half, but we still lead 76-42. I pull my starters.



We win the game 99-59.

Sowers is the player of the game with 18 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and a steal. He shot 5 of 8, 3 of 4, and 5 of 8.

Galbreath with 4 points, 7 assists, and a block. He shot 2 of 4.

Connolly with 12 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and 3 steals. He shot 4 of 9.

Halsch with 8 points, 7 boards, and an assist. He shot 3 of 6.

Zimmerman with 16 points, 12 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 6 of 10.

McDade with a potential breakout performance off the bench - 14 points, 7 assists, and 1 steal. He shot 4 of 4, 2 of 2, and 4 of 4.

Troy with 7 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, and 3 steals. He shot 1 of 6 but was 5 of 6 from the line.

[Eaglesfan27]

Nov 19, 2032 -

Next up in the tourney is Iowa State who are also 3-0. They have a roster strength of 86.


We win the game 76-70, but Connolly hurts his achilles in the game. He is out for 3-4 weeks. Dillard will get some significant PT off the bench after all.

Halsch led the team with 16 points, 10 boards, and 3 blocks. Troy led the bench with 12 points. Nelke with 10 points and 5 boards. Sowers with 7 points on 2 of 11 shooting. Zimmerman with 10 points and 5 boards.


Our next game is the Semi-final in the tourney and is against Maryland. They are 4-0 and also have a roster strength of 91.

Their top player, PG Nikola Shumate is out with an ankle injury. Their 2nd best player, PG Chuck Grochowalski is playing hurt with plantar fascitis.

Their starting 5:

SR PG Chuck is 6'1 200 pounds and is rated 86 overall. He's averaging 17 ppg and 4 apg.

JR SG David Channing is 6'4 228 and is rated 79 overall. He's averaging 7 ppg.

JR SF Kennedy Nunez is 6'6 212 and is a defensive stopper. He's averaging 9 ppg.

JR PF Lorenzo Dilligard is 7'0 260 and is a great shot blocker. He's averaging 10.3 ppg, 7.5 rpg, and 4.3 bpg!

SO C Ransom Sloan is 6'11 270 and is rated 76 overall. He's averaging 10 ppg, 5 rpg, and 1 bpg.


SR PG Dane Blackett leads the bench. He's 6'2 200 and is rated 86 overall. He's averaging 15.3 ppg off the bench while playing about 25 mpg.

I'll play them later.

[Eaglesfan27]

16:20 - Mack with a drive gets a 2nd foul on their center Sloan. We are down 6-4.

12:13 - The last two minutes we have gone on a 6-0 run. We lead 12-8. Very good team defense right now.

7:48 - They are on a 8-0 run, in part due to a pair of 3's by Nunez. We are down 17-14. We bring on the entire 2nd unit.

McDade with a quick 3 to end the run and tie the game.

1:30 - Our 2nd unit played terrible defense, but McDade kept hitting the 3's to keep us in it. We are down 30-27 as I bring back my starters.


Halftime: We are down 32-29.


McDade leads our team with 9 points. Sowers with 6. A few guys with 4.


16:03 - They start off the half with a 6-0 run, before we hit a pair of baskets. We are down 38-33.

15:13 - Galbreath drives inside and is fouled hard by their center. He is down and holding his knee :( McDade comes into the game. We are down 40-33.

11:30 - We are pushing the tempo and getting sloppy with the ball. We are down 49-40. Early word is that Galbreath can come back into the game.

8:33 - McDade is turning it over at a very bad rate. We bring back Galbreath along with the 2nd unit. We are down 56-43.

4:20 - It seems like a lost cause, but I bring my starters back. We are down 68-47.

Ugly. We get beat 78-53.

Nunez shut down Sowers and Troy and put up 17 points as the player of the game.

Chuck forced 6 steals, plus he had 16 points and 6 assists.


McDade led us with 11 points on 3 of 10 shooting as he was ice cold in the 2nd half. In the first half he was 3 of 4. He did make both FT's he took in the 2nd half.

Galbreath with 6 points and 3 assists. He had 1 turnover. McDade had 5.

Mack with 6 points on 2 of 7 shooting.

Sowers with 6 points on 2 of 8 shooting.

Galsch with 5 points, 5 boards, and 1 block. He shot 2 of 4 and I should have gone to him much more.

Zimmerman with 5 points, 10 boards, and 2 blocks. He shot 2 of 5.


Nelke led the bench with 7 points and 4 boards. Troy with 5 points on 2 of 9 shooting.

We drop to 4-1 and Maryland is now 5-0.

[Eaglesfan27]

Nov 24, 2032 -

Today we host Richmond. Should be an easy bounce back game.

We beat them 84-60. Halsch with 20 points and 8 boards. Galbreath with 13 points and 6 assists despite the sore knee. Zimmerman with 9 points, 6 boards, and 2 blocks.

Now, it is time to see what early signings we get.. I'm expecting 2 on the first day..

[Eaglesfan27]

We get both of the expected early signings!

4 star SF Leo Annen is now a Trojan. So is 7'1 244 pound C Olu Vega! If Vega really has that midrange shot.. oh wow. Exciting.

As I expected, Blevins signs with Kansas. Oh well.

I decide to offer my last scholarship to SF Lucious Kabba from Spokane, WA. He is a 4 star 6'6 210 pound SF with great hustle and intangibles. He averaged 12.6 ppg and 11.6 rpg in the ABL. Washington and WSU are on his list along with USC.

[Eaglesfan27]

I decide to sim a few more games during the recruiting week.

Nov 29, 2032 -

We beat a good Illinois squad 69-58! Nelke with 15 points off the bench. Zimmerman with 12 points and 5 boards. Halsch with 5 points and 12 boards.


Dec 4, 2032 -

We beat UNC Greensboro 84-50. Halsch with 28 points, 10 boards, and a block. Galbreath, Mack, and Sowers each had 8 points.


We fail to get Kabba in the early period. It's going to be a battle until the end of the year with the 2 Washington based schools.


Dec 11, 2032 -

We beat Eastern Washington 96-34 at our place. Halsch, Sowers, and Mack each had 18 points. Nelke with 14 off the bench. McDade and Dillard with 10 each. Galbreath with 9 assists.

Connolly is now back from his injury :)

Our next game is hosting Oral Roberts. They are 4-3 and are rated 77 overall with no standout stars. Mack has played well enough to remain the starter, but Connolly will be a valuable contributor off the bench.

[Eaglesfan27]

15:00 - Very sloppy start. We are tied at 8.

13:55 - I bring in McDade for a tired Galbreath. We are up 13-8.

10:01 - Not at all happy with the defense. We are up 22-18 as I call a timeout and bring in the 2nd unit and Galbreath.

3:20 - Great stretch by my 2nd unit. We lead 33-23 now as I bring back our starters.

The last 3 minutes our defense forces a few turnovers and quick baskets as a result. Mack also hits a pair of 3's.


Halftime: We are up 49-25. Great finish to the half.

Mack is the player of the half with 10 points, 1 assist, and 1 steal.

Sowers has 9, Zimmerman and Halsch each have 8.


8:18 - I call off the dogs after my starters play a great 12 minutes of the 2nd half. We are up 73-36 as I bring on the 2nd unit.

3:33 - I empty the end of my bench. We are up 88-43.

2:00 - McDade to Troy for a spectacular alley-oop on the fastbreak! We lead 94-46.

51.9 - McDade hits a 3 that puts us over 100. We lead 101-49. The crowd cheers loudly for free tacos.


We win the game 104-51.

Mack is the player of the game with 19 points, 1 board, 1 assist, and 2 steals. He shot 7 of 9, 5 of 5, and 0 of 0.

Galbreath finished with 10 points, 6 assists, 3 steals, and 3 turnovers. He shot 3 of 4.

Sowers with 14 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals. He shot 5 of 7.

Halsch with 10 points, 7 boards, 3 assists, and 4 steals. He shot 4 of 9.

Zimmerman with 11 points, 8 boards, 2 assists, and 2 blocks. He shot 3 of 4 and 5 of 7 from the line.

Nelke led the bench with 13 points and 7 boards.

Troy with 10 points, 2 boards, 1 steal, and 1 block.

McDade with 7 points and 3 assists.

Connolly with 3 points and 2 boards.

Every player on my active roster scored at least 2 points.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our next game is at Northwestern. They are 8-3 and have a talented roster with a rating of 84 overall. Their only weakness is at PG:

FR PG Darren Bailey is 6'0 180 and is rated 70 overall. He's fast but doesn't have much else going for him right now. He's averaging 6 ppg and 4 apg.

SO SG Harvey Mitchell is 6'3 192 and is rated 78 overall. He's a 3 point specialist and is very good shooting the outside shot. He's averaging 12 ppg.

SO SF Brandon Dancy is 6'8 214 and is rated 77 overall. He doesn't excel in any area except FT's. He is averaging 9.5 ppg and 6 rpg.

SR Pf Jean-Baptiste Byrd is injured but will play. He's 7'0 243 and is rated 82 overall. He is a good inside scorer. He's averaging 11 ppg, 6.5 rpg, and 1.5 bpg.

SR C Antwi Trotter is the star of the team. He's 6'11 286 and is rated 83 overall. He's averaging 19.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg, and 1.3 bpg. He is slow but is very strong and is a powerful post player.


The bench is led by JR PF Everett Novakovic who is 7'0 230 and is rated 77 overall. He's averaging 6.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg, and 0.8 bpg.

The rest of the bench is in the high 60's to low 70's. I'll play them later today or tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

14:00 - Our defense isn't showing up, but our offense is nearly perfect. We lead 14-11.

9:38 - I rest my starters. We are up 22-21.

1:30 - I bring back my starters. We are tied at 33.


Halftime: We lead 37-35.

Mack is the player of the half with 11 points, 1 assist, and 1 block.

Sowers with 6 and Galbreath with 5.


11:06 - They are on a 6-0 run to build a 48-43 lead. I rest my starters.

5:19 - I get my well rested starters back into the game. We are down 58-55.

3:44 - Halsch with a beautiful drop step in the post for 2. We are down 61-59.

3:12 - Galbreath is fouled shooting a 3. He makes all 3 FT's. We are down 63-62.

Trotter with another basket down low. He now has 20.

Zimmerman answers with his own basket on a hook shot.

Zimmerman picks up his 4th foul going for a block on a shot by Byrd. Byrd hits 1 of 2.

Galbreath hits Sowers with a beautiful pass that sets up an open 14 footer which he buries. Tied at 66 with 2 minutes to go.

Zimmerman with a block that sets up a Mack fastbreak.. he is fouled before he can dunk it. He makes both FT's.

They miss a 3. Galbreath gets the fastbreak going.. he drives into the lane and kicks it out to Mack for an open 3.. he drills it! We are up 71-66 with 1:14 to go.

Mitchell is fouled by Mack with 56 seconds left. He misses the first.. and makes the 2nd.

20 seconds left - Mack misses a 3.

7 seconds left - They miss a 3 and Zimmerman gets the board. He is fouled. He makes both FT's to give us a 73-67 lead.


We win the game 73-67. A very nice road win that drops them to 8-4 while raising our record to 10-1.

Mack is the player of the game with 17 points, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block. He shot 5 of 10, 4 of 8, and 3 of 4.

Galbreath with 8 points, 2 assists, and a steal.

Sowers with 11 points, 4 boards, and an assist. He shot 4 of 9.

Halsch with 4 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, and a steal. He shot 2 of 7.

Zimmerman with 10 points, 8 boards, and 2 blocks. He shot 4 of 5.

Nelke led the bench with 10 points, 4 boards, 3 steals, and a block. He shot 4 of 5.

McDade with 7 points and an assist.

Troy with 6 points and 2 assists.

[Eaglesfan27]

At 10-1, we are now 14th in the media poll.


Dec 23, 2032 -

We beat UC Riverside 92-53 to end the OOC portion of our schedule. Halsch led the team with 17 points and 10 boards. Nelke led the bench with 16 points. Sowers with 15 points, 8 boards, and 2 blocks. Galbreath with 9 points and 7 assists.

Let's look at the Pac-10 now:

1. Stanford is the top roster in the conference with a strength of 93 and they are 12-0. SR's SG Sola and SG Germain Park lead a very talented starting 5.

2. UCLA is finally back. They are 13-0 with a roster strength of 92. They are led by SR SG Dean Laurie and SR SF Henry Greene as well as JR C Abe Butch. There are no weaknesses in their starting 5.

3. USC is 3rd with a roster strength of 92 and a 11-1 record. Sowers may be the most complete player in the conference according to the scouts..

4. Oregon is 10-0 with a roster strength of 92. They are led by SR SF Jomo Chadwick.

5. Washington is young and will be very scary in a year or two. They are 8-3 with a roster strength of 91. They aren't starting a single senior. They do have 2 JR's, 1 FR, and 2 SO's starting and the FR PF is one of the highest rated freshman I've ever seen.

6. Cal is 11-1 with a roster strength of 91. They are starting 4 very good SR's including C Bart Ballard who is their best player. Their only weakness is their FR SF who is starting, but is probably a year away from being an impact player.

7. Arizona is 7-4 with a roster strength of 87. Their weakness is their SO PG who is a year away from being a big time player. Also, their SR SG isn't a big time threat.

8. Arizona State is 8-2 with a roster strength of 84. Their seniors aren't very impressive. FR C Levi Cortez should give them some hope for the future.

9. Oregon State is 7-5 with a roster strength of 84. Their best player is SR SF Cletis Moye, but he is just an above average player.

10. WSU is 5-5 with a roster strength of 84. Their best player is JR C Denver Fowler. He could be all Pac-10 next year.

Team Leaders:

1. Scoring - USC at 82.7 ppg.
2. RPG - Oregon at 34.5
3. Assists - Cal at 16.5
4. Steals - USC at 10.8
5. Blocks - Oregon at 5.6

Individual leaders:

Scoring - C Ballard, Cal 21.2
Rebounding - C Butch, UCLA 9.7
Assists - PG Hipsher, Oregon State 6.2
Steals - SF Lamkin, WSU 2.1
Blocks - PF Reyes, Oregon State 2.3


Best Overall Player - Sowers, USC.
Best Freshman - PF Hornsby, Washington
Best Shooter - SG Sola, Stanford
Best Playmaker - Zuzak, Cal
Best Pro Prospect - Sola, Stanford
Best Defender - C Gardner, Oregon

We start conference play with a tough game at Washington.

A look at their starting 5:

So PG Piotr Mencio is a 6'2 199 pound guard who is a very good 3 point shooter who is rated 83 overall. He is averaging 14 ppg and 4.2 apg.

JR SG Keena Linebaugh is 6'6 227 and is rated 87 overall. He can score from anywhere on the court. He is averaging 17.7 ppg, 5.4 rpg, and 2.5 apg.

JR SF Antonio Atangana is 6'6 220 and is rated 85 overall. He is a great athlete, but not a very good shooter. He is averaging 6.8 ppg and 5 rpg.

FR PF Vytautas Hornsby is 6'9 243 and is rated 82 overall. He is a very dangerous 3 point shooter as well as a rugged interior scorer. Kid is going to be a monster before his career is over. He's averaging 9.3 ppg, 5.8 rpg, and 1.5 bpg.

SO C Jasko Fray is 7'4 235 and is rated 78 overall. He is very raw offensively and only plays a few minutes per game. He is averaging 4.4 ppg and 3.8 rpg.

The bench is led by 2 very good PF's and a SG:

JR PF Hodari Nana is 6'8 260 and is rated 80 overall. He is a very effective midrange shooter.

FR PF Damian Snowden would be starting for just about any other team. He is 6'7 235 and is rated 80 overall. He is averaging 8 ppg, 5 rpg, and 1.8 bpg off the bench.

FR SG Stewart Simon is 6'5 205 and is rated 80 overall. He is a player with elite speed, but just average lateral quickness. He is averaging 6.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg, and 1 apg.

The rest of the bench is in the high 70's. This team is going to be so good in a year or two. As it is, they will be tough to play.

[Eaglesfan27]

14:35 - Fray is outplaying Zimmerman early. We are down 10-6.

13:16 - Galbreath draws a 2nd foul on Mencio. We are down 10-8.

11:46 - Galbreath gets a 2nd foul on Fray and he makes the basket.

11:24 - Galbreath picks up his 2nd foul. I rest all of my starters. We are up 13-12.

4:02 - Very good job on the offensive board by my 2nd unit. We lead 29-28 as I bring back the starters.


Halftime: We lead 37-33.

Atangana is the player of the half with 11 points and 5 boards.

Galbreath is our leader in the first half with 6 points and 4 assists. This is his best game of the year so far, in my opinion.


18:36 - Sowers draws a 3rd foul on Hornsby! We are up 40-33. Snowden comes into the game.

17:35 - Galbreath draws a 3rd foul on Mencio.

15:05 - They are on a 8-0 run and they just got a 3rd foul on Zimmerman. I bring in Rollins. We are up 44-42.

11:35 - We are on a 9-0 run with a 3 by Mack, a 3 by Sowers, and a dunk and a made FT by Sowers. We lead 53-44.

Fray hits a post shot to end our streak. Fray now has 10 points.

Fray runs out and blocks a 3 by Mack and then Linebaugh hits a 3 at the other end. He has 16.

10:14 - They call a timeout after Sowers hits a 3. I rest my starters. We lead 56-49.

6:41 - Nelke is taking over, including hitting an open 3. We lead 66-53.

Nelke with a dunk and the foul. That is the 4th on Hornsby.

4:37 - We bring back our starters for a few minutes even though we have a nice lead, 71-54.

2:10 - Zimmerman fouls out. I'm about to pull my starters anyway. We lead 78-58.


We win the game 82-61! Great road win!

Sowers is the player of the game as he really took control of the 2nd half. He finished with 20 points, 3 boards, 3 steals, and 1 assist. He played lock down defense in the 2nd half as well.

Galbreath finished with 10 points, 8 assists, 1 steal, and 2 turnovers. He shot 4 of 5.

Mack with 14 points on 3 of 8, 2 of 5, and 6 of 6 shooting.

Halsch with 5 points, 5 boards, and a block. He shot 2 of 6.

Zimmerman with 3 points, 5 boards, and a block.


Nelke led the bench with 9 points and 3 boards. He shot 3 of 7.

Connolly with 8 points and 3 assists. Troy with 8 points, 5 boards, and 2 steals. McDade with 5 points and 2 assists.

[Eaglesfan27]

Jan 1, 2033 -

We get another very good road win against Arizona State, 72-67. Galbreath with 11 points and 10 assists. Sowers with 19 points and 4 boards. Connolly led the bench with 17 points on 7 of 14 shooting.

At 13-1, we are now 9th in the media poll. :)

Our next game is a classic clash at home against UCLA who is also 13-1 and 4th in the media poll. Their starting 5 is very balanced:

SO PG Franklin Howel is one that got away from us. He's now 6'8 210 and is rated 82 overall. He's got amazing speed for his size and decent lateral quickness. He is a tremendous passer and a good ball handler. He's an average shooter. Defensively, he is average but he excels at stealing it. He is averaging 6.6 ppg and 5 apg.

SR SG Dean Laurie is 6'2 199 and is rated 85 overall. He's a fast athletic player who is a solid midrange shooter. He's averaging 10 ppg, 5.2 rpg, and 2.4 apg.

SR SF Henry Greene is the star of the team at 6'9 220 and rated 86 overall. He is a very dangerous midrange shooter, but a poor 3 point shooter. He is very athletic and is a great rebounder for a 3. He's averaging 9.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg, and 1.4 apg.

JR PF Jasko McCollum is 6'8 218 and is rated 83 overall. He is one of the best shot blockers in the conference. He's averaging 7.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg, and 2.1 bpg.

JR C Abe Butch is the best post player in the conference. He's also a very good rebounder and a solid defender. He's 6'10 276 and is rated 85 overall. He's averaging 21.4 ppg, 7.7 rpg, and 1.5 bpg.


The bench is led by SR SF M.C> Stiggers who is 6'6 240 and is rated 83 overall. He's a very good defender. He's averaging 4 ppg and 3 rpg.

SR SG Lionel Boyd is also a very good bench player. He's 6'7 225 and is rated 83 overall. He's averaging 5.3 ppg.

SR SG Joshua Bynum is their best 3 point shooter on the team. He averages about 15 mpg and is averaging 8.9 ppg. He's 6'6 210 and is rated 82 overall.

The rest of the bench is in the high 70's. They have 6 seniors in total on their team.

[Eaglesfan27]

13:47 - Halsch and Butch collide and fall to the floor in a jumble. Halsch has to be carried off the court :( We are up 8-7. Butch has 6 of their points.

11:00 - I rest my starters. We are tied at 14.

10:20 - McDade gets a 2nd foul on Howel.

5:29 - Our bench is playing very well, I leave them in with a 24-20 lead after they call a timeout.

3:01 - Our guys have gotten tired and sloppy. They are on a 4-0 run. We lead 29-28 as I bring back the starters including Halsch who has been cleared to return. Apparently, it was just a strained quad.


Halftime: We lead 36-32.

Rollins is the player of the half with 8 points and 5 boards. As a result, he'll get more PT in the 2nd half, particularly since Halsch is slowed by his injury.

Sowers and Galbreath each have 6 points.


12:03 - I rest my starters who are playing very well. We are up 50-40.

5:17 - Bynum hits a 3 to make it a 1 point game. We lead 60-59 as I bring back my starters except Rollins will play PF.

Sowers responds with a 3 and a steal that leads to a fastbreak basket.

Bynum with another 3 to make it a 3 point game. We lead 65-62. He has 11 points.

Galbreath hits a 3 of his own in response.

After we get a stop, Mack hits a 3 to bring down the house at the Galen Center. 71-62 lead with 3 minutes left.


Our guys finish very strong as we win the game 80-64.


Sowers is the player of the game with 19 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 6 of 8, 2 of 3, and 5 of 7.

Galbreath with 12 points, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 1 turnover. He shot 4 of 7, 2 of 3, and 2 of 4.

Mack with 15 points and 3 boards on 5 of 10 shooting.

Halsch with 3 points and 2 boards. He was completely ineffective after his injury.

Zimmerman with 4 points, 13 boards, 4 assists, and 2 blocks.

Rollins led the bench with 14 points and 8 boards. He shot 4 of 6 and 6 of 6 from the line.

Nelke with 6 points, 4 boards, and a block.

Troy with 4 points and Connolly with 2 points and 3 assists.

A great win for us :)

[Eaglesfan27]

Our next game is hosting #2 12-0 Oregon. They have a very talented starting 5:

SR PG Manuel Hairston is 6'4 211 and is rated 84 overall. He has a great handle, good speed and quickness. He is averaging 8 ppg and 4.8 apg.

JR SG Donatas Kleinzweig is 6'4 202 and is rated 85 overall now. He is an excellent shooter. He is averaging 14.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg, and 1.9 apg.

SR SF Jomo Chadwick is 6'8 234 and is rated 86 overall. He is a tough defender. He's averaging 10 ppg, 5 rpg, and 1.3 bpg.

JR PF Wendell Cross is 6'8 240 and is rated 82 overall. He is a good defender and shot blocker. He's averaging 5.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg, and 1.6 bpg.

JR C Altron Gardner is the 2nd best post man in the conference. He's averaging 18.8 ppg, 6.9 rpg, and 2.2 bpg.

The bench is led by JR SG Donnie Turiaf who is the best 3 point shooter in the conference and among the best in the nation. He's averaging 10.5 ppg and 2 rpg. He has an overall of 84.

The bench is full of good 3 point shooters and the rest of the team is rated in the high 70's to low 80's.

[Eaglesfan27]

15:00 - We are up 6-5. Chadwick has all 5 of their points.

12:50 - Galbreath draws a 2nd foul on Kleinzweig. We are tied at 10.

7:26 - I call a timeout and rest my starters. We are up 19-18.

7:01 - Nelke draws a 2nd foul on Altron Gardner.

2:21 - I bring back Galbreath, Mack, and Sowers. We lead 29-26.


Halftime: We are down 32-30.

Good defense from both sides holding both sides to about 40% shooting.

Chadwick is the player of the half with 8 points and 3 boards.

Mack leads our team with 7 points on 3 of 7 shooting.

Halsch is bothered by his injury and may not play much in the 2nd half.


15:01 - They are on a 6-0 run. I call a timeout, chew out the team, and put in Nelke. We are down 41-36.

12:01 - We are on a 12-0 run fueled by 2 Nelke created turnovers. We lead 48-41.

9:22 - After a timeout, they have gone on a 8-0 run. We are down 49-48. I call another timeout to stress the importance of good defense. I also go with the 2nd unit for a few minutes.

5:53 - We are down 58-51 as I bring back all of my starters except Halsch.

5:03 - Nelke hit a 12 footer then hit a 10 footer and got fouled. He makes the FT. We are down 58-56.

4:45 - Cross with a backdoor dunk and the foul. He makes it a 3 point play.

3:56 - Mack misses a 3 and Gardner with a nice post move at the other end. We are down 63-56.

2:26 - Mack hits a 3. We foul Gardner and he makes 1 of 2. Sowers hits a 3. We are down 64-62.

Gardner with a dunk and the foul. He makes the FT Chadwick with a steal of a Sowers pass leads to a fastbreak dunk by Hairston.

1:15 - Galbreath draws a 5th foul on Hairston. He makes both FT's. Down 69-64.

We intentionally foul Cross and he misses the first FT but makes the 2nd.

I bring in McDade for his better 3 point shooting.

Zimmerman gets a quick open dunk.

We foul Cross again. He misses the 1st and makes the 2nd. Down 71-66.

Sowers misses an open 3. Nelke fouls out as he intentionally fouls Gardner.

McDade hits a quick 3 after getting a pick from Zimmerman.

We foul their backup PG, Crosswhite. He makes them both. McDade misses a quick 3 and that is it.


We lose the game 78-69.

Galbreath with 8 points, 4 assists, and 4 turnovers. He shot 0 of 4, 8 of 10 from the line. He gave up 10 points and 5 assists by their PG.

Mack scored 14 points while shooting 5 of 12. He held their SG to 7 points on 2 of 8 shooting.

Sowers with 17 points, 4 boards, 3 assists, and 3 steals. He shot 6 of 10. It's becoming clear that we need to make him more of a focal point in the offense. He held Chadwick scoreless in the 2nd half.

Halsch with 0 points and 2 boards. Nelke is going to start until Halsch is 100% healthy (and maybe beyond that point.)

Zimmerman with 6 points, 9 boards, and 1 block. He shot 2 of 6. He gave up 20 points, 11 boards, and 3 blocks by Gardner.

Nelke led the bench with 9 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, and 3 steals in 22 minutes. He shot 3 of 6.

McDade with 6 points and 3 assists.

[Eaglesfan27]

Jan 15, 2033 -

Nelke responds in a big way to the promotion into the starting lineup. He finishes with 21 points, 8 boards, 3 steals, and 4 blocks in a 77-71 win over Oregon State. He shot 8 of 12, 1 of 1, and 4 of 6.

Galbreath with 8 points and 9 assists.

Mack with 6 points. Sowers with 9 points on 2 of 14 shooting. Zimmerman with 12 points, 5 boards, and a block.

Galsch led the bench with 8 points and 6 boards in 16 minutes.




We are now 15-2 and 5th in the media poll.




Our next game is at 5-11 WSU. Their best player, C Denver Fowler, is out with a broken hand.

They will rely on SR SF Elmore Lamkin to carry the load. He's 6'6 217 and rated 82 overall. He's averaging 10.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg, and 1.6 apg.

SR PF Neil Chen is being asked to play C until Fowler gets back. He's 6'9 227 and is rated 79 overall. He's averaging 8.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg, and 1.5 bpg.

SR SG Quentin Kelley has great size at 6'7 220 and is a dangerous 3 point shooter. However, he is battling injuries this year and that has hampered him. He's averaging 6.4 ppg.

JR PG Maushae Meyer is the huge weakness on this team. He's the only true PG and he's not very good. He's 6'1 191 and is rated 68 overall. He's slow, not very good at defending, and is just an above average passer. He's averaging 3.5 ppg and 2.4 apg.

JR Brad Dean has moved into the starting lineup. He's 6'8 256 and is rated 73 overall. He's averaging 7 ppg and 4 rpg.

The bench is all in the 60's with 1 guy in the low 70's.

[Eaglesfan27]

13:50 - We are running them out of the building. We lead 20-10.

9:25 - Our offense has been high flying, but Sowers just landed awkwardly on a dunk and he is holding his knee :( We lead 33-16 as I bring in our 2nd unit.

2:28 - Everyone except for Sowers returns to the floor. We are up 42-28.


Halftime: We lead 44-32.

Sowers is the player of the half. Before he got hurt, he had 16 points, 2 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal. He has been cleared to try to play in the 2nd half.

16:33 - Galbreath picks up a 3rd foul on a bogus charge call. I leave him in for now. We lead 48-36.

14:58 - Galbreath picks up his 4th foul. Sowers is completely ineffective with the knee bothering him. I pull both guys and go with McDade and Dillard who hasn't gotten much PT. We lead 50-40.

9:45 - We go with our entire usual 2nd unit. We lead 56-51. They are on a 6-0 run.

McDade hits a pair of 3's to end their run. We lead 62-51.

4:36 - I bring back all of my starters. We lead 66-62. Time for Sowers to show what he is made of..

2:01 - They have a chance to make it a 2 point game on the FT line.. Dean hits them both. We lead 68-66.

1:35 - Sowers with a perfect lob pass to Zimmerman who catches it, turns and dunks as his man was trying to front him.

Sowers steals the ball from them, but they steal it back from Galbreath. They miss a 3. Zimmerman gets the board and they foul him intentionally. 45 seconds left. He makes both FT's.

Kelley hits a quick 3. They foul Galbreath. He misses both FT's, but Zimmerman gets the offensive board. They foul him. He makes both FT's.

With 16 seconds left, Kelley misses a 3. Galbreath gets the long board. They foul him. He makes both FT's.


We win the game 78-71. Not the blowout I was hoping for/expecting, but a solid win after Sowers went down.

Despite not scoring another point after his injury, Sowers was the player of the game with 16 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 6 of 14 (0 of 4 post injury), 2 of 6, and 2 of 3.

Galbreath with 10 points, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 3 turnovers. Very disappointed in his defense tonight as he allowed a poor PG to put up 13 points and 5 assists against him.

Mack with 8 points, 2 boards, and 1 assist. He shot 1 of 5. He held Kelley to 11 points on 3 of 9 shooting.

Sowers held their SF to 0 points.

Nelke with a very solid game, 13 points, 8 baords, 3 assists, and 2 blocks.

Zimmerman with 12 points, 9 boards, and 2 blocks. He shot 3 of 4, and 6 of 8 from the line.

McDade led the bench with 7 points and 4 assists. Connolly with 8 points. Troy with 4 boards.

[Eaglesfan27]

Sowers will be D2D for 2-3 weeks with a sprained knee. Halsch is still fighting his quad injury.

Jan 22, 2033 -

Despite the injuries, we pull off a very impressive road win against #12 Stanford (16-3 going into the game) as we beat them 94-87!

Nelke led the way with 20 points, 5 boards, and 4 blocks. He shot 7 of 14.

Galbreath with 8 points and 8 assists. Sowers with 12 points. Mack with 8 points and 4 boards. Zimmerman with 8 points and 7 boards.

Galsch led the bench with 13 points and 7 boards. McDade with 10 points and 4 assists. Connolly with 9 points and 7 assists.


We are now 17-2 and 3rd in both polls. A look at the top 10 in the media poll:

1. W Virginia 19-2
2. Texas Tech 14-1
3. USC 17-2
4. UCLA 17-3
5. Georgia Tech 14-3
6. Oregon 15-2
7. Louisville 16-2
8. Colorado 17-3
9. Miami (FL) 12-3
10. Stanford 16-4

The Pac-10 is looking strong!


Our next game is against Cal. They are 22nd in the media poll and 14-5. They are without their starting PF, Rene Ridnour, who is out for 4 more weeks with a broken ankle.

SR PG Freddy Zuzak leads the team. He is 6'0 182 and is rated 88 overall. He is a dunamic ball handler with great speed and quickness. He is averaging 14.2 ppg and 4.7 apg.

C Bart Ballard is the star of the team. He's 7'2 283 and rated 87 overall. He is fast, strong, with a killer post game. Despite having no midrange shot, he uses his athleticism to put up 22 ppg, 8.8 rpg, and 1.9 bpg.

FR SG Roscoe Hoskin is a very talented freshman who is a nice complimentary player on this team. He's 6'3 190 and rated 79 overall. He's averaging 7 ppg and 3 rpg. He is a very good 3 point shooter who will likely be the best in the conference down the road.

FR SF Kalu Stevenson is 6'6 214 and is rated 76 overall. Our staff believes he has elite potential. Right now, the only area he excels is in mid range shooting. He's averaging 6 ppg and 3 rpg.

FR PF Sidiki Giddens was pushed into the starting lineup when Ridnour went down. He's 6'9 242 and is rated 74 overall. He is struggling a bit as he isn't very athletic and his skills are raw. He's averaging 3 ppg and 3 rpg.

The bench is led by SR PG Carson Sparrow who is 6'4 215 and is rated 84 overall. He has elite speed, but is just slightly above average in other areas. He's averaging 4 ppg and 3 apg.

The rest of the bench is in the low-mid 70's.

[Eaglesfan27]

15:00 - Both defenses are locked in. We are tied at 4.

11:51 - Mack picks up his 2nd foul. I go to my 2nd unit. We are down 10-6. Terrible shooting the last few minutes.

8:04 - Rollins and Troy have each hit nice shots. We lead 15-14 as they call a timeout.

5:01 - We lead 21-19 as I bring back my starters. Troy had a nice stretch this game.

4:04 - Zimmerman gets an offensive board, the putback, and a 2nd foul on Ballard. He completes the 3 point play. We lead 26-19.

We pick up the pace dramatically in the last 4 minutes and start scoring much quicker.


Halftime: We lead 39-27.

Zimmerman is the player of the half with 9 points and 8 boards (5 offensive boards.)


10:02 - I call a timeout and rest my starters. We lead 58-46. Nelke and Zimmerman are the main guys getting it done today with Mack filling a complimentary outside scoring role.

5:33 - I bring back all of the starters except Galbreath. I think McDade is playing better and he'll get a chance to finish this game if he keeps playing well. We are up 63-57 as Ballard is starting to go on a massive scoring tear..

Mack hits a pair of 3's to make our lead comfortable again. Then, Mack on the fastbreak is fouled. He makes both FT's and we lead 71-59.

Mack with another 3! He is on fire now!


We win the game 74-63.

Mack wins player of the game. He finished with 23 points, 1 board, 1 assist, and 1 steal. He shot 7 of 14, 5 of 10, and 4 of 4. His man scored 11 points on 3 of 8 shooting.

Galbreath with 4 points and 4 assists. Their starting Pg had 8 points and 2 assists. McDade with 4 points and 1 assist in just a few minutes left. Galbreath holds onto his job.

Sowers with 2 points and 1 board. He shot 1 of 9. The injury is taking away all of his explosion. Their SF, Kalu Stevenson, had 14 points, 5 boards, and 4 assists against him.

Nelke with 14 points, 8 boards, 4 assists, and 3 steals. He shot 7 of 11.

Zimmerman with 11 points, 16 boards, 2 assists, and a block. He shot 4 of 6, 0 of 0, and 3 of 3. Ballard had 15 points and 12 boards against him.


Troy led the bench with 6 points and 2 assists.

Connoly and Rollins each had 4 points. Rollins had 5 boards as well.

[Eaglesfan27]

Jan 29, 2033 -

Today, we are hosting Arizona (14-6.) We beat them 76-64.

Nelke led the way with 17 points, 7 boards, and a block. Sowers with 15 points. Galbreath with 6 points and 6 assists. Rollins led the bench with 13 points.


We are now 19-2 and #1 in both polls!

Here is a look at the media poll's top 10:

1. USC 19-2
2. W. Virginia 20-3
3. Georgia Tech 16-3
4. UCLA 18-4
5. Texas Tech 15-2
6. Oregon 17-2
7. Texas A&M 16-3
8. Florida 17-3
9. Colorado 18-3
10. SMU 20-2



Our next game is a rematch at Oregon. Should be a fun one.

[Eaglesfan27]

14:54 - Turiaf hurts his ankle in a collision with Galbreath. We are down 8-6.

13:49 - Zimmerman draws a 2nd foul on Gardner who already had 8 points. We are down 11-9.

10:00 - Our fastbreak has been explosive the last 4 minutes. Nelke and Mack getting it done. We lead 22-13 as I rest my starters. Halsch is finally 100%.

2:30 - I bring back my starters. We lead 29-22.


Halftime: We lead 33-22.

Nelke is the player of the half with 9 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. Mack with 7 points.


17:26 - Sowers gets a 3rd foul on Chadwick. Our defense is smothering them and generating fastbreaks. We lead 40-22.

8:21 - I pull my starters with a 63-41 lead.


We win the game 72-57. A great road win!

Nelke is the player of the game with 22 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and 5 steals. He shot 8 of 9 and 6 of 6 from the line.

Galbreath with 4 points and 5 assists.

Mack with 10 points and 3 boards.

Sowers with 14 points and 2 boards. He shot 4 of 10.

Zimmerman with 6 points and 5 boards.


Halsch led the bench with 8 points and 5 boards.

[hoopsguy]

Moving Nelke into the starting lineup seems to have really jump-started your team. Have you been #1 in the regular season before? I'm guessing "yes" but I don't recall when.

[Eaglesfan27]

Moving Nelke into the starting lineup seems to have really jump-started your team. Have you been #1 in the regular season before? I'm guessing "yes" but I don't recall when.

I was very briefly during the year we won the National Championship. I guess this is a good omen ;)

And I agree, Nelke has taken us to another level. I wish I had done it sooner, but better late than never. He's going to hold the job until he graduates. His midrange game has become a thing of beauty along with his speed and ability to play the passing lanes.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our next game is a rematch at UCLA. It seems appropriate that I should beat the Bruins less than 24 hours before the national signing day in real life football. Hopefully, I can pull off this win ;)

We beat them 80-64 at our place earlier in the year. As long as we can keep their big PG and their center under control, I like our chances.

[Eaglesfan27]

18:17 - McCollum and Nelke collide under the rim diving for a loose ball.. McCollum gets up limping and has to leave the game. We are down 2-0.

15:10 - McCollum returns to the game. Nelke with a hot start so far. We lead 10-6.

11:22 - The tempo has picked up and it is not favoring me. We are tied at 18 as Zimmerman picks up his 2nd foul. I rest all of my starters.

4:11 - I bring back all of my starters. We are down 30-28.

3:32 - Zimmerman gets a 3rd foul thanks to Butch. I bring back Rollins.


Halftime: We are down 39-36. Need a much better 2nd half defensively.

Nelke is the player of the half with 18 points, 5 boards, and 2 assists.


19:22 - Butch gets a 4th foul on Zimmerman. I leave him in.

16:03 - Mack gets a 3rd foul on Butch. Butch takes a seat and I rest Zimmerman for Rollins. We are tied at 48.

13:51 - Galbreath gets a 3rd foul on Howel. We are tied at 53.

10:49 - I go to my 2nd unit as my starters are tired. We lead 61-57 as Mack hit a few key jumpers.

3:33 - Our defense was playing really well, but a 10 point lead has shrunk to 5. I bring back all of my starters. We lead 68-63.

3:20 - Galbreath draws a 4th foul on Howel. He makes both FT's.

3:12 - An errant pass gives us back the ball.

2:18 - After they make a basket, Nelke draws a foul on a dunk attempt which just misses. He makes both FT's. We lead 72-65.

1:35 - A stupid pass by Sowers leads to a steal and fastbreak basket for the Bruins.

1:05 - They steal it from Zimmerman and get a fastbreak dunk by Greene who has 19 points. We lead 72-69.

31 seconds - Nelke misses a 14 footer.

19 seconds - Zimmerman blocks a shot by Butch. Mack gets the carom. They foul him. He makes both FT's. 74-69.

11 seconds - Boyd hits a quick 3 over Mack.

10 seconds - They foul Galbreath.. he swishes the 1st.. but misses the 2nd. They get the board.

They get a wide open look by Howel.. he takes the 3... and misses it! Nelke with the board! He is fouled with 3 seconds left.. he makes the 1st! And the 2nd.


We win the game 77-72.

Nelke is the player of the game with 27 points, 10 boards, 4 assists, and 1 steal. He shot 8 of 14, 0 of 0, and 11 of 11.

Galbreath with 13 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 3 of 6. Howel had 5 points and 10 assists against us.

Mack with 14 points, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 1 of 4 and 12 of 12 from the line. Boyd with 11 points against us.

Sowers' injury acted up and slowed him down. He was held to 3 points, 1 assist, and 1 block of 1 of 7 shooting. Greene had 19 points and 8 boards against him. If his injury isn't healed by our next game, he is going to sit until he is healthy.

Zimmerman with 4 points, 7 boards, and 1 block. Butch had 11 points and 11 boards against us.


McDade led the bench with 9 points including 3 big 3's during the 2nd half.

Rollins with 7 boards.

[Eaglesfan27]

Feb 13, 2033 -

We have surprising difficulty with 8-15 Oregon State at their place as we barely win 60-57. Sowers led our team with 13 points, 6 boards, and 1 block. He shot 4 of 9. No one else hit double digits.

The lack of quality wins this week leads to us dropping to #2 in the polls.

The top 10 in the media poll:

1. Georgia Tech 20-3
2. USC 22-2
3. W. Virginia 24-3
4. Florida 20-3
5. Stanford 21-4
6. Saint Joseph's 20-3
7. SMU 24-2
8. UConn 18-6
9. UCLA 20-6
10. Texas Tech 17-4

[Eaglesfan27]

Our next game is hosting #5 Stanford. We beat them earlier in the year 94-87. Galbreath hurt his knee in the last game, but will play through the pain. Stanford's top two players both have minor injuries that will slow them down a bit.

SO PG John-Michael Collucci has taken over the starting role. He is 6'1 173 and is rated 85 overall. He has truly elite speed with excellent quickness. He was the #2 player overall in his class. He is averaging 8.4 ppg and 4.4 apg.

SR SG Kaylan Sola is 6'5 228 and is rated 90 overall. He's battling a bruised tailbone. He is the best 3 point shooter in the conference and is projected as a lottery pick. He's averaging 14.7 ppg, 4 rpg, and 3.7 apg.

SR SF Germain Park is 6'6 213 and is rated 89 overall. He is an explosive dunker with great ability to penetrate. He also has a nice midrange game. He's averaging 15.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg, and 1.3 bpg.

FR PF Cam Moran is 6'9 218 and is rated 81 overall. He's already developing a nice interior offensive game, but is deferring to his teammates for now. He's averaging 5.6 ppg and 5.4 rpg.

SR C Garner Bradshaw is 6'9 231 and is rated 82 overall. He doesn't excel in any area, but does most things well. He's averaging 5.8 ppg and 4.8 rpg.

The bench is led by SR SG Brent Wooten who is 6'3 189 and is rated 89 overall. He's battling a sore hamstring. He's averaging 14.6 ppg and 3.2 rpg.

JR SG Ridley Bronson is 6'5 213 and is rated 87 overall. He's a tremendous athlete. He's averaging 7.2 ppg and 2 rpg.

SO PG Curtis Desilos is 6'0 180 and is rated 83 overall. He is likely the 2nd best 3 point shooter in the conference. He's averaging 7.2 ppg and 2.1 apg.

[Eaglesfan27]

14:51 - Nelke already has 2 blocks and Mack has 2 3's. We are tied at 8.

13:35 - Nelke draws a 2nd foul on Park. We are tied at 12 after he hits a pair of FT's.

11:30 - We are on a 6-0 run as they call a timeout. We lead 18-12. Mack with another big basket on the run.

9:31 - Zimmerman gets hit with a 2nd foul on a drive by Park. We are up 22-20 as I rest Zimmerman. The rest of my starters are jacked up by the crowd's reaction and I let them keep playing.

5:57 - I bring in McDade for Galbreath. We lead 29-26.

3:10 - Nelke draws a 2nd foul on Bradshaw. Nelke with a brilliant half.. We lead 36-29. Desilos is keeping them in the game with his 3 point shooting. He has 9 points.


Halftime: We lead 46-35 as 3 of our starters played the entire half.

Nelke is the player of the half with 21 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and 3 blocks while playing 20 minutes and playing solid defense.

Mack with 8 points and 4 assists in his 20 minutes.

Sowers with 11 points, 3 assists, and 3 steals in his 20 minutes.



19:41 - Zimmerman picks up his 3rd foul. He'll remain in the game for now.

19:02 - Nelke gets a 3rd foul on Moran.

17:07 - Galbreath gets a 3rd foul on Collucci who has had trouble staying on the floor today. He takes a seat.

15:18 - Zimmerman picks up his 4th foul. I put Rollins in for him. We lead 53-44.

9:45 - Nelke, Sowers, and Mack are finally tired, but they have built us a huge lead with great play from all 3. We lead 69-48 as I rest all of my starters.

8:40 - McDade draws a 4th foul on Collucci.


Our defense really clamped down once Rollins came into the game. He may have just won back the starting job.


We win the game 86-56!

Nelke is the player of the game with 30 points, 6 boards, 5 assists, 4 blocks, and 3 steals. He shot 10 of 16, 1 of 1, and 9 of 9.

Zimmerman with 4 points and 2 boards in 15 minutes.

Rollins with 1 points, 12 boards, and 4 blocks in 25 minutes.

Galbreath with 3 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals.

Mack with 11 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 4 of 8.

Sowers with 21 points, 6 assists, 5 steals, and a block. He shot 7 of 14.

Troy led the bench with 11 points and 3 boards.

[Eaglesfan27]

Feb 19, 2033 -

Rollins' first start of the year is against Washington State at our place. They are 6-18. We beat them 101-50.

Sowers led the team with 26 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block.

Halsch with 15 points, 6 boards, and 3 blocks off the bench in just 17 minutes. Nelke with 14 points, 6 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block.

Rollins with 8 points, 5 boards, 5 assists, and 2 blocks in his first start. He played 22 minutes. Zimmerman with 2 points, 3 boards, and 1 assist in 14 minutes off the bench.

Connolly with 12 points. McDade with 9 points and 7 assists in 18 minutes off the bench.



We are now back to #1 in the polls after that win. A look at the top 10 in the media poll:

1. USC 24-2
2. W. Virginia 25-3
3. Georgia Tech 21-4
4. Saint Joseph's 22-3
5. Florida 21-4
6. Stanford 22-5
7. Nevada 21-4
8. UCLA 22-6
9. Texas Tech 19-4
10. UConn 20-7


Our next game is at 16-10 Cal. We beat them 74-63 at our place earlier this year. They are without starting PF Rene Ridnour due to a broken bone in his foot. Zuzak will be playing with a sprained ankle.

[Eaglesfan27]

17:11 - Galbreath and Mack each with a drive inside get a foul on Ballard who leaves the game with 2. We lead 4-2.

15:00 - Giddens came into the game and he has been explosive early. He has 6 for them as we are down 8-6.

14:36 - Sowers draws a 2nd foul on Stevenson. We are down 8-7.

9:25 - My starters are tired. We are down 18-15.

5:00 - Connolly drills a 3 to give us back the lead, 24-22.

2:15 - I bring back my starters. We lead 31-28.


Halftime: We lead 36-28. Great defense from our team after a slow start on that end.

Nelie is the player of the half with 8 points, 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 2 blocks.


11:14 - Sowers has been hitting the 3's this half and it has been huge. We lead 53-43 as they call a timeout.

9:46 - I rest all of my starters. We lead 54-47.

7:45 - Foul trouble and Rollins have controlled Ballard all game, but he has 6 quick points against Zimmerman. We lead 56-53.

4:30 - Ballard with another basket. We are up 59-58 as I bring back our starters.

3:39 - Sowers hits a 12 footer and Stevenson hits a 3. We are tied at 61.

2:13 - Galbreath has the ball stolen by Zuzak and they get a fastbreak basket. A minute later Galbreath makes up for it with a drive for the layup.

1:51 - After they miss a quick 3 by Stevenson, Rollins passes to Galbreath who is on a 2-on-1 fastbreak with Sowers... perfect bounce pass... and Sowers slams it home!

1:30 - Zuzak misses a 14 footer. Sowers with the rebound.

1:03 - Sowers beats Stevenson off the dribble and gets to the rim where he is fouled by Ballard. He makes the first FT.. and the 2nd. We lead 67-63.

48 seconds - Sparrow hits a 3. He has 16 points.

40 seconds - Zuzak with a foul on the steal attempt. We aren't in the bonus yet.

7 seconds left - Sowers drives.. Stevenson backs up.. Sowers with the pull-up difficult jumper.. he swishes it! We lead 69-66.


Sparrow with a 3 at the buzzer over Mack who had good defense.. it rims out!


We win the game 69-66. Good solid road win.

Sowers is the player of the game. He scored 25 points. He had 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 8 of 12, 4 of 5, and 5 of 6.

He held Stevenson to 5 points on 2 of 8 shooting.


Galbreath with 6 points, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 turnovers. Zuzak had 10 points and 12 assists against us.

Mack with 5 points, 2 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 1 of 7. Sparrow had 16 points on 7 of 12 shooting against us.

Nelke with 12 points, 6 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. He shot 2 of 8, but was 8 of 8 from the line. Giddens had 12 points and 6 boards against him.

Rollins with 0 points, 8 boards, and 2 blocks. Ballard had 8 points (all against Zimmerman), 6 boards, and 2 blocks. Zimmerman with 6 points, 3 boards, 1 assist, and 2 blocks in just 14 minutes.

Troy with 3 points. Connolly with 5. McDade with 5 points and 1 assist. Halsch with 2 points, 5 boards, and a block.

[Eaglesfan27]

Feb 27, 2033 -

We are playing at 17-10 Arizona today. We beat them 82-73, but it is a costly win as Rollins will miss 2-3 weeks with a back injury.

Nelke led the team in scoring with 14 points, 8 boards, 2 assists, and 4 blocks.

Galbreath with 5 points and 8 assists. Mack with 8 points and 3 assists. Sowers with 12 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block.

Rollins with 7 points and 1 board in 19 minutes. Zimmerman with 5 points, 6 boards, and a block in 20 minutes.

Troy had 8 points. Halsch had 6 points and 6 boards. McDade with 10 points. Connolly with 5 points.


In recruiting news, Lucious Kabba has told me that he is picking USC over WSU and Washington despite being from Spokane, WA! Hopefully, he doesn't have a last second change of heart. He is a 4 star SF who is 6'6 210 and is rated 79th overall (14th among SF's.) He averaged 12.1 ppg, 11.6 rpg, 1.5 spg, and 1.1 bpg in the ABL. Our staff grades him as follows: Shooting B+, Skills C+, Defense B, Athleticism B+, Rebounding B+, IQ A, Potential B+, and Size B. We believe he has great intangibles and will have great leaping ability.


Our next game is against ASU who we beat at their place 72-67. They are 16-10

Their best player, PG Stacey Markusovic is hurt, but will play through a sore ankle. He is a SR PG who is 6'3 197 and is rated 83 overall. He is a very good 3 point shooter. He's averaging 14.7 ppg, 3.8 apg, and 3.3 rbpg.

SR PF Olli Stehly is undersized at 6'8 210 but he is good defender. He's rated 82 overall. He has a nice midrange jump shot as well. He's averaging 11.5 and 7.1 rpg.

FR C Levi Cortez is undersized and raw. He's 6'7 222 and is rated 75 overall. I'm expecting Zimmerman to eat him alive. He's averaging 4.4 ppg and 4.5 rpg.

Their starting SF is out with a broken bone in his foot.

Instead, they will start SO SG Monwell Deberry at SF. He is 6'3 206 and is rated 72 overall. He's averaging 3 ppg.

At SG, they will end up starting Chadd Drabyn who is 5'9 155 and is rated 74 overall. He's a very good 3 point shooter when he gets space. He is averaging 6.6 ppg and 2.4 apg.

The bench is all rated in the low 70's.

[Eaglesfan27]

15:21 - We are running them out of the building. They call a timeout early. We are up 14-4. Mack with 8 points already.

13:05 - Galbreath to Sowers for an alley-oop on the fastbreak. Our team is having a blast putting on a show for the crowd. We lead 22-4.

9:44 - Our defense is slipping the last 3 minutes. We lead 30-12 as I rest my starters. Hehn is going to get a chance to play some center.

3:30 - I'm disgusted with my bench. We lead 36-31 as I bring back my starters. They are on a 16-0 run, including 4 3's.

1:55 - Sowers hits a 12 footer to end their run. We lead 38-33.


Halftime: We lead 43-37.


Sowers is the player of the half with 15 points, 3 boards, and 1 assist. Mack also has 15 points.

17:45 - Sowers finishes another alley-oop, this time from Mack. We are rolling again. We lead 52-37.

15:10 - They call a timeout. We lead 60-40.

7:45 - My starters have made a huge enough lead that I can finally pull them with peace of mind. We lead 82-50. Sowers has had a brilliant game.


We win the game 101-62.

Sowers was the player of the game with 29 points, 7 assists, 4 boards, 3 steals, and a block. He has become my most complete player in my tenure here. He shot 11 of 17, 3 of 6, and 3 of 5. He held his man to 4 points.

Mack with 29 points, 5 assists, 2 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 10 of 15, 3 of 4, and 6 of 6.

Galbreath with 6 points, 8 assists, 2 steals, and 0 turnovers.

Nelke with 4 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 4 blocks. He shot 0 of 4 as Stehly had the speed and skill to play good defense on him, but we didn't need him tonight.

Zimmerman with 12 points, 10 boards, 3 assists, and 2 blocks. He shot 5 of 6. He could have had much more if we needed him.

Troy with 10 points off the bench. Connolly with 8 points. McDade with 5 points and 4 assists.

[Eaglesfan27]

March 5, 2033 -

Our last game of the regular season is at Washington. They have been hit hard by injuries and are struggling. They are 17-11.

We beat them 78-54. Nelke led the way with 20 points and 7 assists on 8 of 14 shooting. Sowers with 12 points, 6 assists, 4 boards, 3 steals, and a block. Galbreath with 8 points and 6 assists.


We finish the regular season with a 28-2 record and the #1 ranking in the poll.

Sowers is now my highest rated player ever. He's got an overall of 93. The new staff is doing a great job of teaching these kids skills...

Guys who are showing the most growth include

- RS FR SF Troy Toussaint who has shown as much growth in a single year as any player I've ever had. He has a good chance to take over for Sowers next year.
- JR PG Rashard Galbreath is also showing tremendous growth. He has become an elite defender. He is poised for a big year next year.
- SO PG Keon McDade is also showing tremendous growth and might push Rashard for that starting job. He is the more dangerous shooter and the better overall offensive game.
- Finally, JR PF Dameon Nelke has shown tremendous growth in practice and games. His midrange shot has become such a good weapon. He's the 2nd best midrange shooter on my team.

A look at our stats at the end of the regular season:

* = career high

Galbreath 7 ppg*, 4.8 apg*, and 1.3 spg.
Mack 9.3 ppg*
Sowers 14.4 ppg*, 3.4 rpg, 2.1 apg*, 1.7 spg*, 0.8 bpg*
Nelke 12.9 ppg*, 5.4 rpg*, 1.6 spg*, 1.4 bpg*
Zimmerman 7.6 ppg*, 6.8 rpg*, 1 bpg*

Halsch 7.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.3 spg, 1.1 bpg.
McDade 5.5 ppg*, 1.9 apg*
Connolly 6.3 ppg*, 1.3 apg*, 1 spg*
Dillard 3.2 ppg*
Hehn 1.6 ppg*, 1.4 rpg*
Rollins 3.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg*, 0.7 bpg*
Troy 4.4 ppg*

[Eaglesfan27]

Our first game in the Pac-10 Tourney is against WSU who is 8-21 but beat Cal 72-70 in the 1st round game. I decide to sim it (if I lose, we'll have just taken them too lightly.)


We beat them 96-65! Nelke with 29 points, 8 boards, and 3 blocks as he shot 11 of 22.

Sowers with 20 points, 7 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, and a block. He shot 7 of 14. A bunch of players with 6-8 points. Galbreath with 10 assists.



I decide to press my luck and sim the Arizona game as well. They beat UCLA 68-62 to advance to play us.

We beat them 80-64. Nelke with 23 points, 8 boards, and 2 blocks to lead the way. He shot 10 of 16.

Sowers with 20 points, 7 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. He shot 5 of 15. Galbreath with 10 points and 6 assists. A few players with 6 points: Zimmerman, Mack, Connolly, and McDade.

Rollins has been cleared to play, but will come off the bench as he did most of the year.

We'll be playing Stanford and their explosive offensive in the Pac-10 Tourney Final. Hopefully, we can repeat the last game where we beat them 86-56.

[Eaglesfan27]

16:15 - A steal and fastbreak basket by Collucci gets them their first points. Both sides playing great defense/bad offense early. We lead 4-2. Nelke with a basket and an assist already.

14:10 - Sowers with the last 6 points. They call a timeout. We lead 10-2.

13:55 - Park hits a 3 to end our run.

13:31 - Nelke gets a 2nd foul on Bradshaw.

We go on another 6-0 run before they score on a FT.

9:14 - They call a timeout as we are on another run, this time a 9-0 run. We lead 25-6. Our defense is playing filthy. Mack, Galbreath, and Sowers are all such good perimeter defenders now. Plus, Nelke and Zimmerman do a great job of cleaning up mistakes when guys get by them..

Bronson hits a 3 after the Time out to end our run.


5:45 - The starters are getting tired and the defense is getting sloppier as a result. I rest my starters with a 32-13 lead.


McDade hits a 3 at the buzzer to end the half.


Halftime: We lead 43-19! Never expected this on a neutral court.

Nelke is the player of the half with 9 points, 4 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.

18:19 - Nelke gets a 3rd foul on Bradshaw with a dunk attempt.

9:55 - Park has done a good job on Sowers, but we have used our size and speed inside to full advantage this game. Nelke and Zimmerman have been our biggest offensive stars as I pull my starters with a 71-36 lead.


We win the game 87-50! Pac-10 Champions and feeling good about our chances to win it all!

Nelke is the player of the game with 20 points, 8 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks. He shot 7 of 10, 1 of 1, and 5 of 7.

Galbreath with 1 points and 6 assists.

Mack with 11 points, 3 assists, and 2 steals.

Sowers with 11 points, 6 boards, and 2 assists. He was held to 4 of 10 shooting.

Zimmerman with 17 points, 12 boards, 2 assists, and 3 blocks. He shot 7 of 7 and 3 of 3 from the line.


McDade led the bench with 12 points on 4 of 8 shooting, all from the arc.

Troy with 10 points. Connolly with 3 points and 2 assists.


Time to see who we'll face first in the Big Dance.

[Eaglesfan27]

At 31-2, we get the #1 top seed and will face the play-in winner, either Alabama A&M or Delaware State.

We are in the East. The other #1 seeds: Texas Tech, W. Virginia, and and Georgia Tech.

Interesting Matches in the East:

#6 UNLV vs #11 Iowa
#7 Colorado State vs #10 Georgia State.

We are the only Pac-10 Team in the East.

West Matchups:

#8 Pepperdine vs #9 Rutgers
#4 UCLA vs #13 UC Riverside
#7 Wisconsin vs #10 Washington


Midwest:

#8 Boise State vs #9 FSU
#5 Penn State vs #12 Siena


South:

#7 Arizona vs #10 Cal
#4 Oregon vs #13 South Alabama
#3 Stanford vs #14 Texas State

Pac-10 with 6 teams in the tourney this year. Nice year for the Pac-10. Hopefully, we can get 2 or more teams in the Final Four..


Delaware State beat Alabama A&M 60-52 to advance to play us.

Delaware State finished the year 17-18. They have a team roster strength of 68. Their 2nd best player is playing with a sprained ankle.

Their best player is a surprising freshman. SF Kenny Burnett is from Washington DC and he was a high end 3 star player who chose to stay close to home. He is 6'7 205 and is rated 75 overall. He is averaging 10.7 ppg and 9.5 rpg against lesser competition. He is slow and isn't a very good defender. Sowers should have a field day..

SR SG Dwight McCormick is their 2nd best player and their leader. He'll be battling a sore ankle. He is 6'4 204 and is rated 71 overall. He averaged 12 ppg which led the team.

FR PF Tarick Summers is from NYC and is 6'8 212 and is rated 68 overall. He's averaging 7 ppg and 6 rpg.

The rest of the starters are rated in the mid 50's..

The bench is all in the high 40's.

[TonyR]

Good luck in the tourney! Hopefully you will bring home another title.

[hoopsguy]

I'm projecting a 94-26 first round win for the Trojans.

Congrats on a terrific regular season. Good luck in postseason.

[Eaglesfan27]

Thanks guys. Looking forward to playing the first game of the tourney in a few minutes.

[Eaglesfan27]

19:06 - A steal and fastbreak allows Delaware State to score first. We are down 2-0.

14:44 - After a tight start, our guys are starting to loosen up. We lead 10-4. Sowers with 6 points.

8:44 - I'm displeased with my starters. They are playing much too sloppy. Fancy bad passes, attempting to go 1-on-1 every time we aren't fastbreaking, and poor defense even when they don't get fastbreaks. We lead, but only 18-13 as I rest my starters.

Troy comes in ready to hustle and play hard. He burns his man twice for dunks that gets our fans fired up.

Our 2nd unit plays well until 3 bad passes lead to 6 quick points in the last 2 minutes.


Halftime: We lead 37-27.

Troy is the player of the half with 9 points and a steal.

Sowers with 8 points.


I expect much better defense from the starters in the 2nd half.



8:22 - With a 65-41 lead, my starters have done the job and get a well earned rest.


We win the game 82-50.

Troy wins player of the game with 17 points, 3 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal.

Galbreath with 2 points, 10 assists, 5 steals, and 8 turnovers. We were much too sloppy with the ball.

Mack with 5 points, 3 assists, and 3 turnovers.

Sowers with 16 points, 2 boards, 1 steal, and 1 block. He shot 6 of 11 and had 0 turnovers.

Nelke with 13 points, 8 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 3 turnovers. He shot 6 of 11.

Zimmerman with 10 points, 18 boards, 1 assist, 1 block, and 2 turnovers. He shot 5 of 10.


Connolly with 11 points, 3 assists, and 0 turnovers. He shot 4 of 6, 2 of 3, and 1 of 1.

McDade with 5 points, 7 assists, 1 turnover, and 1 steal.

Halsch with 0 points, 6 boards, and 2 turnovers.

Rollins with 3 points and 6 boards.

[Eaglesfan27]

Tennessee beat Illinois-Chicago 79-62 to advance to play us next.

Tennessee is very good in the backcourt and at SF, but weak at PF and C:

SR SF Donell Klein is the star of the team. He is 6'7 232 and is rated 86 overall. He has a great inside and outside game. He can really shoot the 3. He is a slightly above average defender, with his offense being his major strength. He is averaging 18.2 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1.2 spg.

SR SF Jacoby Bauer is a bit undersized, but he is so much more talented than any of their PF's that he starts at PF. He is 6'6 255 and is rated 83 overall. He is a very fast player for his size and has a nice midrange shot. He is averaging 9 ppg, 3.6 rpg, and 1.1 apg.

JR PG Travon Parkinson is a very speedy player. He is 6'0 195 and is rated 82 overall. He is one of the fastest players when running straight ahead, but he has just average lateral mobility. He is a great ball handler, but a subpar shooter. He relies on his speed to get to the rim. He is averaging 9 ppg, 5 apg, and 1.9 spg.

FR SG D.C. Howard is one of 2 very good freshman SG's they have. D.C. is 6'4 208 and is rated 81 overall. He was the 10th ranked player overall in last year's class and he is from Kenosha, WI. He is an incredibly electric ballhandler who can break down amost anyone and he has a very nice midrange shot. Our staff believes he has #1 overall draft pick potential in a year or two. He is averaging 10 ppg, 5 apg, and 3.3 rpg.

FR C Ajou Diarra is the only weak point in their starting 5. He is 6'10 222 and is rated 75 overall. He is primarily a good shot blocker with little else that he excels in right now. He is averaging 6 ppg, 4.6 rpg, and 1.2 bpg.


The bench is led by FR SG Scotty Fischer who is 6'3 198 and is rated 80 overall. He is from Flint, MI. He is a 3 point specialist. He is averaging 7.8 ppg.

SO SF Gary Leslie can also really shoot the 3. He's averaging 6 ppg. He's 6'6 221 and is rated 77 overall.

The rest of the bench is rated in the low 70's.

[Eaglesfan27]

15:00 - I need to make adjustments defensively and our shots aren't falling on the other end. We are down 10-4.

11:36 - Sowers has all of our points. He just drew a 2nd foul on Klein. We are down 12-8. No one else is hitting their open shots.

10:21 - I bring in all of my 2nd unit. We are down 16-8.

8:01 - McDade and Troy have our offense scoring in bunches now. We are down 20-16.

2:26 - I bring back the starters. We are down 36-30.

2:17 - Galbreath beats his man, gets into the lane, and hits a pull-up and the foul!

1:40 - I was pushing my luck with Zimmerman, but he gets an offensive foul which is his 3rd of the game. I put in Rollins.

1:12 - Galbreath drives into the lane and is hammered by their C. Galbreath isn't getting up.. he finally gets up and limps off the court.


Sowers with a 3 at the buzzer. We are down 43-41 at the half.

After a slow start shooting, we are up to 41% as a team.

Parkinson is TORCHING our defense. I underestimated his speed. He may be the fastest player in the game. He has 6 points and 6 assists and is the player of the half.

Sowers is our leading scorer with 9. McDade has 8 points and 3 assists and will play most of the 2nd half. Troy with 7 points.


19:47 - Mack picks up his 3rd foul trying to help on Parkinson.

18:00 - I need to slow down the pace, they are faster than us when we run..

16:38 - They keep managing to get their fastbreak going. Nelke picks up his 3rd foul trying to stop a dunk. We are down 53-46.

12:30 - Galbreath has been cleared to try to return. I bring him and Zimmerman in along with the 2nd unit. We are down 59-55.

Halsch with his first explosive move in months, gets to the basket where he is fouled hard by Diarra. He misses both FT's, but Troy gets the offensive board and we reset.

Troy with a nice drive for the basket. Troy steals it, fastbreaks.. pulls up for a 3.. and drills it to give us the lead! 60-59. They call a timeout.

Fischer answers with a 3. Troy with a 3 at the buzzer in return. We lead 63-62.

After they miss a basket, Connolly drills a quick 3 for us. They call a timeout.

Fischer with another 3. Galbreath was late getting there as his knee is really slowing him down. He won't be in the game for long. Connolly responds with another 3!

6:30 - After a few defensive stops by both sides, they draw a foul on a dunk attempt. Leslie makes both FT's. We lead 69-67. I call a timeout and sub out Galbreath who is slowed by his injury. I bring back the rest of my starters.

Sowers explodes by his man to draw a foul in the paint. He hits both FT's. Parkinson comes back into the game. We lead 71-67.

Zimmerman with a block. Howard blocks McDade's fastbreak layup and starts his own fastbreak which ends with a 3 by Parkinson.

Sowers with a 3 in response. Sowers with a steal and that leads to Nelke being fouled on the fastbreak. He makes both FT's. We lead 76-70.

Howard with a 12 footer.

We exchange misses.

3:00 - We lead 76-72.

Mack with a drive into the lane draws a foul. He makes both FT's.

Klein hits a quick 3.

Nelke with a fake and a drive that draws a 4th foul on Diarra. He makes 1 pf 2.

They get a quick interior basket from Diarra. We lead 79-77.

1:25 - Sowers with a wicked crossover gets by his man and goes for the dunk where he is fouled hard. He missed the 1st but makes the 2nd.

1:12 - Nelke steals it from Bauer at the top of the key and takes it the rest of the way for a fastbreak dunk!

Leslie with a quick 14 footer.

Sowers misses a 12 footer. They run up the court and throw up a quick 3.. Howard drills it! We are tied at 82.

20 seconds left.. we hold for last shot.... McDade passes to Sowers who beats his man off the dribble and drives to the rim where he is fouled. He hits the first FT.. and misses the 2nd! But Zimmerman with the offensive board! He gets fouled with 3.6 seconds left. He makes both clutch FT's!

Fischer with the 3 at the buzzer.. it bounces off the front of the rim!


We win the game 85-82. Whew. Hopefully, we can grow from that close one.

Sowers wins player of the game. He finished with 19 points, 3 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal. He shot 5 of 11, 2 of 4, and 7 of 9.

Galbreath with 5 points, 3 assists, and 3 turnovers. McDade with 13 points, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 turnovers.

Mack with 6 points on 1 of 7 shooting.

Nelke with 9 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block. He had 4 turnovers. He shot 3 of 9 and didn't score until the 2nd half.

Zimmerman with 3 points, 6 boards, and a block.

Connolly with 10 points and 3 boards.

Troy with 13 points, 3 boards, and 2 assists.

Rollins with 6 points, 8 boards, and a block.

Halsch with 0 points, 3 boards, and a block.

[Eaglesfan27]

We are in the Sweet 16!

A look at the other matchups and then ours:

East:

#2 Xavier will play #3 Miami (FL). The winner will be our opponent if we can win 1 more.


West: #1 Texas Tech vs #4 UCLA, #2 Florida vs #3 Saint Joseph's.


South: #5 Penn State vs #9 FSU, #2 Nevada vs #3 Texas A&M.

Midwest: #1 Georgia Tech vs #4 Oregon, #2 UConn vs #3 Stanford.


And my opponent is the #4 seed SMU! Chalk holding in 3 of the 4 brackets. SMU is 31-5. They beat Colorado 86-81 in the last game. They beat North Florida 106-60 in their opening round game. Like our last opponent, they are quick and small but lack size and skill at the PF and C position. Hopefully, we can exploit that better this time..

JR SF Lubos Wethers is their star player. He is 6'6 201 and is rated 85 overall. He is a remarkable shooter from anywhere on the floor. He's averaging 16.8 ppg, 6.5 rpg, and 1.4 spg.

SR PG Will Perry is 6'1 205 and is rated 85 overall. He has elite speed, quickness, ball handling, and he is a good shooter. Defensively, he is bad. He is all offense. He's averaging 18.3 ppg, 5.7 apg, and 1 spg.

JR SF Steffon Chancler plays PF for them. He is 6'5 221 and is rated 83 overall. He is a very athletic player who flows well in their high paced offense. He's averaging 14.7 ppg and 5.9 rpg.

SR SG Russ Bilas is extremely fast and is a prolific shooter, particularly from the arc. He's averaging 14.9 ppg, 3.2 apg.

SO PF Jair Woodard plays center for them. He is 6'9 227 and is rated 78 overall. He is a fast strong dunker. He's averaging 10.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg. I don't think I've ever seen a team where all 5 starters actually average in double digits.

The bench is led SR SG Alvin Mascoll who is 6'6 236 and is rated 78 overall. He's a good 3 point shooter but is bad in most other areas which limits his minutes. He's averaging 5 ppg.

JR SF Gary Crisp is 6'9 256 and will play both F and C for them off the bench. He's a very good midrange shooter. He's averaging 8.2 ppg and 3.3 rpg. He's rated 77 overall.

JR SG Landon Bowden is 6'2 198 and is rated 74 overall. He's strictly a 3 point specialist. His minutes are limited due to him being bad at most other things. He's rated 72 overall. He's averaging 3 ppg.

The rest of the bench is rated in the 50's. If we can get them in foul trouble, we should be able to handle them easily..

As I mentioned, I don't think I've ever seen a starting 5 where everyone was in double digits in this game. They run a high flying offense that is among the nation's leaders at 87 ppg. Should be a fun game.

[Eaglesfan27]

The plan is to slow this game down and wear them down with our size advantages. I stress this to the guys early..


13:31 - Sowers picks up his 2nd foul when Wethers mades a sick move to get past him. We lead 13-11 as I bring in Troy.

9:30 - Troy gets a 2nd foul on Wethers. We lead 14-13 as I put the entire 2nd unit into the game.

Chancler is dominating the scoring for them over the last 4 minutes.

7:37 - I'm glad to see Chancler check out of the game for a break. We lead 21-18.

Bilas hits a 3 to tie it. He also has 8 points. Tied at 21.

5:40 - Halsch draws a 21nd foul on Woodard. They lead 24-21. Halsch hits 1 of 2 to make it a 2 point game.

4:38 - Crisp with an unexpected 3. Halsch has his shot blocked and they get a fastbreak alley-oop dunk by Bilas. I call a timeout. I bring back all of our starters.

1:21 - Nelke draws a 2nd foul on Chancler. We are down 35-33 after he makes both FT's.

Halftime: Nelke with a buzzer beating 12 footer to give us a 37-35 lead.

Nelke is the player of the half with 13 points, 3 boards, and 1 assist.

Mack with 7 points. Galbreath with 4 points, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 3 turnovers.

Chancler is their leading scorer with 11 points. He's got great skills. Bilas is toching us and has 10 points and 4 assists. Crisp with 7 points.



18:31 - Sowers picks up his 3rd foul. I'm leaving him in for now. We are tied at 37.

17:44 - Bilas gets a 2nd foul on Mack. We are tied at 39.

Chancler with another 3.

16:13 - Nelke with a VERY acrobatic dunk and the foul! That fires our crowd up. That is the 3rd foul on Woodard. Tied at 42.

15:15 - Sowers with a nice drive gets a 3rd foul on Chancler. We lead 44-42.

WOW. After a missed shot, we get a quick fastbreak where Galbreath throws a beautiful dime from midcourt to Sowers for an awe-inspiring alley-oop double pump tomahawk dunk.

Our crowd is feeling it and the offense is flowing now. Mack with a fade away 3!

13:45 - Bilas draws a 2nd foul on Nelke. We lead 49-44.

10:35 - We were threatening to run away from them when Mascoll hit a 3. 58-52.

9:23 - Nelke gets a 3rd foul on Wethers while making the 12 footer. He hits the FT to convert the 3 point play. We lead 61-52.

7:12 - Wethers hits a pair of 3's to make it a 3 point game. I call a timeout to rest my starters for a few.

Perry with a steal and a breakaway dunk.

5:40 - Rollins with a hook shot and the foul. He converts the 3 point play. We lead 64-60.

5:07 - Rollins with the help block on a shot by Wethers.

4:00 - Both PG's miss a 3, before McDade hits a huge 3!

Perry responds with his own 3. 67-63.

3:00 - We bring back our starters.

Perry steals the inbound pass and draws a 4th foul on Nelke on the fastbreak attempt. He hits both FT's.

2:31 - Nelke hits a hook in the post. He has 21 points. We lead 69-65.

Chancler misses a quick 3.

Galbreath with a great drive by Perry, kicks it out to Mack for a wide open 3 which he swishes!

Bilas misses a quick 3. Mack had good defense on him.

41 seconds - Wethers misses a 3 despite getting a good look. Sowers gets the board and is fouled. He makes both FT's. We lead 74-65.

29 seconds left - Perry swishes a 3.

21 seconds - Mack hits a pair of FT's.


We win the game 80-70.

Nelke wins player of the game with 21 points, 6 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. He shot 7 of 13, 0 of 0, and 7 of 8.

Mack also had 21 points. He had 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block. He shot 6 of 8, 3 of 5, and 6 of 6 (mostly in garbage time.)

Galbreath with 6 points, 9 assists, 4 steals, and 3 turnovers.

Sowers with 15 points, 2 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 4 of 6, 2 of 4, and 5 of 6. He shut down Wethers most of the game. Wethers finished with 9 points.

Zimmerman with 6 points, 13 boards, and 2 blocks.


McDade led the bench with 6 points.


Perry, Bilas, and Chancler each had 17 points for them. We held Woodard to 0. Crisp led their bench with 7 points and 5 boards.

[Eaglesfan27]

The Elite 8 matchups:

#1 USC vs #2 Xavier (they beat Miami 86-85.)

#4 UCLA (beat Texas Tech 92-88) vs #3 Saint Joseph's (Beat Florida 72-48)

Wouldn't it be something if we got to play UCLA in the Final 4?


#5 Penn State (beat FSU 77-54) vs #2 Nevada (beat Texas A&M 79-72)

#3 Stanford (beat UConn 75-62) vs #4 Oregon (beat #1 Georgia Tech 85-82.)

4 Pac-10 teams in the Elite 8 is impressive! :)

[Eaglesfan27]

#2 Xavier is known for having one of the most impressive coaching staffs in college basketball. They also have an equally matched team with a roster strength of 93. They finished the year 28-5 (13-3.) They have a balanced starting 5:


SR SG Justin Platt is the leader of the team. He's 6'6 221 and is rated 88 overall. He is a very good post up player for a guard who can shoot the outside shot as well. He's a terrific defender. He's averaging 13.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.5 apg, and 1.7 spg.

SR C Errick Bracy is 6'9 290 and is rated 87 overall. He is a very effective inside scorer, and he can shoot the midrange shot to about 12 feet. His weaknesses are his stamina and vertical. He is averaging 18.3 ppg, 5 rpg, and 1.5 bpg.

JR SF Andres Weatherspoon is 6'5 240 and is rated 86 overall. He is a good midragne shooter who is a very good defender. He's averaging 11.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg, and 2.0 apg.

JR PG Chuck Bryant has great straight ahead speed, but terrible lateral movement. He's 6'4 177. He is a stone cold 3 point shooter. He is a shoot first type of PG. He's averaging 16.1 ppg and 2.8 apg. He is rated 85 overall.

SO PF Hans Warren is 6'7 203 and is rated 80 overall. He does the grunt work on their team and is a strong rebounder for his size. He's averaging 4.7 ppg and 5.3 rpg.



The bench is led by SO SG Taylor Schifino who is 6'3 209 and is rated 81 overall. He is a great slashing guard. He is averaging 7.7 ppg and 2.3 apg.

JR SF Chase Myers is 6'6 204 and is also rated 81 overall. He's averaging 4 ppg and 4 rpg.

SO SF Kentrell Bogans is the bench player I fear the most. He's 6'9 220 and is a very good 3 point shooter. He is a bad defender though, so they tend to limit his minutes. Still, he is averaging 6.8 ppg in just 10 mpg. He's rated 79 overall.

The rest of the bench is in the mid 70's.

[Eaglesfan27]

16:34 - Nelke with a dunk for our first points. We are down 5-2. Bryant already has hit a 3 and set up an assist to Warren.

15:47 - Zimmerman has drawn 2 fouls on Bracy. He hits 1 of 2 FT's, but Nelke gets the offensive board.

14:00 - Bryant with another 3. We are down 10-9.

12:56 - Sowers just had a spectacular dunk over Platt, unfortunately he got called with a charge.

Despite the charge, that seems to fire us up. Zimmerman with back to back dunks and we go on a quick 8-0 run before they score again. After that shot, Mack hits a 3. They call a timeout.

10:01 - We lead 20-12. I rest my starters for a few.

3:25 - I bring back my starters. We lead 30-22.


Halftime: We lead 34-25.

Sowers is the player of the half. He has 10 points, 2 assists, 1 steal, and he has played great defense. He has held Weatherspoon to 1 of 7 shooting.

Galbreath with 4 assists and 1 turnover in the 1st half. Zimmerman with 5 points and 5 boards in the half.


17:54 - Nelke with an offensive board, the dunk, and a 3rd foul on Bracy. We lead 38-30.

14:28 - Zimmerman is forcing the defense to collapse, creating outside shots. We lead 44-34.

12:55 - Nelke with back to back dunks. We are on a 10-0 run. We lead 49-35.

Bryant hits a 3 to end our run. He is their leading scorer with 14 points.

Bryant with another 3 before Zimmerman responds with a dunk.

A minute later, Nelke hits an open 3.


8:36 - Our guys are tiring. I rest my starters for a few. We are up 56-46 as Nelke has scored 9 of our last 11 points.

5:06 - They close within 6, before McDade hits a 3. 61-52.

3:30 - I bring back my starters. We lead 63-57.

2:40 - Sowers beat his man off the dribble for a dunk. Bryant with a 3 at the other end.

2:06 - Nelke with a fadeaway in the post.

1:49 - Platt misses a 3.

1:24 - Zimmerman is fouled in the post. He hits both FT's. We lead 69-60.

Bryant misses a quick 3 as Galbreath had great defense on him.

We run out the clock, but Sowers misses the shot.

24 seconds - Platt hits a 3.

22 seconds - Mack hits a pair of FT's.

Platt misses a 3. Ball game!


We win the game 73-65! We are going to the Final Four!


Nelke is the player of the game with 17 points, 10 boards, 2 assists, and 2 blocks. He shot 7 of 10, 1 of 2, and 2 of 3. He held Warren to 4 points.

Galbreath with 2 points, 9 assists, and 1 turnover. Bryant had 17 points and 10 assists against us including 5 3 pointers.

Mack with 10 points. Platt had 15 points against us.

Sowers finished with 14 points, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. He shot 6 of 14. He held their SF to 1 of 12 shooting!

Zimmerman with 13 points, 11 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block. He shot 4 of 7 and 5 of 6 from the line.

Rollins led the bench with 6 points and 6 boards. McDade also with 6 points.

[hoopsguy]

Congrats on another Final Four. Will be interesting to see how many conference teams join you there.

[Eaglesfan27]

#3 Saint Joseph's beat UCLA 79-50 and will be our opponent in the next game.

#2 Nevada beat #5 Penn State 58-51.

#4 Oregon beat #3 Stanford 77-66.

2 out of 4 Pac-10 Teams isn't bad at all. :)


Saint Joseph's is the most talented team we've faced all year. They are 30-5 (15-1) and have a roster rating of 96! Their shooting is rated at 100!

Their top bench player, SO SG Nikola Nahra is out of the game with a broken ankle suffered in the last game. He is a former #5 player and is an extremely talented SG at 6'8 225 and rated 86 overall.

Despite that injury, they are loaded with talent.

JR SG Jason Channing is the most talented player we've ever faced. He's a JR SG who is 6'6 217 and is rated 94 overall! He was the #2 player in his class back in H.S. and he is expected to go pro this year. He is from Trenton, NJ. He is an all around great player with zero weaknesses. He has size, speed, lateral quickness, the ability to shoot from anywhere on the court, tremendous dunking. He is projected to be the top pick next year. He's averaging 19.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 3.5 apg, and 1.9 spg.

SR SF LeBron McCrommon is a 6'6 236 pound star who would be the man on any other team. He's rated 91 overall. He is also projected to be a lottery pick. He's a tremendous fast player who is a great ball handler, with quickness and excellent shooting ability. His only real weakness is his FT shooting. He's averaging 15.3 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 2 apg, and 2.3 bpg.

So PG Kevis Mouton is another top 10 player from his class. He's 6'3 206 and is rated 87 overall. He is an explosive outside shooter whose only weakness is his defense. He's averaging 14.7 ppg, 3.5 apg.

SR SF Ugonna Ward starts at PF for them. He is 6'6 220 and is rated 85 overall. He is a very fast player who relies on his athleticism. He's averaging 8 ppg and 3 rpg.

JR C Brody Lekavicius is their only true big man on the roster. He is 6'8 240 and is rated 84 overall. He is very fast for his size. He's averaging 10 ppg, 5 rpg, and 1.4 bpg.

The top healthy bench player is JR SG Dillon Long. He is 6'2 200 and is rated 84 overall. He's a great 3 point shooter. He's averaging 8.3 ppg in limited minutes.

JR Pg Amadou Pierce is 6'3 210 and is rated 84 overall. He's the 16th ranked player from his class. He's the best pure playmaker on their roster. In limited minutes, he is averaging 3.6 ppg and 3.1 apg.

SO PG Brian Starkey is the best 3 point shooter on their roster. He may be the best in the nation. He's the 14th ranked player from his class. Despite limited minutes, he is averaging 4.6 ppg. He's 6'3 175 and is rated 82 overall.

Everyone else on their bench, including 2 PF's are rated in the mid to high 70's.

[rjolley]

Good luck EF27.

That's a lot of scoring on the wing. It could be tough to shut them all down.

[Eaglesfan27]

Good luck EF27.

That's a lot of scoring on the wing. It could be tough to shut them all down.


Agreed. This could be the most challenging team I've played. Looking forward to playing this in a few minutes.

[Eaglesfan27]

Again, our goal is to slow it down and use our size advantage inside..

15:02 - Our perimeter defense has been stellar early. When guys have gotten by, Nelke and Zimmerman have each cleaned up an opportunity. We lead 9-4. Zimmerman with 4 points and Nelke with 4. Their perimeter defense is flawless.

9:20 - We lead 19-16 as I rest my starters. Sowers and LeBron are having some great back and forth battles.

5:40 - McDade to Troy for a beautiful windmill alley-oop dunk. We lead 26-19. Our defense is doing a better job than I could have possibly imagined (or they just are having an off night shooting the ball.) Channing and LeBron just returned to the game after resting for a few minutes..

Channing with a pair of 3's coming off screens.

Troy blows by LeBron for a dunk and the foul in response!

1:56 - Channing hits another 3. We bring back our starters. We are up 30-28.

Beautiful pick and roll with Galbreath feeding Nelke for a dunk.


Halftime: We are tied at 34 after Channing hits a 3 at the buzzer.

Channing is the player of the half with 14 points. Can we slow him down in the 2nd half?

Nelke is our leading scorer with 8. Zimmerman with 6 points and 3 boards. Sowers with 5 points on 2 of 7 shooting.

[Eaglesfan27]

16:00 - We are tied at 39. Mack hit a 3 for us and LeBron hit 1 for them.

LeBron has their last 7 points. Sowers is having trouble staying in front of him.

13:01 - Sowers draws a 3rd foul on LeBron! We are tied at 44.

10:40 - Channing draws a 3rd foul on Sowers. I rest all of my starters as they are all tired. We are down 46-45.

Connolly answers with his 2nd three of the night!

After Channing misses a 3, McDade and Troy have a 2-on-1 fastbreak.. McDade with a bounce pass to Troy who dunks it.

9:05 - McDade with a 3. We lead 53-49. LeBron returns to the game.

LeBron with a drive to the hoop draws a foul on Rollins. He makes both FT's.

Connolly with another 3!

After a defensive stop, Rollins with a basket down low. McDade with a steal to get us the ball right back.

We exchange missed shots.

LeBron with a block and a breakaway dunk.

5:48 - I call a timeout and get my starters back into the game. We lead 58-55.

Sowers with a great drive and kickout to Mack for an open 3.. he misses it.

Mack with a block of a Channing shot at the other end!

Zimmerman misses a post shot and then gives up a quick basket by their center.

3:55 - Nelke with a quick drop step in the post for 2. We lead 60-57.

Channing with a quick 3 to tie the game..

Sowers misses an open 3. Channing misses a 3 over Mack.

Channing with a steal, passes to Ward who misses a 12 footer.

2:00 - Tied at 60.

Nelke misses a hook shot. Lekavicius with a dunk on a pick and roll.

Sowers misses a 12 footer.

44 seconds - Channing blows by Mack and draws the foul on a dunk attempt. He hits both FT's. We are down 64-60.

Channing with a steal and a breakaway dunk!

I sub in McDade but it is Mack who takes the quick 3... he misses it. We foul their PG.

McDade has his 3 blocked by Channing.

Channing blocks a 3 by Mack and runs up the court and hits a pull-up 3!


We lose the game 72-60. So close..



Channing is the player of the game with 30 points, 3 steals, 2 blocks, and only 1 turnover. He just destroyed us.

LeBron with 17 points, 8 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.

Mouton with 7 points and 6 assists.

Pierce led their bench with 4 points and 3 assists.


Sowers was shut down by LeBron. He finished with 2 of 12 shooting for 9 points.

Galbreath with 2 points and 4 assists.

Mack with 5 points on 2 of 5 shooting.

Nelke with 12 points on 6 of 15 shooting. He also had 1 board, 1 steal, and 1 block.

Zimmerman with 8 points, 10 boards, and 2 blocks on 3 of 10 shooting.


Connolly led the bench with 9 points and 2 boards. McDade with 5 points and 4 assists. Rollins with 4 points and 3 boards.

[Radii]

Damn, tough finish there, but congrats on the final four!

[Eaglesfan27]

I forgot that Sowers was actually the 9th player overall in his class. A look back as he ends an impressive career. He is my highest rated player with a 93 overall. He is projected to be a lottery pick. His career highs are 41 points, 12 boards, 7 assists, 6 steals, and 3 blocks.

He improved his scoring every single year from 6.6ppg to 11.4, 11.5, and then 14.7 this year. Our staff believes he has All-NBA potential.

Our other players that have graduated but not been drafted are Rollins, C Hehn, and PG Hodge.


Oh yeah, Nevada beat Oregon 83-62. Nevada then upset Saint Joseph's in the NC Game, winning it 83-81. They managed to hold Channing to just 14 points on 5 of 14 shooting. They got 26 points from their own star SG.


Arizona Lucks of Dayton won Player of the Year. The 7'1 260 pound SR C averaged 28 ppg, 9.7 rpg, and 1.4 bpg.

SR C Jimmie Kirkland of Denver won Mid-Major Player of the Year. He averaged 24.2 ppg, 7.2 rpg, and 1.7 bpg.


I won Coach of the Year!

SR PF Damon Bridgewater of South Dakota State won Defensive Player of the Year. He averaged 3.4 bpg and 12.5 rpg.

Lucks won Big Man of the Year.

No Pac-10 players on either All-American Team.

However, FR Pg Mitch Hipsher of Oregon State made All-American Freshman PG.

SR C Bart Ballard of Cal won Pac-10 Player of the Year. He finished the year averaging 20.1 ppg and 7.8 rpg.


Sowers and Nelke were both 1st team All Pac-10.

Markusovic, ASU was the PG.

JR SG Linebaugh of Washington was the SG with a 16 ppg average.

Ballard was the C.



I get offered a bunch of jobs including Florida, Arizona State, and Alabama. Of course, I turn them all down.

[Eaglesfan27]

We finished the year 35-3.

Now, it is time to finish out the recruiting. Hopefully, there is no surprise and Lucious Kabba signs..

No surprises! Time to review our 3 signees:

Leo Annen is a 6'7 199 pound SF from Berkeley, CA. He is the #77 player overall and 13th among SF's. He is a 4 star player. He averaged 11 ppg, 8 rpg, and 2.3 bpg in the ABL. He is graded as followes by our staff: Shooting B+, Skills B-, Defense B, Athleticism A-, Rebounding B, IQ B+, Potential A-, and Size B+.

4 star SF Lucious Kabba is from Spokane, WA. He is 6'6 210. He is the 79th player and 14th among SF's. He averaged 12.1 ppg, 11.6 rpg, and 1.1 bpg in the ABL. He grades at as: Shooting B+, Skills C+, Defense B, Athleticism B+, Rebounding B+, IQ A, Potential B+, Size B.

Finally, we have 3 star C Olu Vega from San Bernardino, CA. He is the 147th ranked player and 7th C. He is 7'1 244. He averaged 15.8 ppg, 8.5 rpg, and 1.4 bpg. Our staff believes he has a legitimate midrange shot. They grade him as follows: Shooting B, Skills B, Defense B+, Athleticism B-, Rebounding A-. IQ B, Potential B, Size A+.


Now, that our class is complete we can really focus in on the soon to be seniors. I'll post my main targets after the season starts.


A look at the final rankings in recruiting:

1. Xavier with 3 All American 5 star players and 1 4 star player!
2. Alabama 2 All American 5 star players and 1 4 star player.
3. Maryland 2 5 star All Americans and 1 4 star.
4. Nebraska 1 5 star and 4 4 stars.
5. Stanford 1 5 star, and 3 4 stars.
6. North Carolina 1 5 star All American and 3 4 star players.
7. Duke 1 5 star and 2 4 stars.
8. Arizona State 1 5 star, 1 4 star, and 1 3 star.
9. Washington 3 4 stars, and 1 3 star.
10. UCLA - 3 4 stars and 2 3 stars.

We are 26th.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our schedule features 3 OOC games that should be challenging, I like it. This should be a veteran talented team with Sowers being the only major loss.

Wow. We are ranked #1 in the Pre-season polls!

A look at our roster:

PG is a strong position with 2 veteran options and 1 young pkayer ready to contribute:

SR PG Rashard Galbreath is being pushed by McDade, but his defense should allow him to remain the starter. Galbreath is 6'1 199 and is rated 86 overall. His shooting still needs work, but his defense is at the very top level in the game now.

JR PG Keon McDade is now the best 3 point shooter on the team. Could play late in games we are down in. McDade is also the better passer and ball handler, but he really is a significant notch down on the defensive end. He's rated 84 overall. He is 6'1 175.

RS FR PG Antone Dawson is 6'1 186 and is rated 77 overall. He's a very good midrange shooter which is his best strength. His passing is also a strength. Defensively, he is the worst of the 3, but he isn't bad.


At SG, we have an interesting cluster of options, all of them good:

RS SR Bernard Mack would appear to be the incumbent, but he'll get pushed by Connolly and Dillard. Mack has the experience and has showed that he can be a big time scorer. He is also the best defender of the 3. He is 6'4 240 and is rated 84 overall.

SR SG Keon Connolly is the most consistent 3 point shooter of the group. He's 6'3 211 and he is the fastest of the 3 as well. However, his defense is the weakest of the 3. He is rated 83 overall.

RS SO Jerald Dillard is pushing hard for PT. He's 6'2 190 and is rated 82 overall. He is the best ball handler of the 3 and has the best lateral movement. He is the worst at shooting from the arc of the group.


SF, is the big question mark. Lots of youth here:

SO SF Troy Toussaint looks like he'll win the starting job. He's now 6'7 240 and is rated 79 overall. He has the best potential of any of the options. However, his 3 point shot has been inconsistent. He is the most athletic of the 3 at this point.

FR SF Lucious Kabba appears to be the real deal. He's 6'6 220 and is rated 78 right off the bat. He's going to push for PT and should be the #1 option at SF off the bench if he doesn't win the starting job. He appears to be a more consistent shooter from the arc. We'll see if that holds. He also appears to be the best rebounder of the 3. Our staff thinks we overestimated his potential in the past evaluation of him.

FR SF Leo Annen is one that our staff is recommending redshirt. He is the rawest of the 3, with subpar defense, subpar outside shooting, but explosive hops. He is 6'8 199 and is rated 74 overall.

PF is on paper our strongest position although depth will be a concern if we have injuries:

SR PF Gerrod Halsch in practice is the better player, but it didn't translate on the court last year. However, he appears poised for a breakout year. He's really worked hard on his post game, his midrange shot, his rebounding, and his shot blocking. He's 6'9 262 and is rated 87 overall.

SR PF Dameon Nelke had a breakout year last year. He's now 6'10 230 and is rated 85 overall. He's incredibly quick with SF speed and lateral movement. He's got a great midrange shot. He has 3 point range. He's developed a very nice post game. He has become an all around threat.


Center is an area of concern with not much depth:

JR Timon Zimmerman appears set for a breakout year. He is 7'4" 290 now. He's rated 81 overall. He's improved his rebounding and his low post game.

FR Olu Vega is an interesting player. He's got great size for the post at 7'1 254, but his post game is non-existant at this point. However, his midrange game is a legit threat. He even has some 3 point potential. He is a tremendous dunker, as one would expect. Too bad, he has HORRIBLE ball handling ability and will never be able to beat guys off the dribble. Defensively, he is very bad except for his shot blocking ability which is very good. He's rated 75 overall.

Our staff wants me to consider an interesting starting lineup which I'm going to think about tonight:

PG Galbreath, SG Mack, SF Nelke, PF Galsch, and C Zimmerman.

The advantages of going with that would be incredible size in our starting 5. Nelke has the speed and perimeter defensive abilities to be a terror on the wing. Nelke could be a terror posting up small forwards. Our staff believes Halsch has developed his midrange shot.

The disadvantages is that unless I get very creative with our rotations, we'll be going small at times in our 2nd unit. Nelke's best attribute, his speed against bigger men, may be neutralized. That limits our 3 point shooting on the wings, but then again Troy isn't a consistent shooter from 3 either. It also means that either Kabba or Troy won't be getting as much PT as I'd like.

Something to think about tonight and tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

Expected losses for next year:

PG Galbreath, SG Mack, SG Connolly, PF Nelke, and PF Halsch.

We have 5 scholarships available. Recruiting needs in order of importance:

1. Starting PF
2. Backup/starting PF
3. SG
4. PG or SG
5. Best available

Early look at recruiting:

I really want to sign Arzelle Farrell from Costa Mesa, CA. He is a 4 star SG who is 6'5 210 and is rated 78 overall. However, he has an A+ for shooting and our staff believes he is a great 3 point shooter right now. They also think he has good athleticism with the potential to become very good. Ditto for his defense. I haven't had a truly great shooting SG and he could be it.. He shot 53% in the ABL from the arc and averaged 16 ppg. He is considering Pepperdine, SDSU, Cal, USC, and Stanford. He has told me that he wants to stay close to home and he wants early playing time..

2. Jeromy Abdur-Rahim is an undersized C who might play PF for me. He is 6'8 223 and is very fast. He is from Compton, CA. He averaged 11 ppg in the ABL and is a good shooter for a big man. His top schools are Pepperdine, SDSU, UNLV, and USC. His top priority is getting good coaching.

3. Alton Lloyd is a long shot. He is a 6'7 200 pound PF from Seattle, WA who is ranked 18th overall, 1st among all PF's. He is an All-American 5 star player. Oregon is his clear favorite, but I'm going to try to get him to reconsider his desire to stay close to home.

4. A.C. Fuller is practically begging to become a Trojan which I like. He is a 6'7 204 pound PF from San Antonio, TX. He is ranked 99th overall and 12th among PF's. He averaged 14 ppg in the ABL. I need to scout him more to see if he'll get an offer.

5. Desmond Stevens is also letting me know that he wants to fill our PF position. He is a high ranked 4 star who is 37th overall. He is from Rochester, NY, but he has made it clear that distance is no factor and we are his clear #1. My last act of the week is to fly out, meet with him, and evaluate him closer.

[Eaglesfan27]

2 weeks later:

Our staff loves A.C. Fuller's potential and thinks he'll have a nice jump shot. I offer him a scholarship which I'm almost 100% certain he'll take when he can in a few weeks. The only possible late player is hometown Texas. My only knock on him is his size.

While I usually like bigger PF's, I offer Desmond as well. Our staff believes he has great leaping ability and even better potential.

We are leading for Arzelle Farrell. I'm putting the full court press on him.

Lloyd is too long of a shot to waste any more time on. He appears to be going to Oregon.


As we prepare for our first game, it looks very good for A.C. Fuller and Desmond. Arzelle also appears to have us in the lead, but he'll be a battle.


Our first game is hosting Montana State. They are rated 68 overall and should be a pushover. I'll decide on my starting lineup tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

I've decided to go with what the staff wants. I think they are correct that Nelke has the speed and perimeter defensive ability to play SF and his height should make him a match-up nightmare on the other end even if he loses his speed advantage. Of course, I may play him some at PF this year as well. I'm really going to try to maximize the time on the court for my best 5 players. It doesn't hurt that I like the idea of starting 4 SR's and a JR.


15:00 - Have to consider the competition, but I'm loving the low post domination this lineup is giving me, not to mention the great rebounding. We lead 12-2.

13:00 - We lead 13-4 as I rest Zimmerman and bring in Vega.

12:48 - Galbreath picks up his 2nd foul. McDade comes in for him.

10:53 - Troy in for Halsch. We lead 15-7.

7:44 - McDade with a drive and kick for a 10 footer by Vega for his first basket as a Trojan. We lead 23-10.

5:22 - We lead 28-13. I sub in Connolly and Zimmerman.

3:16 - Nelke takes his first break. Halsch returns to the game. We lead 32-15.


Halftime: We lead 32-17. We've held them to 28% shooting.

Zimmerman is the player of the half with 11 points, 4 boards, and a block.


14:45 - We are picking up the offensive pace. We lead 44-26.

10:35 - I bring in McDade and Troy for Galbreath and Halsch. We lead 50-33.

4:03 - Zimmerman apparently just became my first player to ever have 6 dunks in 1 game. I pull all of my starters are this game is over. We lead 70-43. The lineup now will be McDade, Connolly, Kabba (first time on the court), Troy, and Vega.

Seconds after entering the game, Kabba gets open for a corner 3, McDade finds him and he drills the shot.


We win the game 79-47. I liked our tighter rotations this game.

Zimmerman is the player of the game with 23 points, 11 boards, and 2 blocks. He shot 10 of 15 and 3 of 4 from the line.

Galbreath with 0 points, 6 assists, and 4 turnovers. Disappointed in those turnovers. He held their PG to 0 points and 3 assists.

Mack with 5 points, 3 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 2 of 7. He held their SG to 3 of 11 shooting.

Nelke with 14 points, 8 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. He shot 2 of 6 but 10 of 10 from the line. Their SF had 12 points, but not sure how many were against him.

Halsch with 12 points, 9 boards, and 1 block. He shot 6 of 11.

Troy led the bench with 21 minutes, 10 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals.

Kabba with 5 points with 2 of 3 shooting.

McDade with 3 points, 6 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 1 of 3.

Connolly missed both of his shots.

Vega with 7 points and 3 boards in 12 minutes. He hit 2 midrange shots and made 3 of 4 FT's.

Dawson and Dillard did not play. I need to get them in soon.

Overall, I'd say the Nelke experiment was enough of a success to try it against a challenging team.

[Eaglesfan27]

Nov 14, 2033 -

Our 2nd game is against IPFW. The experiment is a wild success as we beat them 99-55. Nelke led the way with 32 points, 8 boards, amd 2 blocks. He shot 10 of 15, 2 of 3, and 10 of 10.

Halsch with 12 points and 7 boads. Zimmerman with 15 points and 5 boards. McDade led the bench with 11 points and 3 assists. Connolly with 8 points. Kabba hit is only shot of the game, a 3.



Nov 23, 2033 -

We beat Pacific 81-60. Nelke leads the way with 28 points, 10 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks.

Galbreath with 13 points and 5 assists. Mack with 10 points and 3 assists.

Halsch with 12 points, 5 boards, and 2 blocks. Zimmerman with 3 points, 11 boards, and 2 blocks.

Troy led the bench with 6 points.

Now, it is time for the first day of the early signing period. I'm expecting at least 3 signatures...

[Eaglesfan27]

As expected, we got 3 new Trojans!

A big Fight On to PF A.C. Fuller, PF Desmond Stevens, and C Jeromy Abdur-Rahim!

As expected, Alton Lloyd stays close to home and signs with Oregon.

Arzelle Farrell has us as his clear #1 ahead of Pepperdine and Stanford. Can we close the deal in the early signing period? It is going to be close, but it looks like he might wait. I hope we don't lose him later in the year..


Our next game should be our first challenging game of the year. We play at Miami (FL.) They are 5-1 with a team roster strength of 88. Ours is now 93.

SR PF M.C. Konryn is their star player. He is 6'10 240 and is rated 86 overall. He is averaging 19.7 ppg, 8.8 rpg, and 3.2 bpg.

SO SF Leo Barton will give Nelke a good challenge. He is 6'6 218 and is rated 84 overall good speed. He is also a good outside shooter. He is averaging 12.7 ppg and 6.2 rpg.

SR SG Rick Munns is banged up but will play with a bum knee. He is a 6'7 225 pound player who is rated 80 overall. He is normally a good 3 point shooter but his injury is messing up his shot.

JR PG John Conway is a 6'2 180 pound 3 point threat who is rated 79 overall. He is averaging 10.2 ppg and 3.3 apg.

SO C Maris Blair is fighting a bad knee as well and may not play. He is 7'0 277 and is rated 76 overall. He is averaging 10 ppg and 6 rpg.

SR C Wesley Doumvouya is likely going to start. He is 6'10 280 and is rated 75 overall. He has come off the bench the first few games. He is averaging 5.5 ppg and 3.7 rpg in limited minutes.

The rest of the bench is in the low 70's.

[Eaglesfan27]

16:12 - Nelke collides with Doumvouya on a dunk attempt.. Nelke is limping off the court. His ankle appears to be hurt. We are tied at 7. My staff wants to bring in McDade with Galbreath playing SG and Mack at SF. I agree for a few minutes.

13:01 - Mack picks up his 2nd foul. I put in Troy at SF. Connolly also comes in at SG. We lead 14-10.

9:47 - Nelke has been cleared to return. I bring him in at PF and Vega at C. Nelke will only play PF the rest of the day with his sprained ankle slowing him down. We lead 19-15.

5:35 - Nelke and Troy are lighting it up. We lead 29-20.

2:25 - We put Galbreath, Mack, Kabba, Halsch, and Zimmerman into the game. We lead 35-24.



Halftime: We lead 39-29.

Troy is the player of the half with 10 points and 2 assists. He'll start the 2nd half.

Our other leading scorers are Nelke with 9 and Galbreath with 6.

Their leading scorers are: Barton with 7, Doumvouya with 6, and Conway with 5.


13:08 - I bring in Kabba, Nelke, and Vega. We lead 46-40.

6:53 - We bring in McDade, Connolly, Troy, Halsch, and Zimmerman. We lead 55-51.

After they pulled within 1, Zimmerman with a dunk, a block at the other end, and then a kickout of a double team for a 3 by Troy. We lead 60-54 with 4:15 left.

2:54 - They pull within 2, before Halsch has a nice drop step for a post bucket. 62-58.

1:26 - Troy with a 12 footer to make it 64-60.

1:10 - A quick basket by Konryn to make it a 2 point game again.

I go with all of my starters after a timeout including Nelke at SF.


42 seconds - Mack misses a 3, but Zimmerman with the offensive board. We reset the offense.

25 seconds left - They foul Galbreath in the lane. He makes both FT's!

14 seconds left - They miss a 3, get the offensive board, and put it right back up but Zimmerman blocks the shot. Nelke gets the carom. He is fouled. He makes 1 of 2 FT's.

They attempt a quick 3. They miss it. They get the board and try another 3.. another miss.


We win the game 67-62. Very good road win.

Troy wins player of the game with 17 points, 5 boards, and an assist. He shot 6 of 9, 2 of 5, and 3 of 4.

Galbreath with 8 points, 6 assists, 3 steals, and 1 turnover.

Mack with 6 points. He shot 2 of 7.

Nelke with 15 points, 2 boards, and 1 assist. He shot 5 of 11.

Galsch with 6 points, 2 boards, and 1 assist. He shot 3 of 7.

Zimmerman with 10 points, 10 boards, and a block.


Vega with 2 points, 7 boards, and a block in 14 minutes.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our next game is hosting 5-1 LSU. They have a roster strength of 89 and are centered around their 2 star players:

JR SG Sammy Hess is the best player on their team. He is 6'3 223 and is rated 90 overall. He was the #2 player in his H.S. class. He does everything well on the court except for shoot the 3 which he is just ok at. He is averaging 14.3 ppg, 5 rpg, and 4.3 apg.

SR SF Frank Brinkley is a 6'8 240 pound player from Georgia who is an excellent 3 point shooter. He is rated 84 overall. He is averaging 14.2 ppg, 8 rpg, and 1.8 apg.

JR PF Bill Okpwae is 6'9 240 and is rated 80 overall. He is a strong offensive player but weak defensively and on the boards. He is averaging 14.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg, and 0.3 bpg.

They have a 3 headed monster at C that combined is very good:

SO C Alexei Conklin starts. He is 6'10 230 and is rated 79 overall. He is averaging 5.8 ppg and 4.7 rpg.

SO C Allan Power is 6'10 231 and is rated 79 overall. He gets about the same number of minutes and is averaging 4.8 ppg and 2.3 rpg.

SO Tim Jarrell is the biggest of the 3 at 7'0 235 and is rated 76 overall. He is the shot blocker of the 3. He's averaging 4.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg, and 1.5 bpg.

RS FR PG Vasilis Peterson is from Baton Rouge. He is 6'2 177 and is rated 72 overall. He is a very fast player, but is a subpar shooter and defender. He's averaging 8 ppg, 5.3 apg, and 1 spg.

FR SG Arturo Torbert leads the guards off the bench. He is 6'2 191 and is rated 76 overall. He is averaging 4.7 ppg and 1.7 apg.

The rest of the bench is in the high 60's.

[Eaglesfan27]

With Nelke's injury, Troy gets the start today.

We start out 4-4, but 3 sloppy turnovers later, they are up 10-4. Halsch has had it stolen from him twice by their PF/C tandem.

14:51 - Still 10-4. We already have 6 turnovers! We need to start taking much better care of the ball.

11:52 - Frantic pace these first 8 minutes, but turnovers and missed shots are keeping the score low. We are down 13-6 as I bring in our entire 2nd unit: McDade, Connolly, Kabba, Nelke (with the sore ankle), and Vega.

10:33 - They double Nelke who kicks it out to Kabba for a wide open 3. 13-11.

8:17 - Kabba with a coast to coast dunk and the foul from behind, but he misses the FT. We are down 17-13

7:12 - Nelke with a pair of FT's to tie it at 17.

5:33 - Connolly with a layup and the foul which makes to put us up 22-20.

3:54 - We are now on a 11-0 run as they call a timeout. We lead 27-20 after Kabba has a nice baseline reverse layup.

Torbert hits an open 3 to end our run.


Halftime: We lead 34-27 after Kabba drills a 3 at the buzzer. Great job by our entire 2nd unit.

Kabba is the player of the half with 11 points. He has shot 4 of 5.

Connolly with 9 points. Nelke with 6 points, 5 boards, 1 assist, and a block.

Kabba is going to start the 2nd half with my starters.



15:40 - Galbreath picks up his 3rd foul. McDade comes into the game. We lead 42-34.

12:21 - Zimmerman draws a 3rd foul on Jarrell. We lead 53-47.

10:32 - Halsch gets hit with a 3rd foul. I rest him and Zimmerman. Mack and Kabba are shooting too well to take them out. We lead 59-50.

9:24 - Nelke with a board, great pass ahead to McDade who was leaking out with Kabba.. McDade with a perfect bounce pass between two defenders to Kabba who slams it home. We lead 63-52.

9:00 - Nelke gets a 3rd foul on Power. He hits both FT's.

7:43 - Kabba is exhausted and it is affecting his defense. Brinkley hits a pair of 3's that were too open. Despite Kabba still shooting well, it is time to take him out. Troy gets back into the game. We lead 68-58.

3:16 - Mack is absolutely exhausted. Fortunately, he just hit a bit layup to keep our lead at 10. We lead 75-65. I go with Galbreath, Connolly, Troy, Halsch, and Zimmerman to finish this out.

3:03 - Galbreath with a steal, breakaway dunk, and the foul from behind.



We win the game 86-73.

Kabba is the player of the game with 21 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and a block. He shot 7 of 11, 4 of 6, and 3 of 7.

Galbreath with 3 points, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 4 turnovers.

Mack with 14 points, 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 turnover. He shot 5 of 9.

Troy with 4 points, 1 board, 1 steal, 1 block, and 2 turnovers. He shot 0 of 2.

Halsch with 11 points, 8 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 5 turnovers. He shot 4 of 8.

Zimmerman with 2 points, 6 boards, 1 block, and 2 turnovers. He shot 1 of 5.


Nelke with 14 points, 9 boards, 1 assist, and 3 turnovers. He shot 3 of 8 but was 8 of 8 from the line.

McDade with 5 points, 9 assists, 4 steals, and 3 turnovers. He shot 1 of 2.

Connolly with 12 points on 5 of 6 shooting.

Wow. Didn't realize this when it was happening but Vega had 5 blocks in only 20 minutes of work! He also had 6 boards and 1 assist. He shot 0 of 3.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dec 7, 2033 -

Our next game is at a Georgetown team that is severely underperfoming. They are 1-4.


We crush them 100-55.

Galbreath with 16 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals. McDade with 20 points, 2 assists, and 2 steals. McDade shot 6 of 7, 5 of 5 from the arc.

Nelke with 14 points, 2 boards, and 2 blocks off the bench.

Mack with 8 points and 6 assists.

Troy with 3 points.

Halsch with 14 points, 9 boards, and 2 blocks. Zimmerman with 14 points, 6 boards, and 2 blocks.

Kabba with 5 points and 3 boards in 14 minutes.

Nelke will be another 1-2 weeks before he is 100%.


We continue to be #1 in both polls.



Our next game should be a classic as we host Nevada. They are 8-0 and #4 in both polls. Their roster is rated a 90. They are weak at PF and C but have a nice group of guards:

JR Elmore Byfield is their best SG. He is 6'5 185 and is rated 85 overall. He is from Oakland, CA and is an excellent 3 point shooter. He is averaging 12.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, and 2.3 apg.

SR SF Belton Len Bullicer is their starting SF. He is 6'9 202 and is rated 85 overall. He is from San Jose, CA. He is one of the top 3 dunkers in the country and is one of the best 3 point shooters in the country as well. He's all offense, little defense. He's averaging 21.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg, and 0.9 apg.

JR PG Harry Graham is 5'11 187 and is from San Francisco. He is a dynamic penetrating guard who can shoot the 3 well. He is averaging 7.1 ppg and 5.3 apg.

FR PF Everett Johnson starts but doesn't play many minutes. He is 6'8 215 and is rated 68 overall. He is the best "PF" on their roster. He is averaging under 10 mpg and only 2.1 ppg and 1 rpg.

FR C Cody Andres is their only "true C" on their roster. He is 6'8 220 and is rated 71 overall. He's averaging 7 ppg and 2 rpg. He's only playing about 15 mpg as they go small most games.


The bench is led by SR SF Raymond Jensen who will play a lot of PF and even some C for them. He is 6'7 210. He is very fast and athletic and is a good midrange shooter. He's averaging 12 ppg, 6.4 rpg, and 1.3 bpg.

SO PG Winston Merritt gets about 20 mpg as well. He was the 20th ranked player in his class and he is one of the top 3 point shooters in the nation already. He averages 10 ppg and 3.4 apg. He is rated 83 overall.

SO PG Nouha Bird is only getting about 13 mpg, but he is talented as well. He is 6'0 185 and is ranked 81 overall. He is averaging 3.8 ppg and 2.2 apg.

SR SG Carl Irvin also gets about 13 mpg. He is 6'4 200 and is rated 81 overall. He is 6'4 200 and will play some SF for them as well. He is averaging 6.1 ppg and 3 rpg.

The rest of their bench is rated in the 60's.

[Eaglesfan27]

15:00 - Wow. Bullicer might just be the best offensive player I've ever faced.. so fast. Made his first four shots and doing a great job of creating for his teammates. Meanwhile, our plan to pound it inside isn't working as they are collapsing, but our outside shooters are missing early. We are down 11-4.

13:30 - Bullicer with a ridiculous alley-oop, non fast-break, where he just spun past Troy and took off from about 10 feet to throw it down with tremendous power as his PG lobbed it up to him. We are down 15-6.

12:25 - Bullicer with a great drive for the dunk and the foul. He draws a 2nd foul on Halsch who will leave the game for Nelke. I also bring in Kabba to try to slow him down. We are down 16-8.

10:36 - Mack gets a 2nd foul on Johnson with a dunk attempt. They rest Bullicer. We are down 20-13.

9:45 - Zimmerman gets his 2nd foul on Andres. We are down 23-15.

8:37 - I bring in the rest of my 2nd unit. We are down 23-17.

7:30 - Oh no.. Nelke is running up the court and he just collapses with no contact. He is screaming and holding his knee :( They bring back Bullicer. We are down 23-19.

5:06 - Bullicer with a pair of 3's and then 2 assists. Kabba is doing no better slowing him down. We are down 33-19. I call a timeout and get Troy back into the game. I need to get him in foul trouble, so far we only have 1 on him. As Troy comes in, they rest Bullicer again.

4:01 - Connolly gets a 2nd foul on Jensen who leaves the game for Bullicer. We are down 35-23.

3:06 - Bullicer draws a 3rd foul on Halsch with another dunk attempt.

2:43 - Bullicer with another dunk. Ridiculous.

2:23 - Connolly draws a 2nd foul on Sykes.

2:03 - Halsch gets a 2nd foul on Byfield. We are down 43-30.

Graham is blowing by McDade at will as well. Bullicer sets up Graham for a wide open 3. Bullcier sets up Mulholland for a dunk.

1:02 - McDade gets a 2nd foul on Graham.

28 seconds - Halsch gets called for a charge! That is his 4th foul!

Nelke thinks he can go, and I decide to let him try..

Nelke with a basket in the post at the buzzer.



Halftime: We are down 51-40.

Bullicer is the player of the game. 21 points, 6 boards, 3 assists, and a block. What I wouldn't give to have an offensive player like him on my team.. He has shot 7 of 10 so far.

Graham also killing us with 12 points and 4 assists.

Connolly is our leading scorer with 9 points. Halsch has 6 points and 3 boards.


I go with all of my starters to start the 2nd half.


19:42 - Halsch gets hit with his 5th foul trying to help on Bullicer who blew by Troy again.

Nelke comes into the game.

19:10 - Zimmerman picks up a foul trying to help on Bullicer.

18:43 - Yes, Troy gets a 2nd foul on Bullicer.

18:23 - Mack gets a 3rd foul on Byfield.

Troy beats Bullicer off the dribble, gets into the lane where Jensen fouls him. That is 3 for Jensen.

15:12 - Zimmerman finally using his size. Back-to-back-to-back dunks! We are down 57-51. We are constantly double teaming Bullicer now.

13:53 - Bullicer splits Mack and Troy double team and drives for the very acrobatic dunk.

13:00 - Zimmerman gets a 3rd foul on Sykes. He is dominating them inside now.. Nelke opening things up by his midrange threat is the key. We are down 63-59.

12:08 - Troy draws a 3rd foul on Bullicer! He will leave the game.

11:28 - I rest Troy and Zimmerman who are both exhausted. We are down 65-61.

9:36 - Byfield draws a 3rd foul on Kabba. It was a 3 point attempt :( He hits all 3. We are down 72-64.

Kabba makes up for it with a steal and breakaway dunk. And then another steal and a pass to Nelke for a dunk!

Kabba with a 3! We are down 74-73.

8:01 - Kabba with a drive into the lane draws a 4th foul on Byfield. He misses the FT, but Nelke gets the offensive putback dunk! We are tied at 75! They call a timeout. McDade in for Galbreath. They bring back Bullicer.

Mack hits a 12 footer to give us the lead, but Bullicer hits a quick 3 to take it back.

McDade with a 16 footer. Kabba blows by Bullicer for his own dunk! We lead 81-78.

Bullicer hits a shot where his foot is just on the line.

Kabba beats Bullicer and draws a 4th foul on Jensen. Graham draws a 4th foul on Mack. We are up 82-81.

4:05 - Graham beats everyone and gets to the rim to tie it at 83. I call a timeout. Time to bring back Zimmerman. Troy in for Kabba. McDade, Mack, and Nelke are going to remain in the game. I hate the idea of playing Nelke the entire 2nd half with 2 injuries, but he seems to be doing well out there..

Nelke and McDade run a great pick and roll. Nelke with the dunk and he gets a 5th foul on Jensen! He misses the FT but Troy gets the offensive board.

They tie it at 85 on a shot by Bullicer.

3:02 - McDade drives into the lane and gets fouled. He hits 1 of 2.

2:51 - Bullicer beats his man, kicks it out.. it is rotated to Graham who drills an open 3.

2:29 - They collapse on Zimmerman, he kicks it out to Nelke who rotates it to McDade for a wide open 3.. swish! We lead 89-88.

Bullicer misses a quick 3.

Zimmerman misses a quick dunk attempt. Graham hits a 3.

McDade comes off a screen and drives into the lane where he is fouled. He makes both FT's. Tied at 91. 1:20 left.

1:03 - Troy steals it from Bullicer!

33 seconds - Zimmerman is fouled on a hook shot. The first FT rattles around the rim and in.. the second is perfect. 93-91.

3.9 seconds - Troy blocks a 3 attempt by Bullicer! McDade gets the carom. He is fouled. He makes both FT's.


We win the game 95-91. What an epic game.

Zimmerman gets player of the game with 22 points, 10 boards, 2 blocks, and 2 assists. He shot 8 of 15 and 6 of 8 from the line.

Galbreath with 4 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, and 4 turnovers.

McDade with 11 points, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 2 turnovers.

Mack with 12 points.

Troy with 3 points, 5 boards, 2 steals, and a critical block. He shot 0 of 7 against one of the worst defenders..

Kabba with 10 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 3 of 6.

Halsch with 6 points, 2 boards, and 1 block before he fouled out. He only played 12 minutes.

Nelke despite being hobbled had an amazing game - 14 points, 6 boards, 8 assists, 2 steals, and 2 turnovers. He shot 6 of 11.

Connolly with 9 points and 2 steals.

Vega with 6 points, 4 boards, and a block. All of his shots were 8 to 10 footers which was nice to see. He shot 3 of 5.


Bullicer ended up with 30 points, 8 boards, 4 assists, and 2 blocks. He shot 11 of 16 against us.

Graham with 25 points, 4 assists, and 5 steals against us. He shot 7 of 11, 4 of 7, and 7 of 8.

We held everyone else us to 6 points or less.

[Eaglesfan27]

Of course, we remain at #1 in the polls.

Dec 14, 2033 -

Next up is a bit easier game at New Mexico State. They are 5-3 with a roster strength of 81.

Despite coming off the bench, Nelke leads our team to the 78-48 victory. Nelke with 25 points, 9 boards, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. He shot 8 of 14, 1 of 2, and 6 of 6 in 26 minutes off the bench.

Galbreath with 0 points and 7 assists.

Mack with 6 points and 3 boards.

Halsch with 17 points, 7 boards, and 1 block. He shot 6 of 11.

Zimmerman with 14 points, 5 boards, and a block.

Troy with 8 points and 4 boards.

Kabba only played 7 minutes but had 5 points, 3 boards, and 2 assists.




Our next game is hosting 6-3 Colorado State. They have a roster strength of 80. Their top two players are out with injuries. This should be an easy game.

Their starting 5:

SG Jessie Bey is 6'5 217 and is from Colorado Springs. He is a SR who is rated 82 overall and is an excellent 3 point shooter. He is averaging 13.7 ppg and 3.4 apg.

JR PG Lodrik Ravello is from Fort Collins, CO. He is 6'2 194 and is rated 75 overall. His speed and quickness is also that he is good at. He is averaging 4.4 ppg and 3.4 apg.

JR SF Vernon Melvin is only starting due to the injury to their star SF who will be out 2-3 more weeks. Vernon is from Westminster, CO. He is 6'7 220 and is rated 72 overall. He is averaging 4 ppg and 4 rpg.

FR PF J.D. McCormick is 6'9 225 and is from West Jordan, UT. He is rated 71 overall. He is averaging 6 ppg and 4.4 rpg.

JR C Willard Goode is also from Westminster. He is 6'11 243 and is only starting due to an injury to their senior C. He is rated 70 overall. He is averaging 2.5 ppg and 2.4 rpg.

The bench has 2 guys rated in the mid 60's and the rest are rated in the 50's.

[hoopsguy]

Sounds like a great start to the regular season.

Because I'm too lazy to go back and look ... how highly regarded a recruit was Nelke? He has really been a force for you guys over the back half of last year and start of this one.

[Eaglesfan27]

Sounds like a great start to the regular season.

Because I'm too lazy to go back and look ... how highly regarded a recruit was Nelke? He has really been a force for you guys over the back half of last year and start of this one.

Good question. Nelke was the 79th ranked player in his class and 9th among PF's. He is from Toledo, OH. So far this year, he is averaging 18.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg, and 1.9 apg. All would be career highs.

That was one of my best classes ever. A quick review of the rest of the seniors on my roster:

Halsch who is from Dayton, OH was ranked just slightly higher at 78th overall and 8th among PF's. He is averaging a career high 11.1 ppg and 5.6 rpg.

Rashard Galbreath who is from Modesto, CA was ranked 38th overall, 12th among PG's. He is averaging a career high 6.4 ppg this year but only 4.1 apg early (he finished with 5.3 per game last year.)

SR SG Keon Connolly who is from Corpus Christi, TX was ranked 113th overall and 33rd among SG's. He is averaging 5.9 ppg in quite a bit less time on the court. He is going to get more PT in upcoming games.


The other SR on my roster wasn't part of that class, but let's look at him real quick as well:

RS SR Bernard Mack (who is being pushed very hard by Connolly for PT) was also from Modesto, CA. He was ranked 180th in his class and 40th among SG's. He os averagomg 7.9 ppg and a career high 2.9 apg.

[Eaglesfan27]

Nelke is almost back to 100% and will start at SF tonight.

14:50 - Our defense has been impeccable. Our offense has been terrible. Mack and Galbreath are missing wide open shots. We lead 3-0.

12:36 - Our transition offense has been clicking at full speed the last 2 minutes. We lead 10-3 as I rest Nelke and Mack. Troy and Connolly come into the game.

10:44 - We go small and athletic. McDade, Connolly, Kabba, Troy, and Vega. We lead 16-6.

6:30 - Nelke and Zimmerman come back in. We lead 22-17.

In a minute, McDade hits a quick 3, steals it in the backcourt, hits another 3, steals it again, and threads a pass for a 3 by Kabba.

20 seconds later, Kabba blocks a shot and takes it all the way for a dunk.

3:30 - We give up a pair of easy baskets. Time to bring back all of the starters to clamp down on defense. We lead 34-23.


Halftime: We lead 43-25.

Galbreath hit 2 3's this half. If he can start making those, he will become VERY dangerous as he has really improved his speed/lateral quickness to become one of the faster point guards in the nation.

Galbreath is the player of the half with 10 points, 3 assists, 2 boards, and a steal.

Connolly with 8 points. McDade and Nelke each have 6.



Nelke with a 3 and then a 15 footer to start the 2nd half. Galbreath with the assist on both baskets.


17:25 - Halsch picks up his 3rd foul. I slide Nelke to PF and bring in Troy. We lead 50-28.

7:55 - The group was playing so well that I'm loathe to pull any of them, but it's a blowout and they are tired. After Galbreath throws a great alley-oop dunk to Troy, they call a timeout and I pull all of my starters except I put Halsch back into the game. We are leading 79-44. Career day for Galbreath.

4:07 - Time to empty the bench completely. I put Dawson in at PG for the first time this year. Dillard also gets into the game at SG. We lead 89-52.


Dawson had a very nice 4 minute burst! 4 points and 3 assists in garbage time.


We win the game 104-63.

Galbreath is the player of the game. He had 21 points, 12 assists, 3 boards, 3 steals, and 3 turnovers. He shot 7 of 9, 3 of 4, and 4 of 4. Brilliant game from him. The points and assists are both new career highs.

McDade with 6 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals in just 11 minutes.

Mack with 11 points and 2 assists on 5 of 11 shooting.

Connolly with 10 points on 4 of 4 shooting in half of the number of minutes.

Troy with 5 points and 1 assist in 18 minutes.

Kabba with 12 points and 2 assists in 15 minutes. He shot 4 of 8.

Nelke with 21 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block. He shot 8 of 14, 1 of 3, and 4 of 4.

Halsch with 7 points and 7 boards. He shot 3 of 8.

Zimmerman with 4 points, 11 boards, 2 assists, and 4 blocks. He shot 1 of 4.

Vega with 0 points, 4 boards, and 2 blocks in 13 minutes.

Dillard hit his only shot, a wide open 3.

[Eaglesfan27]

Great news! Arzelle Farrell is telling me that he is completely in as a Trojan. I just hope he doesn't change his mind between now and the end of the year when he can sign.


We remain #1 in the polls. Can we go the entire year at #1?

Dec 22, 2033 -

An easy game tonight at Tulane. They are 4-4 with a roster rating of an 80. This is our final OOC game of the year.

We win 100-64, but Nelke's injuries finally cause him to have an off night.

Mack led the team with 20 points, 4 boards, and 3 assists on 7 of 10 shooting.

Galbreath with 8 points and 6 assists.

Nelke with 6 points, 4 boards, and 2 blocks. He shot 3 of 10.

Halsch with 12 points, 7 boards, and 2 blocks.

Zimmerman with 13 points, 3 boards, and 2 blocks.

McDade led the bench with 17 points and 5 assists. Troy with 7 points and 2 boards. Kabba with 4 points and 4 boards. Connolly with 8 points in just 12 minutes.


Nelke should be 100% by our next game, but Zimmerman and Dillard were hurt in the last game. Both will be D2D. Zimmerman has a sore hamstring and Dillard has a dislocated finger.


Time for the conference preview:

1. USC. We are 10-0. We are #1 in the polls and we are tied for the highest roster rating with a 94. I believe that is the highest I've ever had with any team at this point in the year. Galbreath, Connolly, and Dillard are showing the most growth this year.

2. Washington is 13-0. They are #2 in both polls. They also have a roster rating of 94. SR SG Keena Linebaugh is a superstar who is higher rated than any of my players. They have an excellent balanced starting 5 that has no weaknesses.

3. Stanford is 11-1. They are #11 in the media poll. They have a team power rating of 92. They also have a superstar SG in SR Ridley Bronson. They are very strong at the guard position with a bit of weakness at PF.

4. UCLA is 9-1. They are #9 in the media poll. They have a power rating of 91. The have 3 seniors and 2 juniors starting. Franklin Howel is developing into the monster player that I knew he would. The big PG has developed his skills and is going to be a matchup problem. SR C Abe Butch has become the undisputed leader of their team.

5. Oregon is 8-2. They are 22nd in the media poll. They have a roster rating of 91. They are very strong at SG with SR Donatas Kleinzweig starting. They have a big weakness at PF. The rest of their starting 5 is very good.

6. Arizona is 10-2. They are 25th in the media poll. They have a roster rating of 88. They are weak at SG and PF, but are very solid at the other 3 positions.

7. Cal is 7-3 despite having the youngest starting 5 in the conference. They have a roster rating of 86. They are starting 2 freshmen and 3 sophomores. SO SG Roscoe Hoskin is the most talented of the 5.

8. Oregon State has finally climbed out of the cellar. They have 3 seniors starting and have a solid balanced starting 5, but not much depth behind them. They are 7-3 with a roster strength of 85.

9. Arizona State is 7-5 with a roster srating of 83. They have 1 stud freshman PG in Hensley Walton who is the best player on their roster with an overall of 79. If they can get any big time recruits to come play with him they could be dangerous in a year or two. To be fair, they are missing their starting SG and C due to injuries.

10. They are some who think we should kick Washington State out of the conference, they are so bad this year. They are 1-10 despite having an excellent SR C, Denver Fowler. However, the rest of the lineup is bordering on bad. On the plus side, 3 of the starters are only sophomores and could become good down the road.


Team Leaders:

Scoring - USC 87.8 ppg.
Rebounding - UCLA - 33 rpg.
Assists - USC 17.9 apg.
Steals - USC - 12 spg.
Blocks - Washington State - 5.6 bpg.


Individual leaders:

Fowler, WSU 25.5 ppg.
SF Dearmon, Arizona 8.7 rpg
PG Howel, UCLA 6.3 apg
PG McDade, USC 1.9 spg (amazing considering his limited time each game)
SF Jacobson, Arizona 2.6 bpg.


Scout impressions:

Best Overall Player: SG Linebaugh, Washington
Best Freshman, PG Walton, Arizona State
Best Shooter, PG Desilos, Stanford
Best Playmaker, McDade, USC (I need to get him more PT.)
Best Pro Prospect, Linebaugh, Washington
Best Defender, PF McCollum, UCLA




We start off the year against ASU. A closer look at their starting 5:

FR PG Hensley Walton is 5'11 160 and is from San Jose, CA. He was the #7 overall player last year and the top PG in the nation. He is a very good 3 point shooter, a very good ball handler, and a great stealer. He needs to work on the other parts of his game. He is rated 79 overall. He is averaging 9.4 ppg and 3.2 apg.

FR SG Booker Stockman is 6'2 180 and is rated 74 overall. He is best at slashing into the lane. He is averaging 8.4 ppg and 2.6 rpg.

SR SF M.C. Muurinen is 6'7 238 and is rated 74 overall. He is a decent midrange shooter. He is averaging 7.4 ppg and 3.4 rpg.

SR PF Quin Den Boer is a 6'9 250 pound PF from Chula Vista, CA. He is rated 76 overall. He is averaging 5.8 ppg and 5.1 rpg.

SO C Clifton Collucci is starting in place of the injured sophomore Center Levi Cortez. Clifton is the bigger player at 6'10 232. He is rated 73 overall. He is averaging 3.3 ppg and 3.6 rpg.

The top bench player available is JR SG Monwell Deberry who is 6'4 214 and is rated 73 overall. He is averaging 4.8 ppg and 1.2 rpg.

The rest of the bench is in the high 60's.

I'll play them later.

[Eaglesfan27]

A look at the top 10 in the media poll with their roster ratings:

1. USC 10-0 94
2. Washington 13-0 94
3. UConn 11-0 93
4. Nebraska 13-0 89
5. Texas A&M 10-1 94
6. BYU 10-1 90
7. Saint Joseph's 11-1 94
8. Pittsburgh 12-0 92
9. UCLA 9-1 91
10. Penn State 10-1 88

[Eaglesfan27]

16:14 - Galbreath has drawn 2 fouls on Walton. We lead 8-6.

11:52 - We are down 16-14 as I rest Galbreath and Zimmerman.

11:23 - Vega gets a 2nd foul on Collucci, they go small.


We spread out the floor and our offense is really clicking.


3:44 - We are up 39-29 as I put in Galbreath, Connolly, Troy, Nelke, and Zimmerman.


Halftime: We lead 47-39.

Nelke is the player of the half with 13 points, 3 boards, 1 assist, and 1 block.

Mack with 11 points. Halsch with 9.


17:30 - Collucci and Zimmerman collide.. Collucci is down. We lead 55-42.

15:32 - Zimmerman picks up his 4th foul. I decide to go small to match their small lineup. McDade, Galbreath, Mack, Nelke, and Halsch. We lead 59-48.

13:15 - Halsch picks up his 4th foul. I bring in Vega. We lead 63-52.

9:15 - I rest Nelke. We are up 70-60. The lineup now is McDade, Connolly, Troy, Halsch, and Vega.

4:20 - Nelke returns to the floor. We are up 74-64. The lineup is now Galbreath, Mack, Troy, Nelke, and Halsch.

Galbreath with a great drive and kick for a 3 by Mack who now has 25 points.

Nelke with a dunk on a great feed by Galbreath.

46 seconds - Halsch fouls out but we are in complete control now. 90-66 lead.


We win the game 92-67. A nice home conference opener.

Mack is the player of the game with 25 points, 4 assists, and 4 steals. He shot 9 of 12, 4 of 7, and 3 of 4.

Nelke with 22 points, 8 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. He shot 7 of 16, 0 of 4, and 8 of 9.

Galbreath with 6 points, 3 boards, 10 assists, 2 steals, and 3 turnovers. He shot 2 of 3.

Halsch with 10 points, 10 boards, 3 steals, and a block. He shot 4 of 7.

Zimmerman with 12 points and 5 boards.

Troy led the bench with 11 points. He shot 4 of 7.

McDade with 6 points and 7 assists in just 19 minutes.

Vega with 0 points, 4 boards, and 4 blocks in 18 minutes. Kid is a ferocious shot blocker.

Kabba DNP, I can't let that keep happening.

We held their young PG to 3 points, 2 assists, and 5 turnovers.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dec 31, 2033 -

A New Year eve game against OSU at home. They are 7-4 (0-1.)

We crush them 105-60. All 5 starters in double digits.

Nelke led the team with 20 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. He shot 7 of 14.

Galbreath with 10 points, 6 assists, and 3 boards.

Mack with 13 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, and 3 steals.

Halsch with 17 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, and 1 block. He shot 6 of 9.

Zimmerman with 17 points, 5 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal. He shot 6 of 11.


Kabba and McDade each had 8 points off the bench. McDade with 3 assists. Troy with 7 points and Connolly with 5.


We are 12-0 and remain 1st in the polls.

Our next game is at 13-1 Stanford who is 9th in the media poll.


A look at Stanford's Starting 5:

JR Pg John-Michael Collucci is from Salt Lake City. He is 6'1 183 and is rated 88 overall. He has elite speed and quickness and a good jump shot. He is a solid but not great passer. He is averaging 14.9 ppg and 4.2 apg.

SR SG Ridley Bronson is from Redwood City, CA and is 6'5 213. He is rated 89 overall. He has elite speed, handles, and shooting ability. He is expected to go top 3 in the draft next year. He is averaging 15.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg, and 2.4 apg.

SO SF Frederick Barlett is 6'8 218 and is from San Leandro, CA. He is a nice post up player and a decent midrange shooter. He is rated 81 overall. He is averaging 5.5 ppg in limited minutes as they often drop him in favor of 3 guards.

SR PF Jimmy Root is 6'9 263 and will sometimes play C for them. He is rated 81 overall. He is averaging 7.7 ppg and 4.1 rpg. He is rated 81 overall. He is from Los Angeles.

SO PF Cam Moran is starting at C for them. He is 6'9 229 and is rated 83 overall. He is the best shot blocker on the team. He is averaging 7 ppg, 6 rpg, and 2 bpg.


JR PG Curtis Desilos is their star on the bench and he'll play a lot off minutes even if he isn't starting. He is 6'0 183 and is rated 87 overall. He is expected to go pro after this year. I hope he does. He is the best 3 point shooter in the conference and is among the top 5 in the nation. He is averaging 16.3 ppg, 2.7 apg, and 1.1 spg.

FR PF Jerrio Challed is going to be a very good player in a year or two. Our staff thinks he has elite potential. As it is, he is already playing 12-14 minutes per night and averaging 4 ppg and 2 rpg. He is from San Francisco.

FR SG Moshood Ballard is another young player who is going to be a major player down the road. He is 6'2 203 and is from Everett, WA. He is rated 77 overall and our staff also loves his potential. He is averaging 3.9 ppg and 1.3 rpg this year.

They have 3 more guards who are all rated 76 in overall. There aren't any true centers on their roster and no other PF's.

[Eaglesfan27]

18:18 - Nelke has already drawn 2 fouls on Root thanks to explosive drives to the hoop. Challed comes into the game.

17:15 - Galbreath picks up his 2nd foul trying to stop Collucci on a breakaway. We are up 5-4. McDade comes into the game.

14:26 - We are down 10-5. Nelke has all of our points.

13:49 - Desilos comes into the game. We are down 11-7.

Desilos hits an open 3 when Mack misplays a steal attempt.


12:28 - Halsch picks up his 2nd foul. We slide Nelke to PF and bring in Troy. I also rest Zimmerman for a few. We are down 15-10.

11:00 - McDade with a drive into the lane gets a 2nd foul on Moran. We are down 17-12.

10:30 - Both teams put their entire 2nd units into the game. For us it is, McDade, Connolly, Kabba, Troy, and Vega.

5:15 - Kabba hits a 3 to tie it at 27.

4:55 - Kabba hits a pair of FT's to give us the 29-27 lead. Both teams bring most of their starters back. I bring everyone back except for Mack. Connolly is on a hot streak and is getting to stay in this game until he misses a few.


Halftime: Connolly with a 3 at the buzzer to tie it at 39.

Collucci is the player of the half with 9 points and 4 assists.


Connolly is our leading scorer with 11 points. He'll get to start the 2nd half since he is still hitting his shots.

Nelke with 7. Mack with 5.


18:49 - Galbreath picks up his 3rd foul, but will remain in the game for now.

16:33 - Halsch gets a 3rd foul on Root. We are down 47-41.

15:20 - Nelke picks up his 3rd and 4th fouls in 30 seconds! I pull him for Troy. We are down 48-43. I also bring back Mack.

13:22 - Zimmerman gets a 3rd foul on Moran, but misses both FT's. We are down 53-45.

10:31 - Zimmerman with 6 straight points. We are down 55-53. I rest Galbreath and Zimmerman who are both very tired.

6:49 - Nelke in at PF for Halsch to get a breather. Both sides have been running and gunning the last 4 minutes. We are down 65-63.

4:11 - McDade just hit a 3 to tie the game, but he tired now and gets hit with another foul. I bring in Galbreath, Connolly, Halsch, and Zimmerman. Nelke to SF. We are down 69-67 after they hit both FT's.

Zimmerman with a pair of dunks. We are tied at 71.

2:15 - Galbreath with a beautiful crossover past Collucci, drives into the lane, draws contact and hits an acrobatic layup. He misses the FT, but Zimmerman gets the board and dunks it! We lead 75-71.

Root with a nice 10 footer.

Nelke miss a post shot and then gets hit with his 5th foul on the other end after Desilos beats his man off the dribble. He hits both FT's, we are tied at 75 with 1 minute left. I bring in Kabba at SF for his explosive penetration game.

Galbreath bteats Desilos and is fouled by him. He hits both FT's!

Collucci comes off a screen, gets a good look, and hits a quick 3. 33 seconds left.

We hold for last shot, but with 8 seconds left Halsch breaks away from his man, Galbreath threads the pass and Halsch is fouled hard by Root before he can slam it home. Halsch makes the first FT.... and the 2nd! We lead 79-78 with 6.5 seconds left.


Good coverage on Desilos, we cover Collucci, Collucci passes it to Barlett for an open 16 footer, he shoots.. it is long!


We pull off the tough road win, 79-78.


Zimmerman is player of the half. He had a great 2nd half. He finished with 18 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, and 1 block. He shot 7 of 12 and 4 of 6 from the line.


Galbreath with 7 points and 3 assists in 20 minutes.

McDade with 9 points, 6 assists, and 3 steals in the same amount of time.

Mack with 14 points, 3 boards, and 1 assist in 20 minutes. He shot 5 of 7.

Connolly with 11 points and 1 board in 20 minutes. He shot 4 of 8.

Nelke with 7 points, 4 boards, and a block. He shot 1 of 9. Troy with 2 points and 4 boards. Kabba with 5 points in 7 minutes.

Halsch with 5 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals, and a block. He shot 1 of 6.

Vega with 2 points, 6 boards, and a block in 14 minutes.

[Eaglesfan27]

Jan 12, 2034 -

Today we play at 4-11 (1-3) WSU.

They get 24 points, 10 boards, and 6 blocks from their star C, but we beat them 83-50.

Nelke with 31 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, and 2 blocks. He shot 8 of 24, but was 13 of 13 from the line.

Galbreath with 0 points and 8 assists.

Mack with 4 points and 7 assists.

Halsch with 13 points, 5 boards, and 2 blocks.

Troy led the bench with 12 points and 2 assists. McDade with 10 points and 2 assists.


Jan 14, 2034 -

Our next game is at #12 Oregon 12-3 (4-1). I decide to sim this as I want to play the next game which is against UCLA.

They get 25 points from their star SG, but we get 27 from Nelke and 24 from Halsch as we beat them 100-81!

Galbreath with 4 points and 10 assists. Nelke and Halsch each had 6 boards and a block as well.

Mack with 9 points and 5 assists. Zimmerman with only 4 points before he fouled out in 12 minutes.

Connolly led the bench with 9 points and 4 assists. Troy and McDade each had 7 points. Vega with 6.

The only downside is that McDade sprained his ankle and it will slow him down during the next game or two.



We are now 15-0.

A look at the top 10 media poll:

1. USC 15-0 94
2. UConn 16-1 93
3. Saint Joseph's 15-1 94
4. Washington 16-2 94
5. Nebraska 16-1 90
6. Texas A&M 13-3 94
7. Georgia Tech 12-4 94
8. Clemson 15-2 88
9. Arizona 14-3 88
10. Mississippi State 12-4 91




Next up is a home game vs UCLA. They are 13-2 and ranked 13th in the media poll. They are without their starting PF, who is their 2nd best player, due to a back injury.

SR C Abe Butch will be a load to handle. He is now 6'10 292 and is rated 88 overall. He has a few different strong post moves. He is averaging 22 ppg, 7.3 rpg, and 1.4 bpg.

JR PG Franklin Howel is 6'8 215 and is now rated 84 overall. He is a good 3 point shooter, but he prefers to pass first and he is now a very good passer. His defense is his only weak point. Hopefully, Galbreath can get him into foul trouble. He is averaging 7 ppg and 5.5 apg.

JR PF Lloyd Diallo gets the start for the injured McCollum. Diallo is 6'11 264 and is rated 83 overall. He is an excellent midrange shooter and has a nice post game. He is averaging 10.5 ppg and 7.5 rpg.

SR PG Prosper Valencia is starting at the SG position. He is a good 3 point shooter and a fast player with good hands. He is 6'0 185 and is rated 82 overall. He's averaging 4 ppg.

FR SG Lowell Filipovic from Santa Clarita is going to be a good player one day, but he has been pushed into the starting lineup at SF due to their injuries. He is 6'4 200 and is rated 76 overall. He's a solid 3 point shooter, but tends to pass first right now. He's averaging 5.3 ppg.

The bench has two solid PG's and is thin after that right now:

SR PG Luther Simpson is 6'1 182 and is rated 81 overall. He's averaging 1.9 ppg and 1.8 apg.

JR PG Loren Burrowes is from Newport Beach. He is 6'4 180 and is rated 80 overall. He's averaging 3.9 ppg and 1.1 apg.

FR C Jalen Cassler is the heir apparent at C. He is 6'10 256 and is rated 74 overall. He's averaging 1.9 ppg and 1.7 rpg.

The rest of the bench is rated in the low 70's. If we can stop Butch, they don't have much else in the way of scoring....

[Eaglesfan27]

Awesome news! I think schools are so convinced that Arzelle Farrell is going to be a Trojan that 3 of them have dropped him this past week! The only one still trying to catch us is Cal.

Now onto the game...



18:53 - Galbreath beats Howel off the dribble and gets fouled by him on a layup attempt.

16:08 - Nelke gets a 2nd foul on Filipovic. He was posting him up with ease. Interesting, they are sliding Howel to SF after that foul and bringing in Simpson to play the point.

14:45 - Tough defense on both sides. We lead 5-4.

12:20 - Galbreath is beating Simpson with ease and they put Howel back on him. We lead 11-5.

9:36 - Howel already has 3 fouls. His long arms are so disruptive in the passing lanes. We lead 12-11 as I bring our entire 2nd unit. Howel moves back to SF now that Galbreath is out.

7:14 - They finally sit Howel down for a breather. We are down 16-15.

3:13 - A real defensive slugfest. I bring back my starters. We are down 19-16.

Nelke with a 18 footer, Nelke with a steal and breakaway dunk for his first four points of the night.

LOL! I've never had this happen before in all of the games I played.. Galbreath tried to thread a pass inside to Nelke, but Butch tipped it and it went into the basket for a 3 pointer by Galbreath. They call a timeout after that as our crowd is going crazy. We lead 23-19 with 2:06 to go in the half. Howel returns to the game.

50 seconds - Zimmerman gets a 2nd foul on Butch. We lead 26-21 after he hits a pair of FT's.


Halftime: We lead 26-23.


Zimmerman is the player of the half with 9 points, 4 boards, and 2 blocks.

Galbreath with 5 points. Nelke with 4 points.


19:43 - Howel gets a 3rd foul on Galbreath who I leave in the game.

17:44 - Galbreath gets a 2nd foul on Howel on a reach-in. We are up 32-29.

17:22 - Galbreath drives to the hoop and gets a 3rd foul on Butch. That should up things up.

13:04 - We are attacking the basket relentlessly. Zimmerman just got a 3rd foul on Cassler. We lead 46-34.

12:33 - Galbreath gets a 3rd foul on Howel.

9:45 - Our starters are very tired after a very impressive run. I call a timeout and rest them for a few. We lead 56-41.


5:44 - Wow. Howel with a flurry of steals, 3's, and assists to get them right back in this. I call a timeout and bring back our starters. McDade injured just isn't very good. We are up 60-56.

5:35 -Mack with a beautiful drive to get a 4th foul on Butch.

3:03 - Zimmerman with 8 quick points. They have to bring Butch back. We lead 70-61.


We win the game 73-63.


Zimmerman is the player of the game with 26 points, 10 boards, 2 blocks, and 2 steals. He shot 10 of 12, and 6 of 9 from the line.

Nelke with a very bad night - 11 points, 5 boards, 1 assist, and 2 steals. He shot 5 of 19. Blech.

Galbreath with 8 points, 6 assists, and 5 turnovers. He also had 3 steals.

Mack with 10 points, 5 assists, and 1 block. He shot 2 of 6.

Halsch with 8 points, 9 boards, 2 assists, and 2 blocks. He shot 3 of 5.

Troy led the bench with 4 points. McDade with 3 points and 1 assist.


Howel had 12 points, 5 assists, and 8 steals against us!

Butch with 10 points and 12 boards on 4 of 12 shooting.

Diallo with 12 points and 7 boards against us.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our next game is at home vs Washington. They are 16-2 and 4th in the media poll. They are completely healthy and have an excellent well balanced starting 5:

SG Keena Linebaugh from Sacramento, CA is 6'6 235 and is rated 90 overall. He was the 12th player in his class and he is a lottery prospect. He is a great 3 point shooter and a solid all around offensive player with no weaknesses in that aspect, but he is a suspect defender. He tends to get into foul trouble as a result and is only averaging 27 mpg. He is averaging 13.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg, and 2.6 apg.

SR SF Antonio Atangana is 6'6 227 and he is from Los Angeles. He is rated 88 overall. He is a much better balanced player with very good defensive and offensive skills. He is a very explosive dunker when he gets the opportunity but isn't a great dribbler. He is averaging 8.2 ppg and 5 rpg.

JR PG Piotr Mencio is from Seattle. He is 6'2 201 and is rated 87 overall. He was the 11th ranked player in his class. He is an elite defender, a very good shooter, and a good passer. He is averaging 11.9 ppg, 4.2 apg, and 1.9 spg.

SO PF Vitautas Hornsby has already become a star for them. He is a 6'9 255 pound player from Seattle who is a very good 3 point threat. He was ranked 31st in his class and he is a silky smooth shooter from any range. Defensively, he needs to work on his game. He is averaging 15.9 ppg, 5.7 rpg, and 1.3 bpg.

JR C Jasko Fray is 7'4 230 and is from Seattle. He is rated 83 overall. He tends to get into foul trouble which has limited his minutes. As a result, he is only averaging 5.8 ppg and 3.1 rpg.

SO PF Damian Snowden is getting major minutes off the bench. He is 6'8 228 and is from San Diego, CA. He is rated 84 overall. He was ranked 9th in his class. He has a nice midrange shot and is a solid defender. He is averaging 8 ppg and 5 rpg.

SO SG Stewart Simon is 6'5 216 and is rated 84 overall. He is an electric athlete who is still developing the other aspects of his game. He is averaging 8.3 ppg and 3.4 rpg. He was ranked 15th in his class.

SO PG Cal Bailey is the highest touted of their super sophomore class. He is 6'1 192 and is rated 83 overall. He was the 7th player in his class and he is from Billings, MT. He is a dynamic athlete wo has a great midrange shot and a good 3 point shot. He is averaging 8 ppg and 2.4 apg.

JR SF Bryce Henning is 6'7 240 and is rated 82 overall. He has explosive quickness but hardly plays because of the guys in front of him getting most of the minutes as they frequently go small.

They also have 3 dynamic freshman who are all rated in the high 70's who only play a few minutes per night.


I'll play them later.

[Eaglesfan27]

15:00 - We are down 10-6. Hornsby hurting us with the midrange game. Nelke has 4 points.

12:45 - Galbreath gets a 2nd foul on Mencio. We are tied at 14. Nelke is dominating their SF.

11:44 - Nelke with a huge dunk over their SF and he gets the foul. Linebaugh answers with a 3. We are tied at 17.

9:45 - We put McDade and Troy into the game. Nelke and Galbreath get a breather. We are up 19-17.

6:44 - Connolly and Vega into the game. We are up 23-21.

3:53 - Nelke in at PF as Halsch gets his first break of the half. Zimmerman also returns. We lead 29-26.

Zimmerman with 3 blocks in a row that each trigger perfect fastbreaks by McDade and company. McDade's passing really is a cut above Galbreath's. Nelke was the recipient of 2 of those assists and he has had a great half.


Halftime: We lead 40-30.

Nelke is the player of the half with 15 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He has shot 7 of 8.

Troy with 7 points. Zimmerman and Halsch each have 6.



15:23 - Zimmerman gets hit with his 3rd foul. I bring in Vega for a few. We are up 49-42.

13:05 - Halsch gets a 3rd foul on Hornsby. We lead 53-45.

11:33 - Nelke gets a 3rd foul on their SF and he has 6 straight points but he is very tired. I give him and Galbreath a break. We lead 59-45.


7:34 - They have hit 4 quick 3's and are right back in it. Linebaugh and Mencio doing the damage. Vega picks up his 3rd foul and I bring back Zimmerman and Nelke for Halsch. We are up 66-60.

Nelke gets a 4th foul on Atagana with a tremendous post move. He gets the basket and the FT.

5:28 - Zimmerman picks up his 4th foul. I leave him in. I bring in Connolly for an exhausted Mack. We lead 73-67.

4:20 - Nelke gets a 4th foul on Hornsby and still makes the shot. He hits the FT for the 3 point play. We lead 76-70.

Nelke with a block that starts a fastbreak basket by Troy.

Nelke draws a foul on Jasko in the post.

2:00 - Jasko with a pair of baskets in the post to make it a 5 point game. 81-76.

Nelke responds with a hook shot. He has 32.

Washington with an unforced turnover!


We win the game 85-76.


Nelke is the player of the game with 32 points, 5 boards, 4 assists, 4 steals, and 2 blocks. He shot 10 of 14, 0 of 1, and 12 of 12. He played 30 minutes.


Galbreath with 6 points and 5 assists in 20 minutes.

McDade with 0 points and 7 assists in 20 minutes.

Mack with 10 points and 2 assists. He shot 4 of 6 in 28 minutes.

Connolly with 2 points and 1 assist in 12 minutes. He hit his only shot.

Troy with 10 points, 3 boards, and 1 assist in 21 minutes. He shot 3 of 9.

Halsch with 13 points, 3 boards, and a block in 29 minutes. He shot 6 of 9.

Zimmerman with 10 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, and 5 blocks in 29 minutes. He shot 4 of 10.

Vega with 2 points, 5 boards, and a block in 11 minutes.


Mencio and Linebaugh each had 17 against us. At least we made Linebaugh shoot 7 of 14. Mencio was 7 of 9. Hornsby had 15 against us.

[Eaglesfan27]

Recruiting News:

Yes, Cal has given up on persuading Farrell as well! They all realize he wants to be a Trojan and will be one! I just hope our staff is right about his excellent shooting touch.

In other recruiting news, I went after Charles Sessoms thinking it was a very long shot. He is the 14th ranked player in the country and 8th ranked PG. He is from Glendale, AZ and he had Arizona, Arizona State, and Stanford ahead of us. It's still somewhat a long shot, but he seems to like what we are doing and what I'm selling him. We've moved up to #3 on his list and he is giving indications that he may move us higher... Still a long shot, but not as long as I thought..


Jan 26, 2034 -


Speaking of Arizona, our next game is at Arizona. Maybe, the big PG will catch it. They are 14-5 and 22nd in the media poll.


I hope he didn't catch it, as Arizona gives us our first loss of the year, 87-83. They had balanced scoring from their guards and SF. Their SF had 20 points, 16 for their PG Randall, and 16 for their SG Del Rosario.

Nelke led us with 21 points on 7 of 16 shooting.

Halsch with 17 points and 8 boards. Zimmerman with 17 points and 7 boards. Galbreath with 5 points and 8 assists.

Mack shot 0 of 8. Connoly led the bench with 9 points on 3 of 6 shooting. Troy had 7 points.





Our next game is at 9-9 Cal. Their PF is battling a wrist injury but will play.

SO SG Roscoe Haskin is the real deal. He's 6'4 193 and already rated 84 overall. He is one of the top 3 point shooters in the conference. He's averaging 16.3 ppg and 2.1 apg.

SO SF Kalu Stevenson is one that got away from me. He is now 6'7 220 and is rated 81 overall. He is a very good shot blocker and an excellent midrange shooter. Our staff loves his potential. He is averaging 10.4 ppg and 1.1 bpg.

FR PG T.R. Garrity was ranked 37th last year. He is a very fast PG who should be great once he improves his shooting which is subpar right now. He's averaging 4.6 ppg and 5.1 apg. He is 6'2 190 and is rated 79 overall.

FR PF Brooks Parham is 6'8 208 and is rated 78 overall. He was the 20th player in his class. He relies on speed and dunking to do most of his scoring. He is a solid rebounder. He's averaging 6 ppg and 5 rpg.

SO PF/C Sidiki Giddens is 6'9 255 and is rated 77 overall. He has some nice range on his shot and is a quick player, but he plays small. He's averaging 5.9 ppg and 3.2 rpg.

SO SG Hiram Starks is their best bench player. He's 6'2 180 and is rated 78 overall. He is a slashing guard. He's averaging 5.4 ppg.

JR SF Vern Skipworth is 6'7 189 and is rated 77 overall. He's a very good midrange shooter but a terrible defender. As a result, he plays limited minutes. He's averaging 3.9 ppg.

They have 3 freshman who are all rated in the low to mid 70's that fill out the rest of the rotation.

I'll play them later.

[Eaglesfan27]

17:18 - Nelke already has 2 fouls on Stevenson. We are up 5-0.

14:59 - Mack picks up his 2nd foul. Connolly comes into the game. We lead 7-5.

10:40 - Zimmerman picks up his 2nd foul. I bring in McDade, Kabba, Troy, and Vega. We lead 18-12.

7:10 - Kabba has picked up his 2nd foul. I slide Troy to SF and bring back Nelke at PF. We lead 25-20.

5:15 - We lead 29-26 as I bring back all of my starters.


Wow. After a quiet 15 minutes, Nelke was all over the place making plays in the final 5 minutes of the half. He helped us score at an unbelievable pace.


Halftime: We lead 51-32.

Nelke is the player of the half with 14 points (all but 2 in the final 5 minutes), 4 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and a block.

Zimmerman with 8 points, 6 boards, and 2 blocks.

Galbreath, Mack, and Halsch each have 6 points.




17:26 - Nelke is untouched on a dunk, but lands awkwardly. He limps off the court. We lead 60-34. Troy will come in for him.

10:18 - Halsch picks up his 4th foul. I bring back Nelke who has been cleared to return. We lead 79-52. Mack has picked up the scoring slack this half with 13 points.

8:02 - I rest my starters who are tired and use the 2nd unit with Nelke at PF. We lead 79-60.

4:02 - Nelke is slowed too much by his injury. Our 2nd unit is playing horribly and Roscoe is shooting the lights out. We are up 82-70 as I bring back my starters.

Mack picks up right where he left off with a nice 3.

Zimmerman with an offensive putback dunk and then Mack with a 12 footer. We ride that breathing room out to a win.


We win the game 92-81.

Mack is the player of the game with 28 points, 1 board, and 1 steal. He shot 9 of 14, 8 of 12, and 2 of 2. He and Galbreath are showing huge leaps in their game.

Galbreath with 8 points, 6 assists, 3 steals, and 6 turnovers (ok not a good night for him.)

Nelke with 16 points, 7 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and a block. He shot 5 of 8, 0 of 0, and 6 of 6.

Halsch with 9 points, 7 boards, and 3 assists. He shot 4 of 7.

Zimmerman with 14 points, 11 boards, 4 assists, and 2 blocks. He shot 7 of 10.


McDade with 4 assists and 0 turnovers off the bench. Vega led the scoring off the bench with 6. Connolly also had 6.

[Eaglesfan27]

Nelke has a sprained ankle that will slow him for 1-2 weeks. Fortunately, we have 10 days until our next game.


Feb 5, 2034 -

Today we host 17-5 Stanford who are 22nd in the media poll. They are completely healthy while Nelke is our only guy who is not 100% for this game.


Sheesh. Nelke shoots 4 of 19 and we lose 72-51. Halsch shot 2 of 15 which didn't help matters. Nelke was our leading scorer with 12 points.


Despite the loss last week and this loss, we remain #1 in the media poll.


Our next game is hosting 15-6 Oregon who are 25th in the media poll. We beat them earlier in the year 100-81. A look at their roster:

SR SG Donatas Kleinzweig is their most dangerous shooter. He's 6'4 206 and is rated 88 overall. He's averaging 14.2 ppg and 2.1 apg.

SR PG Lowell Crosswhite is 5'11 176 and is rated 86 overall. He is a shoot first guard who is a solid shooter. He's averaging 12.1 ppg and 3.5 apg.

SR SG Donnie Turiaf is starting at SF for them now. He is 6'2 199 and is rated 86 overall. He is arguably the best 3 point shooter in the conference. Nelke is back to 100% and will need to shut down his shooting by using his length. He's averaging 14.4 ppg and 2.4 apg.

JR SF Guilherme Keita is starting at PF in their small lineup. He is 6'6 215 and is rated 83 overall. He is only playing 20 minutes per night and is averaging 5.5 ppg and 3.6 rpg.

SR PF Wendell Cross is starting for them at C. He is 6'8 233 and is rated 84 overall. He has an excellent touch from outside the paint, but isn't much of a post player. He's averaging 10 ppg and 6.3 rpg.

The bench is led by SR SG Elyon Rice who is 6'3 186 and is rated 84 overall. He is a very good 3 point shooter. He's averaging 8.6 ppg.

JR SF Rodrick Camara is their top big man off the bench. He's 6'8 245 and is rated 81 overall. He's averaging 6 ppg.

JR SF Mick Mayer is 6'5 224 and is a solid 3 point shooter. He's rated 80 overall. He's averaging 4.7 ppg.

SO SF Brennan Forney is 6'8 194 and is rated 79 overall. He's terrible defensively but has a nice shot. He's averaging 3.6 ppg.

The rest of the bench is rated in the mid 70's. They don't have a true center on their roster.

[Eaglesfan27]

15:00 - We lead 10-8. Zimmerman is dominating the game inside and scoring quickly for us. Kleinzweig is their leading scorer so far.

10:42 - Zimmerman has dominated this game, but he is tired. I rest Zimmerman, Galbreath, and Mack. We lead 20-16.

6:22 - I rest Halsch with Nelke sliding to PF. We lead 26-22.

3:55 - Nelke rests and the rest of my starters return to game. We are down 33-31.


Halftime: We are tied at 42.


Crosswhite is the player of the half with 12 points and 4 assists. He's given Galbreath problems tonight.

Zimmerman is our leading scorer with 13 points, 3 boards, and 2 blocks.



11:43 - We are on a 8-0 run. We lead 63-56 as they call a timeout. Great balanced scoring right now. Nelke has taken over this run.

7:05 - They are on a 5-0 run and my starters are tired. I call a timeout and bring in the entire 2nd unit. We lead 69-64.

4:41 - Connolly gets a 4th foul on Cross. We lead 71-69 after he hits the FT's.

4:11 - Kabba with a fastbreak dunk. They call a timeout. We bring back all of our starters to protect the 73-69 lead.

3:10 - Nelke with a 14 footer. He now has 20 points. We lead 75-71.

1:03 - Galbreath sets up Mack for an open 3. We lead 78-71.

42 seconds - Galbreath with a steal which sets up a fastbreak basket to Halsch who dunks it and gets fouled. He makes the FT.


We win the game 81-71.


Zimmerman is the player of the game with 20 points, 10 boards, 2 blocks, and 1 assist. He shot 9 of 13, and 2 of 5 from the line.

Nelke also finished with 20 points. He also had 6 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. He shot 8 of 15, 2 of 3, and 2 of 2.

Galbreath with 7 points, 10 assists, 2 steals, and 2 turnovers.

Mack with 8 points and 3 boards.

Halsch with 11 points and 9 boards.

Troy led the bench with 6 points. Connolly with 5. McDade with 3 assists.

Kleinzweig was their leading scorer with 17 points. Crosswhite finished with 15.

[Eaglesfan27]

Feb 11, 2034 -

We host 6-16 WSU.

We beat them 103-60. Nelke led the team with 30 points, 10 boards, and a block. He shot 8 of 15, 1 of 2, and 13 of 14.

Zimmerman with 18 points and 6 boards. Halsch with 11 points. Troy with 10 points. Kabba and Connolly with 8 each.


We are now 20-2. Our team is looking like a real title contender as we maintain the #1 ranking. Even though there are a few weeks left in the season, I thought it would be fun to compare the overalls of my guys when we started the year and now. This new coaching staff has done great things for their development..

This is a copy of the post from the beginning of the year with updated thoughts and current overall ratings:

PG is a strong position with 2 veteran options and 1 young player ready to contribute:

SR PG Rashard Galbreath is being pushed by McDade, but his defense should allow him to remain the starter. Galbreath is 6'1 199 and is rated 86 overall. His shooting still needs work, but his defense is at the very top level in the game now. Galbreath has really developed his passing during the season and his outside shot has become respectable. Overall is now 90!

JR PG Keon McDade is now the best 3 point shooter on the team. Could play late in games we are down in. McDade is also the better passer and ball handler, but he really is a significant notch down on the defensive end. He's rated 84 overall. He is 6'1 175. One of the slowest to develop this year after an early good start. However, I feel bad that this great shooter isn't getting more minutes. Of course, he will be the man running the entire show next year. Overall is now a 86.

RS FR PG Antone Dawson is 6'1 186 and is rated 77 overall. He's a very good midrange shooter which is his best strength. His passing is also a strength. Defensively, he is the worst of the 3, but he isn't bad. Has hardly played, I need to rectify that or I'm afraid he'll transfer. He's good enough to start for a lot of teams. He is already a better passer than McDade and almost as good as Galbreath. Going to be a dynamite player. Rated 80 overall now.

At SG, we have an interesting cluster of options, all of them good:

RS SR Bernard Mack would appear to be the incumbent, but he'll get pushed by Connolly and Dillard. Mack has the experience and has showed that he can be a big time scorer. He is also the best defender of the 3. He is 6'4 240 and is rated 84 overall. He hasn't been the huge scorer this year, because we have so many other options, but he can hit the critical 3 when needed as we saw in the recent Oregon game. Rated 87 overall now.

SR SG Keon Connolly is the most consistent 3 point shooter of the group. He's 6'3 211 and he is the fastest of the 3 as well. However, his defense is the weakest of the 3. He is rated 83 overall. His early big improvement tailed off this year. Still, his 3 point shooting is a big weapon if we need to comeback and he'll continue to get plenty of bench minutes. Rated 85 overall.

RS SO Jerald Dillard is pushing hard for PT. He's 6'2 190 and is rated 82 overall. He is the best ball handler of the 3 and has the best lateral movement. He is the worst at shooting from the arc of the group. He continues to push hard but is getting crunched by the numbers. Another guy that I need to find more minutes for as I fear he might transfer. He'd be a star on most other teams. He's rated 85 overall now. He is the quickest SG I've ever had, of course, he is also among the smallest.


SF, is the big question mark. Lots of youth here:

SO SF Troy Toussaint looks like he'll win the starting job. He's now 6'7 240 and is rated 79 overall. He has the best potential of any of the options. However, his 3 point shot has been inconsistent. He is the most athletic of the 3 at this point. While Nelke has cut his minutes down significantly, he is still thriving in his role. Rated 82 overall. Everything is set up for him to be a major scoring option next year.

FR SF Lucious Kabba appears to be the real deal. He's 6'6 220 and is rated 78 right off the bat. He's going to push for PT and should be the #1 option at SF off the bench if he doesn't win the starting job. He appears to be a more consistent shooter from the arc. We'll see if that holds. He also appears to be the best rebounder of the 3. Our staff thinks we overestimated his potential in the past evaluation of him. Playing very well for a true freshman, but has my staff wondering if his ceiling may be lower than other options. Rated 80 overall as a true freshman, so I can't complain much.

FR SF Leo Annen is one that our staff is recommending redshirt. He is the rawest of the 3, with subpar defense, subpar outside shooting, but explosive hops. He is 6'8 199 and is rated 74 overall. Redshirt year still ongoing. Overall up 2 points to a 76.

PF is on paper our strongest position although depth will be a concern if we have injuries:

SR PF Gerrod Halsch in practice is the better player, but it didn't translate on the court last year. However, he appears poised for a breakout year. He's really worked hard on his post game, his midrange shot, his rebounding, and his shot blocking. He's 6'9 262 and is rated 87 overall. He seems to have hit his ceiling, but it's very good for this level. Rated 88 overall. Scoring 3 points above his freshman mark of 8.1 which was the highest of his career up until this year.

SR PF Dameon Nelke had a breakout year last year. He's now 6'10 230 and is rated 85 overall. He's incredibly quick with SF speed and lateral movement. He's got a great midrange shot. He has 3 point range. He's developed a very nice post game. He has become an all around threat. Has become one of my most complete scorers in my years at USC. Rated 88 overall. Averaging 19.3 ppg.

Center is an area of concern with not much depth:

JR Timon Zimmerman appears set for a breakout year. He is 7'4" 290 now. He's rated 81 overall. He's improved his rebounding and his low post game. Has the best size of any center I've had and is really establishing himself as an inside force now. Scouts think he may come out after this year and be a 1st round pick. Rated 84 overall. Scoring a career high 13.3 ppg.

FR Olu Vega is an interesting player. He's got great size for the post at 7'1 254, but his post game is non-existant at this point. However, his midrange game is a legit threat. He even has some 3 point potential. He is a tremendous dunker, as one would expect. Too bad, he has HORRIBLE ball handling ability and will never be able to beat guys off the dribble. Defensively, he is very bad except for his shot blocking ability which is very good. He's rated 75 overall. Disappointing growth so far. Rated 76 overall. He's not shooting as well as I hoped from the outside.

[Young Drachma]

This dynasty is the CH2K8 gold standard. I'm consistently impressed with the body of your work here.

[Eaglesfan27]

This dynasty is the CH2K8 gold standard. I'm consistently impressed with the body of your work here.

Thanks for the compliment. I've enjoyed writing/playing it.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our next game is at Washington who is 22-4 and 5th in the media poll. We beat them 97-83 earlier in the year. One of their top SG's, Stewart Simon is out with an abdominal injury, but they still have a lot of firepower led by Linebaugh.

SG Keena Linebaugh from Sacramento, CA is 6'6 235 and is rated 90 overall. He was the 12th player in his class and he is a lottery prospect. He is a great 3 point shooter and a solid all around offensive player with no weaknesses in that aspect, but he is a suspect defender. He tends to get into foul trouble as a result and is only averaging 27 mpg.

SR SF Antonio Atangana is 6'6 227 and he is from Los Angeles. He is rated 88 overall. He is a much better balanced player with very good defensive and offensive skills. He is a very explosive dunker when he gets the opportunity but isn't a great dribbler.

JR PG Piotr Mencio is from Seattle. He is 6'2 201 and is rated 87 overall. He was the 11th ranked player in his class. He is an elite defender, a very good shooter, and a good passer.

SO PF Vitautas Hornsby has already become a star for them. He is a 6'9 255 pound player from Seattle who is a very good 3 point threat. He was ranked 31st in his class and he is a silky smooth shooter from any range. Defensively, he needs to work on his game.

JR C Jasko Fray is 7'4 230 and is from Seattle. He is rated 83 overall. He tends to get into foul trouble which has limited his minutes.

SO PF Damian Snowden is getting major minutes off the bench. He is 6'8 228 and is from San Diego, CA. He is rated 84 overall. He was ranked 9th in his class. He has a nice midrange shot and is a solid defender.

SO PG Cal Bailey is the highest touted of their super sophomore class. He is 6'1 192 and is rated 83 overall. He was the 7th player in his class and he is from Billings, MT. He is a dynamic athlete wo has a great midrange shot and a good 3 point shot.

JR SF Bryce Henning is 6'7 240 and is rated 82 overall. He has explosive quickness but hardly plays because of the guys in front of him getting most of the minutes as they frequently go small.

They also have 3 dynamic freshman who are all rated in the high 70's who only play a few minutes per night.

[Eaglesfan27]

18:42 - Nelke uses a screen to beat his man, he drives into the lane, and dunks on Fray. There is contact and the foul, but Nelke is hurt. He's favoring his ankle. Troy will come in for him.

15:00 - Both sides with balanced early scoring. We are down 8-7.

12:33 - A 8-0 run gives them a nice lead before Halsch hits a hook shot in the paint.

10:19 - Galbreath gets a 2nd foul on Snowden. We are down 17-10.

9:31 - I call a timeout to rest my starters. We are down 19-10. Nelke has been cleared to return and will play PF with the 2nd unit.

Connolly with a very nice reverse layup and the foul for a 3 point play right after he came into the game.

7:30 - They are shooting very well. 2 3's and they are up 25-13.

Connolly with 3 in response.

3:52 - They've rested their starters for the last 2 1/2 minutes and we have gone on a 7-0 run. Nelke with 6 of those points. They call a timeout and bring back their starters. I bring back Zimmerman, Troy, and Mack.

2:39 - Zimmerman with a great double move under the basket to get a 2nd foul on Fray. He hits both FT's to make it a 2 point game. We are down 29-27.

2:01 - I bring back the rest of my starters.


Halftime: We are down 34-31.


Mencio is the player of the half with 9 points and 4 assists.

Connolly is our leading scorer with 8 points. Nelke and Halsch each have 6.


14:14 - The tempo of the game has increased greatly in the 2nd half. Both sides running much more. We are down 48-44.

9:20 - Troy has had problems with Atangana all day long, but he just got a 3rd foul on him.

7:47 - My starters are exhausted. They've been running hard the last 8 minutes. I bring in the entire 2nd unit with Nelke. We are down 58-55.

7:07 - Vega gets a 3rd and 4th foul on Fray! They go small.

5:05 - Nelke with a great pair of passes to set up 3's by Connolly. We are up 61-60 now.

3:38 - McDade with a crossover into the lane, and gets fouled by Snowden. He hits both FT's to put us up 65-62. They call a timeout. I bring in Zimmerman but leave everyone else out on the floor, McDade, Connolly, Kabba, and Nelke.

Connolly with a steal!

Then, McDade with a drive and kick, Connolly drills the 3!

Zimmerman with a block of a shot by Fray.

Connolly sets up McDade for a 3 from the top of the key. We lead 71-62.

Atangana gets a 12 footer to end our run. 1:30 left.

They get a steal and Mencio hits a 3. 71-67. 1:10 left.

McDade misses a 3 at the buzzer. They miss a quick 3, but Fray gets the offensive board. They set up for another 3 which misses. Zimmerman with the board and they foul. Only 15 seconds left.

He misses both FT's. They get the board and get a quick 3 off which misses. Kabba with the board. He's fouled and makes both FT's.

Atangana hits a 3 at the buzzer, but it is too late.


We win the game 73-70.


Connolly is the player of the game with 17 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and a steal. He shot 6 of 7, 4 of 5, and 1 of 1.

Galbreath with 6 points, 8 assists, 2 steals, and 0 turnovers. He shot 1 of 2.

Mack with 10 points on 4 of 10 shooting.

Nelke with 8 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, and 1 steal. He shot 2 of 5.

Halsch with 9 points, 3 boards, 1 steal, and 1 block. He shot 4 of 7.

Zimmerman with 11 points, 8 boards, and 2 blocks. He shot 3 of 11.


McDade with 5 points and 5 assists in just 15 minutes.

Troy with 4 points and 2 boards in 26 minutes.

Kabba with 3 points and 3 boards in 14 minutes.


Atangana was their leading scorer with 21. Troy had a very tough time guarding him. Mencio finished with 14 points and 6 assists. Linebaugh with 15 points and 4 assists.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our next game is at UCLA. They are 19-4 and 11th in the media poll. They are completely healthy. Here is an abbreviated updated look at their lineup:

SR C Abe Butch is now rated 89 overall. The big man is averaging 21.4 ppg, 7.3 rpg, and 1.4 bpg. If Zimmerman can contain him, our chances at winning are very good.

SR PF Jasko McCollum missed our last game. He is an elite defender in the post or on the perimeter. He has decent size at 6'8 222. He is a good midrange shooter. He's averaging 11.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg, and 2.5 bpg.

JR PG Franklin Howel is still rated 84 overall. He's averaging 7.2 ppg and 5 apg.

SR PG Prosper Valencia is still starting at SG. He is 6'0 185 and is rated 83 overall. He is a good 3 point shooter but is only averaging 5.2 ppg.

They are starting Lloyd Diallo at SF! Interesting that they are copying my ideas ;) Lloyd is a natural PF at 6'11 264 and is rated 83 overall. Like Nelke, he has good speed for such a big man, but he isn't quite as fluid as Nelke. He is also a good midrange shooter. He's averaging 9.2 ppg, 8 rpg, and 1.3 bpg.

SR PG Luther Simpson is the first man off the bench now. He is averaging 3.1 ppg and 2.2 apg. He is rated 81 overall.

JR PG Loren Burrowes is averaging 3.8 ppg and 1.1 apg. He is rated 81 overall.

FR SG Lowell Filipovic is back to coming off the bench. He is rated 78 overall. He is averaging 4.7 ppg and 1.5 rpg.

[Eaglesfan27]

Since they are going big, I'm going to start Nelke at SF, but we'll see if his ankle slows him down too much.

19:01 - Zimmerman gets the first foul on Butch.

14:49 - Zimmerman just got a 2nd foul on Butch. Things just became much easier! We lead 7-6. They respond by going small and bringing in Filipovic at SF.

Nelke gets burnt badly by Filipovic who draws a foul on Zimmerman in the paint. I bring in Troy for Nelke.


9:49 - Zimmerman is exhausted, but he has been on such a hot streak that I hate to take him out. He has 15 points! We are up 20-16. I rest everyone except Troy. Nelke comes back in at PF.

4:46 - Vega gets a 2nd foul on Cassler, their backup C. They go even smaller. We lead 30-24.


2:44 - I bring back all of my starters (except I keep Troy at SF.) We lead 35-27.

1:44 - Zimmerman gets a 2nd foul on Diallo. He's picking up right where he left off.


Halftime: We lead 39-31.

Zimmerman is the player of the half with 18 points, 4 boards, and a block.


18:19 - Zimmerman gets a 3rd foul on Butch. They go small again.


17:33 - We just had a perfect fastbreak. 4 men touched it, it never touched the floor. Troy finishes with the dunk.

16:22 - Another play that I haven't seen before. A Galbreath pass was tipped away, up into the air, but as it bounced off the backboard Zimmerman jumped and caught it for the offensive putback dunk.

9:24 - Our offense is really clicking now. Mack is nailing his shots. When he is doing that, I think we are unbeatable. 66-48 lead as I rest my starters. They bring back Butch.


4:26 - Butch and Howel have brought them right back into it. 68-60 as I call a timeout and bring back my starters.

4:04 - Zimmerman gets a 4th foul on Butch. He misses the front end of the 1-and-1.

2:54 - Butch spins away from Zimmermanand has a huge dunk to get their crowd really going. 70-64.

59 seconds - Butch with a hook to make it a 4 point game.

25 seconds - Butch blocks a shot by Zimmerman. They miss a quick 3 and Mack gets the ball before they can foul Zimmerman. Mack hits the 1st FT.. and the 2nd. 72-66.

They miss a 3. Troy gets the board and is fouled.


We win the game 74-68.


Zimmerman is the player of the game with 20 points, 12 boards, 4 assists, and 2 blocks. He shot 8 of 12 and 4 of 8 from the line. He held Butch to 14 points (most of them when Zimmerman was resting.)

Galbreath with 8 assists, 0 points, 0 steals, and 2 turnoers. He shot 0 of 3. Howel had 10 points and 7 assists (most of them also when Galbreath was out of the game.)

Mack with a game high 21 points. He also had 1 board and 1 assist. He shot 7 of 11, 4 of 8, and 3 of 3.

Nelke with 2 points, 2 boards, 5 assists, and 1 steal. He shot 1 of 7. His ankle should be better in a week or so.

Halsch with 4 points, 6 boards, and 1 steal. He shot 1 of 4. McCollum played him very tough. McCollum also had 10 points and 10 boards against him.

Troy led the bench with 11 points and 2 boards in 29 minutes. He shot 3 of 6 and 5 of 5 from the line.

Connolly with 11 points in just 12 minutes. He shot 4 of 8, 3 of 6 from the arc.

Vega with 5 points, 6 boards, and 1 block.

[Eaglesfan27]

With a 22-2 record we remain #1 in the polls.


Feb 23, 2034 -

Today we host 18-8 Arizona. Hopefully, we get revenge for the earlier loss at their place.

We do! 94-61 win. Galbreath with 11 assists. Mack and Halsch each had 22 points.

Nelke with 10 points and 5 boards on 4 of 14 shooting. Zimmerman with 15 points, 7 boards, and 3 blocks. Connolly led the bench with 8 points in 12 minutes. Mcdade with 7 and Troy with 6.



Feb 26, 2034 -

Today we host 11-14 Cal. They are banged up and should be an easy win.

We handle them 84-62. Nelke led the way with 21 points, 7 boards, 3 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 10 of 21, 1 of 5, and 0 of 1.

Zimmerman with 23 points, 9 boards, and 2 blocks. He shot 9 of 14.

Galbreath with 5 points and 5 assists. Mack with 6 points and 5 assists. Halsch with 8 points, 10 boards, and 3 blocks.

Troy led the bench with 8 points. Kabba with 5 points.



We've now entered the quiet period in recruiting. We are 24-2 and remain #1 in the polls. Here is the top 10 in the media poll with roster strength ratings:

1. USC 24-2 95
2. Saint Joseph's 26-2 94
3. Pittsburgh 26-3 93
4. Texas A&M 22-5 95
5. Nebraska 25-3 90
6. UConn 22-6 94
7. Clemson 22-5 89
8. Wisconsin 24-5 89
9. Stanford 22-6 93
10. Texas Tech 22-6 91


Other teams of note:

Niagara is 28-3 (18-0) and ranked 15th. Team roster strength of 86! :)

Georgia Tech has been hit hard by injuries this year. They are 19-8 and 17th in the media poll. Due to injuries, their starting C is only rated 68 overall. They still have a roster strength of 94. They have 3 starters who are rated 91!

UCLA has dropped to 18th in the media poll.

19. Siena is the other MAAC power. They are 24-5 (16-2) and have a roster strength of 93! WOW! They have a Sophomore SF, Wallace Stanley who is rated 90 overall! Wallace is a 6'5 210 pound SF from Poughkeepsie, NY who probably wanted to remain close to home. He was the #4 player in his class. He is averaging 19.3 ppg.

Kansas is 23rd in the media poll. They have also been hit by injuries. They are 19-7 with a roster strength of 93.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our next game (and 2nd to last of the Pac-10 Regular Season) is at ASU. They are 13-15. They have done a terrible job developing their star PG Hensley Walton. In fact, every one of their starters has the exact same rating as when I played them earlier in the year. What a waste of Hensley's talent.

FR PG Hensley Walton is 5'11 160 and is from San Jose, CA. He was the #7 overall player last year and the top PG in the nation. He is a very good 3 point shooter, a very good ball handler, and a great stealer. He needs to work on the other parts of his game. He is rated 79 overall. He is averaging 8.8 ppg and 3.3 apg. He is suffering from the lack of help around him.

They have moved PG Chadd Drabyn into the starting lineup at SG. He is 5'9 168 and is rated 77 overall. He's averaging 8.3 ppg and 3.6 apg. He was hurt when we played them earlier in the year.

SR SF M.C. Muurinen is 6'7 238 and is rated 74 overall. He is a decent midrange shooter. He is averaging 7.2 ppg and 4.4 rpg.

SR PF Quin Den Boer is a 6'9 250 pound PF from Chula Vista, CA. He is rated 76 overall. He is averaging 7.2 ppg and 5.2 rpg.

SO C Levi Cortez is back from his injury and will be the most dangerous player added since I last played them. He is 6'7 224 and is rated 78 overall. He's averaging 12.7 ppg and 4.1 rpg. He has a fair bit of range on his shot.

SO C Clifton Collucci is their top bench player. Clifton is 6'10 232. He is rated 73 overall. He is averaging 3.3 ppg and 2.3 rpg.

FR SG Booker Stockman is now coming off the bench is doing much better in this role. He is 6'2 180 and is rated 74 overall. He's averaging 8.7 ppg and 3.6 rpg.

JR SG Monwell Deberry rounds out the rotation. He is 6'4 214 and is rated 74 overall. He is averaging 5.1 ppg and 1.4 rpg.

The rest of the bench is in the high 60's.

I'll play them later.

[hoopsguy]

Zimmerman has come on like gangbusters in conference play. Your interior play is pretty scary.

[Eaglesfan27]

Zimmerman has come on like gangbusters in conference play. Your interior play is pretty scary.

Yes, he has. I just hope he doesn't really go pro early. If he does, next year we are going to be weak inside. Oh well, I just need to enjoy his play and the rest of our guys right now. If our outside shots are falling, I think we are unbeatable with this interior play from Zimmerman, Nelke (when healthy), and Halsch.

[Eaglesfan27]

16:30 - Nelke is fouled hard on a dunk attempt. He gets up and brushes himself off. We lead 8-6.

15:04 - Galbreath and Nelke with a 2-on-1 fastbreak... Galbreath to Nelke for the alley-oop dunk. Nelke is back to 100%. We lead 12-6.

14:21 - Nelke gets a 2nd foul on Muurinen.

11:22 - Nelke is controlling the game early. We lead 20-12.

9:34 - Halsch picks up his 2nd foul. I bring on the entire second unit. We lead 24-14.

3:55 - I bring back my starters to finish the half. We lead 32-17.

1:52 - Halsch picks up his 3rd foul. Nelke slides to PF and Troy comes back in. That is how we will start the 2nd half as well. We lead 38-23.


Halftime: We lead 43-28.

Nelke is the player of the half with 16 points, 1 board, 1 assist, and 1 steal.

Zimmerman with 10. Mack and Troy with 5 each.

19:33 - Nelke gets a 3rd foul on Den Boer.

17:06 - Nelke gets a 3rd foul Muurinen.

16:02 - Zimmerman gets a 3rd foul on Cortez. We lead 52-34.

8:49 - We were blowing them out until the last 2 minutes when my starters played liked they were tired. I should have called a timeout sooner. We lead 65-47, but they are on a 7-0 run.


My 2nd unit plays well enough that I never have to bring back the starters. In particular, Halsch had a very nice 2nd half.

We win the game 76-62.

Nelke is the player of the game with 31 points, 6 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. He shot 11 of 17 and 9 of 10 from the line.

Galbreath with 0 points, 11 assists, 3 steals, and 1 turnover. He didn't shoot at all. He helped hold Walton to 4 points and 4 assists.

Mack with 5 points on 2 of 8 shooting.

Halsch with 9 points, 9 boards, 2 assists, and a block. He shot 4 of 8.

Zimmerman with 15 points, 7 boards, 1 assist, and 3 blocks. He shot 6 of 11 and 3 of 4 from the line.


Troy led the bench with 7 points, 1 board, and 1 steal.

McDade with 3 points and 3 assists.

Connolly shot 0 of 6 today.

Kabba with 4 points and 4 boards. Vega with 3 boards and a block.

[Eaglesfan27]

March 4, 2034 -

Our final regular season game is at Oregon State. They are 10-17. We beat them 81-50.

Nelke and Troy each had 15 to lead the team. Nelke also had 7 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. He shot 6 of 11.

Galbreath with 3 points and 4 assists. Mack with 8 points and 4 assists. Halsch with 10 points and 7 boards.

Zimmerman with 11 points, 11 boards, and 3 blocks. He shot 4 of 12.

McDade had a very productive 16 minutes with 11 points and 6 assists.

Connolly with 6 points and Kabba with 4.



We finish the regular season 26-2 and #1 in the media poll. Here is a look at the Pac-10 Standings as we prepare for the tourney:


1. USC 26-2 (16-2)
2. Stanford 24-6 (13-5)
3. UCLA 21-7 (12-6)
4. Oregon 20-8 (12-6)
5. Arizona 20-10 (10-8)
6. Washington 22-9 (9-9)
7. ASU 13-17 (6-12)
8. WSU 8-21 (5-13)
9. Cal 11-17 (4-14)
10. OSU 10-18 (3-15)

[Eaglesfan27]

WSU beat Cal 82-60 to advance to face us in the 2nd round of the Pac-10 Tourney. I decide to sim that game.

We win the game 89-64, but suffer an injury to Kabba that will sideline him for 2-3 weeks with a separated shoulder.

Nelke led our team with 28 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. He shot 11 of 22, 1 of 4, and 5 of 5.

Halsch with 19 points, 5 boards, and a block. He shot 5 of 10.

Zimmerman got into foul trouble and only played 20 minutes. He still had 10 points, 5 boards, and a block. He shot 4 of 6.


Our next game is against Oregon who beat Arizona 92-85 in their 1st game.

If we win, we'll face the winner of Washington (who beat UCLA) and ASU (who beat Stanford) in the Pac-10 Final.

I'll play Oregon later.

[Eaglesfan27]

My staff convinced me to try an experiment tonight. I'm starting Troy in place of Nelke to try to get Troy going. Nelke will still play most of the 1st half.

14:15 - Both sides running early. We lead 14-9. I bring in Nelke for Troy. Troy has 4 points.

Nelke hits his first shot, a three.

After a miss by Oregon, Nelke and Galbreath on the fastbreak.. Galbreath with a perfect bounce pass into the paint, Nelke dunks it.


Nelke has triggered a 10-0 run. He has 7 points and an assist already.

Nelke gets a 2nd foul on Cross. He's scoring in bunches.

Nelke with a heat check.. a 3 from the top of the key.. and it is good. He's on fire.

8:45 - Halsch picks up his 2nd foul. I bring back Troy and slide Nelke to PF. We lead 37-19!

6:55 - Zimmerman picks up his 2nd foul. I rest all of my starters. McDade, Connolly, Troy, Nelke, and Vega are in the game now. We lead 43-21.


Halftime: I'd say the experiment is a huge success! We lead 55-26.

Nelke is the player of the half with 26 points! He also has 3 boards, 3 assists, a steal, and a block. He is 3 of 3 from the arc.

Zimmerman with 12. 3 players with 5.


We go back to our starters for the 2nd half.


15:56 - Troy with a very good first 4 minutes before they call a timeout. We lead 63-30.

14:00 - Nelke is going to get 4-5 minutes to see if he can hit his career high because I want to make sure Oregon is completely done. We lead 66-36.

His first shot is a fade away 10 footer that swishes.

9:10 - Nelke played too unselfishly. No new career high for him. We are leading 85-48. I bring in McDade, Dillard, Connolly, Troy, and Vega.

4:00 - I get Antone Dawson into the game at PG. We lead 93-66.


We win the game 98-76.


Nelke is the player of the game with 32 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. He shot 12 of 16, 3 of 3, and 5 of 6.

Galbreath with 4 points, 11 assists, 1 steal, and 1 turnover.

Mack with 17 points, 3 assists, and a steal. He shot 6 of 8, 5 of 7 from the arc.

Troy with 14 points, 6 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 6 of 11.

Halsch with 7 points, 5 boards, 4 assists, and 2 blocks. He shot 3 of 6.

Zimmerman with 14 points, 6 boards, and a block. He shot 7 of 10.

McDade with 2 points and 3 assists.

Connolly with 3 points.

Dillard with 5 points and 2 assists.

Dawson with 2 assists.

Vega with 5 boards and a block.

[Eaglesfan27]

Washington pounded ASU 100-64. They are 24-9 and 13th in the media poll now. They are completely healthy for the game against us for the Pac-10 Championship.

[Eaglesfan27]

14:19 - Linebaugh and Mack are the big early scorers. Linebaugh has all 10 of their points. We are tied at 10 as I call a timeout and bring in Nelke for Troy.

Nelke with a steal and a block to start a 10-0 run!

Linebaugh ends the run with a 3.

10:30 - Galbreath draws a 2nd foul on Mencio.

10:10 - Galbreath draws a quick pair of fouls on Bailey, their #2 PG! They bring in the explosive SG Simon to play the point.

6:40 - Nelke with a drive into the paint gets a 2nd foul on Fray. We lead 30-21.

2:25 - I rest all of my starters for the first time today. We lead 43-26.


Halftime: We lead 50-30.

Nelke is the player of the game with 20 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Wow. I'm going to miss him.

Mack has 13 points. Galbreath has 8 assists.



18:30 - Zimmerman picks up his 3rd foul but will remain in the game.

17:45 - Galbreath gets a 3rd foul on Mencio.

17:02 - Galbreath gets a 3rd foul on Fray with a great drive where he split two guys to get inside. His explosive dribbling ability cannot be underestimated in the importance to our team success.

16:16 - Galbreath with a block and then he gathers the carom and takes it all the way for a dunk.

15:34 - Galbreath with a 3. He's feeling it now. We lead 60-33.

14:02 - Galbreath gets a 3rd foul on Bailey. We lead 65-36. Time for Nelke to come into the game.

13:03 - Zimmerman picks up his 4th foul. Vega comes into the game. They are on a little run. 65-40.

Nelke with a pair of threes to end that run.

Nelke with a pair of steals and we are on our own 10-0 run.

9:01 - We are up 82-50 as I rest Nelke and my starters except Troy. We go with McDade, Connolly, Dillard, Troy, and Vega.

3:45 - I get Dawson into the game again. We lead 94-58. They just seem beaten down.


We win the Pac-10 Championship! We win 102-67.


Nelke is the player of the game with 30 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, 2 blocks, and 5 steals! He shot 11 of 17, 4 of 5, and and 4 of 4.

Galbreath with 12 points, 12 assists, and 3 turnovers. He shot 4 of 5, 1 of 2, and 3 of 4.

Mack with 20 points on 7 of 11 shooting, 4 of 6 from the arc.

Troy with 5 points, 5 boards, and a block.

Halsch with 9 points, 9 boards, and 3 assists.

Zimmerman with 10 points, 6 boards, and a block. He shot 4 of 6.

Connolly with 8 points. Dawson with 2 points and 2 assists. Dillard with 2 points. Vega with 4 points, 4 boards, and 3 blocks in just 16 minutes.


Time for the Selection Show...

[Eaglesfan27]

First some of the notable bubble Teams: Villanova (19-12), Indiana (20-10), Rutgers (23-11), FSU (19-10), SDSU (21-8), Maryland (20-12)

We have the announcement of the #1 seeds:

USC (East), Saint Joseph's (South), Pittsburgh (Midwest), and Nebraska (West)


Interesting East Matchups/teams:

We'll get the play-in winner.

#8 Vanderbilt (20-10) vs #9 San Diego (24-6)

#5 Washington (24-10) vs #12 Evansville (21-10)

#4 UCLA (21-8) vs #13 Loyola (Ill.) 20-11

#3 UConn (25-7) vs #14 Centenary

#7 West Virginia (21-11) vs #10 Rutgers (23-11)

#2 Georgia Tech (24-8) vs #15 Denver (18-13)


Interesting South Teams/matchups:

#8 Nevada (24-6) vs #9 Iowa (24-9)

#5 North Carolina State (25-8) vs #12 North Florida (22-8)

#4 Niagara (30-4) vs #13 Fresno State (20-11)

#6 Xavier (23-8) vs #11 Maryland (20-12)

#2 Stanford (24-7) vs #15 UC Irvine (17-15)


Midwest:

#8 Houston (25-8) vs #9 UTEP (22-7)

#5 Siena (27-5) vs #12 Southern Miss (22-11)

#6 Kansas (21-9) vs #11 Florida (23-11)

#7 Arizona (20-11) vs #10 FSU (19-10)


West:

#8 Alabama (22-9) vs #9 Syracuse (23-10)

#5 Temple (27-7) vs #12 Colorado State (20-11)

#4 Oregon (21-9) vs #13 E. Kentucky (22-9)


Big 12, Pac-10, ACC, and Big East each have 6 teams.

SEC has 5.

Big Tenwith 4.

A-10, C-USA with 3.

MWC, MAAC, and WAC with 2 each.


Bubble teams that are out: UAB (19-7), SDSU (21-6), Villanova (19-12), Iowa State (20-10), Duquesne (19-9)

[Eaglesfan27]

Our first game will be against University of Texas at San Antonio. They finished the year 16-14 (6-10.) Their overall roster strength is a 68. I'm tempted just to sim this game, but I won't take that very slim chance that I'd lose on a sim. A look at their roster:


JR PG Denham Chatman is rated 66 overall and is 6'3 198. He is slow, doesn't shoot well, and is just an average passer. His defense is subpar. He averaged 6.4 ppg and 2.3 apg.

SO SG Bracey Hoffman is rated 70 and is 6'3 192. He is the best shooter on the team. He is also their fastest player. His defense is bad. He is averaging 14.5 ppg.

JR SF Rod Brower is rated 61 and is 6'6 238. He is a horrible defender and a subpar shooter. He's slow, weak, and tends to turn it over a lot. He's averaging 8 ppg.

SR PF Ron Platt is rated 71 and is their best player. He is 6'10 231. He's actually a decent post player, but has no range on his shot. He is averaging 11.3 ppg and 6.4 rpg.

SR C Abe Stevens is rated 55 and is 6'11 240. He's extremely slow. He is a turnover waiting to happen. He has zero midrange ability. He is weak. He is a soft rebounder. He's averaging 4 ppg and 3 rpg.

The bench is all rated in the mid 40's to low 50's. The only thing they have going for them is some nice size. I'll play them later today.

[Eaglesfan27]

I change my mind about simming that game. It just seems like it will be boring to play and I can't imagine them beating me.

We win 106-53.

Nelke led the way with 25 points, 8 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. He shot 7 of 14.

Mack with 24 points and 6 assists.

Galbreath with 2 points and 7 assists.

Troy with 11 points. Halsch with 12. Zimmerman with 10 points.

McDade with 8 points and 8 assists.


Best of all, no one was hurt.


Our next game is against #8 Vanderbilt which beat #9 San Diego 80-75.

Vanderbilt has a roster rating of 87. They feature 3 SR starters, a very good sophomore, and a JR PG who is their best player.

JR PG Daryll Smalls is 5'11 173 and is rated 82 overall. He isn't nearly as fast or quick as Galbreath. He is a subpar defender, but a very good shooter and passer. He's averaging 13 ppg and 4.8 apg.

SO SG Bienvenu James is 6'6 189 and is rated 80 overall. He is a very reluctant shooter and for good reason, however when he gets into the paint he is a dangerous finisher. Defensively, he is subpar although he has good speed and lateral quickness. He's averaging 6.8 ppg and 2.6 apg.

SR SF Shantay Hawkins is 6'7 228 and is rated 77 overall. He is a below average shooter and doesn't have many offensive talents, but he is their best defender. He's averaging 6.7 ppg and 5.5 rpg.

SR PF Bobby Fearing is 6'7 222 and is rated 75 overall. He has a solid post game, but is subpar defensively. He's averaging 7.1 ppg and 5 rpg.

SR C Barney Timba is 6'9 223 and is rated 81 overall. He has excellent mobility for his size and is a good interior player. He also has legitimate 3 point shooting ability. He's subpar defensively. He's averaging 14.5 ppg and 5.9 rpg.

SR PG Jorge Walls is their top bench player. He's 6'1 199 and is rated 80 overall. He is one of the best 3 point shooters in the country. He's averaging 14.9 ppg and 2.3 apg.

JR PG Sidney Jester is 6'4 203 and is also rated 80 overall. He's a very good passer. He's averaging 5.7 ppg and 3 apg.

JR SG Germain Shumate is 6'3 210 and is rated 78 overall. He's a good slashing player. He's averaging 6.4 ppg.

The rest of their bench is in the low 70's They do not have any other PF's or C's on the roster.

[Eaglesfan27]

They jump out to a 7-0 lead using a full court trap until Galbreath breaks it and throws an easy lob pass for a dunk by Zimmerman.

15:49 - Mack missing shots early, but Zimmerman cleaning up on the boards and putting it back in. We take a 10-9 lead.

12:06 - Halsch gets a 2nd foul on Smalls. We just had a 12-0 run before they hit a 12 footer. We lead 20-11 and Troy had 7 points on the run.

11:20 - We lead 21-14 as I call a timeout to get Nelke in for the tired Troy. Time to put the hammer down..

8:56 - Nelke is missing his shots, but Mack has hit a pair of 3's. We lead 27-19.

5:55 - Zimmerman gets his 2nd foul. I decide to rest my starters. We've been pounding them inside the last 3 minutes. We lead 35-21.

4:49 - Troy and Nelke with a 2-on-1 fastbreak.. Nelke throws it to Troy who throws the alley-oop back for Nelke and he makes a long gliding leap to catch it and dunk it. Our fans are going crazy.

Nelke hits a 3 the next time down the floor, then a 12 footer the next time.

Nelke has all of their big men in foul trouble.



Halftime: We lead 58-29!

Nelke is the player of the half with 15 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.

Troy with 12 points. Zimmerman and Halsch with 11 each.


14:08 - We slowed down the tempo for the first 3 minutes of the half, but they closed within 25 so we kicked it up a notch again. I don't want to embarass them, but I don't want to let them get back into the game either. We lead 70-40. We bring in Nelke to help us finish this off for a few more minutes.

9:53 - I rest all of my starters except Nelke, who will play about 2 more minutes. We lead 82-43.

7:04 - Dillard in at SF and Troy to PF. Nelke sits for the rest of the game. We lead 84-46.


We win the game 94-62.


Nelke is the player of the game with 22 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. He shot 8 of 12, 2 of 3, and 4 of 4.

Galbreath with 3 points, 11 assists, and 3 steals. He also had 2 turnovers.

Mack with 9 points on 4 of 10 shooting.

Troy with 18 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals.

Halsch with 14 points, 7 boards, and 2 blocks.

Zimmerman with 15 points, 8 boards, 2 assists, and a block.

Connolly led the bench with 5 points. McDade with 4 assists.

[Eaglesfan27]

A look at how some of my "interesting" teams did in their first games:

#5 Washington (24-10) beat #12 Evansville (21-10), 94-48.

#4 UCLA (21-8) beat #13 Loyola (Ill.) 20-11, 69-50 to advance to play Washington.

Washington beat UCLA 89-74 to advance to the Sweet 16 where they will play us.



#3 UConn (25-7) beat #14 Centenary, 106-66. They then beat DePaul, 66-58 to advance to the Sweet 16.

#7 West Virginia (21-11) was upset by #10 Rutgers (23-11), 73-60.

#2 Georgia Tech (24-8) beat #15 Denver (18-13), 90-70.

Then, they beat Rutgers 90-73. They will play UConn in the Sweet 16. The winner will play us, assuming we beat Washington.


Interesting South Teams/matchups:

#8 Nevada (24-6) lost to #9 Iowa (24-9), 91-88. They lost their next game against Saint Joseph's, 102-75.

#5 North Carolina State (25-8) beat #12 North Florida (22-8), 66-63.

#4 Niagara (30-4) lost to #13 Fresno State (20-11), 92-89 :(

North Carolina State beat #13 Fresno State, 90-58 to advance to the Sweet 16 where they will play Saint Joseph's who has scored at least 100 points in each of their first two games.

#6 Xavier (23-8) lost to #11 Maryland (20-12), 79-71.

Maryland then beat #3 Baylor 94-60!

#2 Stanford (24-7) beat #15 UC Irvine (17-15), 68-64.

Stanford then beat #10 Navy 97-70 to advance to play #11 Maryland in the Sweet 16.

Midwest:

#8 Houston (25-8) beat #9 UTEP (22-7), 84-81.

#5 Siena (27-5) beat #12 Southern Miss (22-11), 81-67. They got 28 points from their star SF in that game.

#13 Delaware upset #4 Clemson, 85-75 to advance to play Siena.

Siena beat Delaware 69-67 to advance to the Sweet 16. Their star SF had 25 points in that game.

#6 Kansas (21-9) beat #11 Florida (23-11), 80-77.

Kansas lost in the next round to #3 Wisconsin 56-48.

#7 Arizona (20-11) beat #10 FSU (19-10), 83-69.

Arizona lost to #2 Texas Tech in the next game, 80-72.

Texas Tech and Wisconsin will play in the Sweet 16.

West:

#8 Alabama (22-9) beat #9 Syracuse (23-10), 68-65.

Alabama upset #1 Nebraska 73-71 in the 2nd round.

#5 Temple (27-7) beat #12 Colorado State (20-11), 63-62.

#4 Oregon (21-9) beat #13 E. Kentucky (22-9), 100-60.

Then, Oregon beat Temple 80-60. They will play Alabama in the Sweet 16.


All of the Sweet 16 Matchups:

#1 USC vs #5 Washington
#2 Georgia Tech vs #3 UConn

#4 Oregon vs #8 Alabama
#2 Texas A&M vs #3 Mississippi State

#1 Saint Joseph's vs #5 North Carolina State
#2 Stanford vs #11 Maryland

#1 Pittsburgh vs #5 Siena
#2 Texas Tech vs #3 Wisconsin.


Washington is completely healthy for our game. We are still missing Kabba. I'll play them tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

It's odd playing Washington for the 4th time this year.

19:42 - Galbreath beats his man off the dribble and gets a foul on Fray.

17:24 - Each of their guards has hit a 3 as has Atangana. They are up 9-4.

14:03 - Galbreath gets a 2nd foul on Fray. We are down 12-9. Time to bring in the Hammer.

13:01 - Nelke gets a 2nd foul on Snowden. We are down 14-11.

10:05 - Nelke just led a 10-0 run. 2 steals, 2 dunks, and a 3 on the run. We are up 21-17.

8:56 - Halsch picks up his 2nd foul. I bring back Troy and slide Nelke to PF. We lead 22-20.

3:29 - Mencio and Linebaugh are hitting 3's while my perimeter players are shooting bricks. We are tied at 31 as I rest everyone except Nelke and Troy.


Halftime: We lead 40-36. Nelke is the player of the half with 19 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and 4 steals. He has shot 6 of 9.

Zimmerman with 11 points. Galbreath with 5 assists.

16:01 - They start off the half with a 12-0 run before Zimmerman finally makes a basket! Down 48-42. Time to bring back Nelke soon..

14:40 - Zimmerman with 3 straight quick baskets to make it a tie game at 48.

13:23 - Mack finally hits a 3. We are tied at 51 as I bring back Nelke.

12:49 - Nelke with a great spin move, dunk and the foul. That is the 3rd foul on Hornsby.

11:35 - Mack misses yet another open 3. I put Connolly in for him.

6:15 - Mencio hits a 14 footer to make it a 2 point game. We lead 64-62.

5:52 - Nelke answers with a 3.

5:15- They make it 67-64, we lead.

Fray blocks a shot by Zimmerman and Hornsby hits a 14 footer.

Nelke misses a 3, but so does Mencio.


3:58 - Nelke is fouled down low. He makes both FT's.

Atangana with a screen hits a 14 footer.

Nelke misses a 12 footer. Mencio hits a 15 footer to give them the lead. 70-69.

2:17 - I call a timeout. I overplayed my hand. My guys are all tired except for Nelke and Connolly. I'll bring in McDade and Troy. Our lineup will be McDade, Connolly, Troy, Nelke, and Zimmerman..

1:50 - McDade comes off a screen and drills a DEEP 3 from near the top of the circle!

1:25 - Snowden hits a 14 footer.

1:08 - Connolly fakes out his man and drives into the paint where he is fouled. He makes the first FT.. and the 2nd! We lead 74-72.

50 seconds - Linebaugh hits a 3.

22 seconds - McDade gets a screen from Nelke and hits a 3 from the top of the circle! We lead 77-75.

0.9 seconds left - I hold my breath as Atangana shoots a 3 over Nelke.. it misses.. but Fray with the putback dunk to tie it as the buzzer sounds.. We are going to OT!

Galbreath and Mack back into the game.


Nelke has it stolen down low and Mencio throws a beautiful alley-oop to Linebaugh.

4:06 - Nelke with a great move in the post to tie it at 79.

3:25 - Troy misses a 16 footer but Zimmerman gets the offensive board and we reset.

2:51 - Nelke draws a foul down low. He makes both FT's.

They call a timeout. I get Halsch back into the game with Troy taking a seat. Our best defensive unit is now on the floor.

Mencio with a 3 off a screen. He has 21.

Galbreath with a drive into the paint where he is fouled. He makes the 1st but misses the 2nd.

Nelke with a steal to get us the ball back!

Fray blocks a shot by Halsch.

Halsch blocks a shot by Hornsby. Tied at 82 with under a minute left.

Galbreath drives inside, gets help coming to him, and threads the pass to Halsch who dunks it! His first points of the night are huge! 33 seconds left.

1.5 seconds - Linebaugh comes off the screen, shoots the 3.. it hits the rim.. bounces.. hits the rim again.. and bounces off! Halsch with the board! He is fouled. He makes both FT's to seal it!!!


We win the game 86-82 in OT. Much too scary.

Nelke is the player of the game with 35 points, 7 boards, 3 assists, 5 steals, and a block. He shot 10 of 18, 2 of 5, and 13 of 16.


Galbreath with 7 points, 10 assists, 3 steals, and 4 turnovers.

Mack with 4 points on 1 of 8 shooting.

Troy with 7 points on 3 of 8 shooting.

Halsch with 4 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, and 2 blocks. He shot 1 of 5.

Zimmerman with 21 points, 10 boards, 2 blocks, and an assist. He shot 7 of 16.

McDade with 6 points.

Connolly with 2 points. He shot 0 of 4.


Mencio did the most damage. He had 21 points and 11 assists against us. Linebaugh had 16 points on 7 of 14 shooting. Fray with 16 points on 8 of 15 shooting.

Who will we face in the Elite 8?

[Eaglesfan27]

A look at all of the rest of the Sweet 16 results:

#4 Oregon beat #8 Alabama 79-46.

#3 Mississippi State beat #2 Texas A&M 65-62. They will play Oregon next.


#5 North Carolina State beat #1 Saint Joseph's 80-78.

#2 Stanford beat #11 Maryland 90-64 to advance.



#1 Pittsburgh beat #5 Siena 81-64. Siena's star SF was held to 7 of 21 shooting.

#3 Wisconsin beat #2 Texas Tech 78-70.


Finally, #2 Georgia Tech beat #3 UConn 77-63 to advance to play us.



Georgia Tech is completely healthy and loaded... They may be the best team left. Their only weakness is at C.

JR PG Kelvin Park is 5'11 178 and is rated 89 overall. He is a shut down defender with great lateral movement. He's strong for his size and is a terrific passer. He's a great midrange shooter but subpar from behind the arc. He's averaging 5.5 ppg and 3.5 apg. He is from Montana and was the 6th player in his class.

SR SG Sonny Mombollet is 6'4 206 and is rated 91 overall. He's one of the best offensive players in the game. He has tremendous speed, passing, handling, and he is a great shot from anywhere on the. His defense is his only relative weakness. He's averaging 16.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg, and 4.4 apg. He is from Fort Myers, FL and was the 7th player in his class.

JR SF Felton Rush is 6'6 199 and is rated 90 overall. He is a dynamic shooter who can hit from anywhere on the floor. He is averaging 13.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg, and 1.4 apg. He is from Atlanta and was the 15th player in his class.

SR PF Jacques Haywood is 6'8 233 and is rated 92 overall. He can do it all, score down low, shoot the midrange shot, and he has some 3 point ability. He's a strong post defender, a solid shot blocker, and he has great stamina. He's averaging 20.4 ppg, 8.7 rpg, and 1.8 bpg. He is from Nashville, TN and he was a 5 star juco player.

FR C Ernest Bradford is 6'10 210 and is the only true center on the roster. He will start, but he won't play many minutes as they will often go small. He is rated 70 overall. He is averaging 4 ppg and 3 rpg.

Their very strong bench is led by SR PG Jerald Ramelli. He is only 5'6 165, but he is rated 86 overall and is the fastest guard we've faced all year. He also has a nice 3 point shot when he gets room to shoot it. He's averaging 9 ppg and 3 apg. He is from Atlanta. He was the 105th player in his class.

JR SG Jean-Baptiste Jolly is 6'4 207 and is from Deltona, FL. He is rated 86 overall. He is a shut down defender with great athleticism. He's averaging 4.5 ppg and 1.8 rpg. He was rated 99th in his class.

JR SF MacKenzie James is 6'8 210 and is rated 86 overall. He is from Erie, PA. He is the most explosive dunker in college basketball this year. He has tremendous elevation and is always playing above the rim, but he can also shoot the 3 fairly well. He's averaging 10.9 ppg and 4 rpg. He was the 13th player in his class.

JR SG Mandi Kelley is 6'5 225 and is rated 82 overall. He is from Augusta. He is another defensive specialist. He is averaging 2.4 ppg.

SO PG Jeramy Bates is their next great PG. He's got excellent speed and quickness, very good ballhandling and passoing, and is a decent shooter. He's 6'1 185 and is rated 80 overall. He's averaging 2.1 ppg and 0.7 apg in limited time.

The rest of the bench is rated in the mid 70's.

I'll play them later.

[Eaglesfan27]

13:59 - Both teams come out nervous. We lead 7-5 as I bring Nelke in for Troy.

Nelke with an immediate offensive rebound.

12:58 - They get a 2nd foul on Zimmerman. I bring in Vega. We lead 9-5.

12:22 - Nelke gets a 2nd foul on Bradford. They go small with another PG in the game.

10:03 - Mack is our only player scoring consistently. We are tied at 13. I bring back Troy. I bring in McDade. I rest Galbreath and Halsch.

6:30 - Mombollet has hit a trio of 3's and we call a timeout. We are down 26-17. I bring in Connolly and Zimmerman.

Troy with a huge 3 to end their run.

5:55 - Zimmerman picks up his 3rd foul. He'll sit the rest of the half. We go back to Vega.

Nelke with back to back baskets. We are on a 9-0 run now and they call a timeout. We are tied at 26.

Troy with a steal and perfect pass to Connolly for a breakaway dunk to give us the lead, 28-26.

3:30 - Vega picks up his 2nd foul. The FT ends our 13-0 run. We lead 30-27.

Nelke showing his versatility will slide to center for the last 3 minutes of the half. Galbreath, Connolly, Troy, Halsch, and Nelke will finish the half.


Halftime: We lead 37-33.

Nelke is the player of the half with 12 points, 4 boards, 1 assist, and 2 steals. He has shot 3 of 8 so far, but is 6 of 6 from the line.

Troy with 8. Mack with 6.



18:46 - Halsch picks up his 2nd foul. We lead 40-35. Mack with a 3 to start the half.

17:08 - Zimmerman gets a 3rd foul on Bradford. We lead 42-39.

16:53 - James with a huge dunk and the foul. The 3rd on Halsch. We lead 42-41 after he misses the FT.

15:25 - Haywood gets a 4th foul on Zimmerman! We bring in Vega. We lead 44-43.

14:35 - James with a huge dunk over Troy. We are down 45-44.

13:26 - Troy responds with a pair of 14 footers. I call a timeout to get Nelke into the game. We lead 48-45.

11:39 - Mombollet with a 3 to tie it at 51.

10:13 - Nelke posts up James for a foul. He makes both FT's to give us a 53-51 lead.

8:55 - Mombollet with a 3 and an assist to give them the 56-55 lead.

8:12 - Mack with a 3 to make it a tie game, 58-58.

7:59 - Bates with a 3 to give them the lead back. I bring in McDade, Connolly, and Troy. I rest Galbreath, Mack, and Halsch. Troy and Nelke will be playing the rest of the this game..

6:35 - Vega picks up his 3rd foul. I bring back Zimmerman. We are down 62-58.

Zimmerman with a dunk and the foul!

We have a tough time with their full court press and barely get it across in time.


5:00 - We are down 66-65 after Nelke hits a pair of FT's.

4:46 - McDade with a steal and breakaway dunk! We lead by 1 now.

Troy picks up his 3rd foul trying to stop James from going by him. James makes both FT's to give them the lead again.

4:10 - McDade gets a 4th foul on Park.

3:30 - Haywood hits a 12 footer to give them a 71-69 lead.

3:10 - Zimmerman draws a 5th foul on Haywood!!! He misses the 1st FT... but makes the 2nd.

2:24 - Nelke misses a 6 footer, but he gets a steal at the other end to give us the ball back quickly.

2:10 - Nelke draws a foul in the paint. He makes both FT's to give us the 1 point lead, 72-71.

They call a timeout. I bring back Galbreath, Mack, and Halsch. Troy will sit after all as his shooting has gone cold..

Seconds later, Zimmerman picks up his 5th foul on a great drive by Rush. I slide Nelke to C and bring back Troy.. He makes the first FT to tie it.. and the 2nd to give them the lead.

1:40 - Nelke backs down his man, spins off him, and dunks it! We lead 74-73.

1:14 - Rush hits a 3 to give them a 76-74 lead.

They collapse on Nelke.. he kicks it out to Mack for a wide open 3.. he misses it.

Mombollet at the other end with a 14 footer from the wing.

I bring in McDade for his 3 point shooting.

33 seconds - McDade misses an open 3.

We foul and they miss the FT! Nelke blows a dunk! They get the ball. We foul and they make a FT.

9 seconds left - McDade drills a 3. We are down 79-77..

Park dodges us for a few seconds before we can catch him to foul.. he hits the first FT.. and the 2nd :(

Our only real hope is to get fouled on a 3 point attempt.. McDade catches.. but the defender backs away from him.. he shoots anyway. He swishes the 3, but time runs out.


We lose the game 81-80. A sad ending to such a promising season.


Nelke was 4 of 16 tonight. He had 22 points, 9 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 14 of 14 from the line.

Galbreath with 7 points, 6 assists, and 5 turnovers in his final game.

Mack with 16 points on 5 of 12 shooting.

Troy with 12 points on 5 of 8 shooting.

Halsch with 2 points on 0 of 6 shooting.

Zimmerman with 6 points and 2 boards. He only played 16 minutes due to his foul trouble.


McDade with 9 points.

Connolly with 4 points in 12 minutes.

Vega with 2 points and 9 boards.


They got us with balanced scoring. Park had 14. Mombollet with 18. Rush with 14. Haywood with 14. James with 11.

[Eaglesfan27]

The rest of the Elite 8 results:

#3 Mississippi State beat #4 Oregon 85-73 to advance to play Georgia Tech.

#2 Stanford beat #5 North Carolina State 66-56 to advance.

#1 Pittsburgh beat #3 Wisconsin 73-71 to advance to play Stanford.



Final 4 Results:

#2 Georgia Tech beat #3 Mississippi State 77-70.

#2 Stanford beat #1 Pittsburgh 80-71 to advance to the National Championship Game.

#2 Stanford beat #2 Georgia Tech 77-75 to win the National Championship!


Stanford got 24 points and 4 assists from Collucci.

Georgia Tech was led by Haywood who had 26 points and 7 boards.

[Eaglesfan27]

Awards:

Kentucky SR C Lonnie Hart was the player of the year. He averaged 27.8 ppg, 8.9 rpg, and 2.2 bpg.

SR SG Jacques Truscott, Niagara, was the mid major player of the year. He averaged 22.9 ppg, 4.0 rpg.

Pitt's coach won Coach of the Year.

SO PF Chad McBridle, Baylor, won defensive player of the year. He averaged 8.2 rpg, 2.3 spg, and 2.6 bpg.

Hart won Big Man of the Year.

SG Fedric Boythe, Boston College, won freshman of the year. He averaged 10 ppg and 3.4 apg.

Niagara's SG made 1st team All-American.

None of our players made 1st or 2nd team.

SR C Abe Butch, UCLA, was the Pac-10 Player of the Year. Darn, I thought Nelke should have gotten it. Butch finished with 21.6 ppg and 7.6 rpg.

Hensley Walton, ASU won Pac-10 Freshman of the Year.

Nelke was 1st team All-Pac-10 at PF. The rest of the team:

JR PG Collucci, Stanford. 12.9 ppg and 5.5 apg.
SR SG Linebaugh, Wash 15.4 ppg and 4.8 rpg.
SR SF Donovin Dearmon, Arizona 13.2 ppg
C Butch

Halsch made 2nd team at PF.

Kabba and Vega made the All-Pac-10 Freshman team.



Now, onto the offseason.

USC Draft Results:

Halsch was a 1st round pick.

Galbreath was a lottery pick.

Nelke was a 1st round pick.

Mack was a 2nd round pick.

Connolly went undrafted.

And worst of all.. Zimmerman went pro early! He was also drafted in the lottery.

Obviously, we just lost a boatload of talent and our best shot at a NC for the next few years.


I get offered a bunch of jobs with the most prestigious being Georgia Tech and UConn. Both of their coaches retired. I also get offered the Duke and Marquette job. They both fired their coaches. I turn them all down.

UConn hires Niagara's head coach!

Georgia Tech hires Temple's head coach.

Duke hires the coach from Towson State!?!

Marquette hires Yale's coach.


We don't get any transfer players.

Time to see how well we can finish out recruiting. I expect SG Arzelle Farrell to sign right away.

[Eaglesfan27]

Day 1:

We got Arzelle Farrell's signature! I hope he is as good as our staff thinks he is. A reminder on his bio and ratings. He is a 6'5 208 pound SG from Costa Mesa, CA. He is ranked 78 overall and 28th among SG's and is a 4 star player. Our staff thinks he is an "A" shooter with great 3 point shooting ability. They think his other ratings are also good: Skills B+, Defense A-, Athleticism A-, Rebounding C, IQ B+, Potential B, and Size B.

The other members of our class who signed early are:

C Jeromy Abdur-Rahim who is 6'8 223 and is from down the street in Compton, CA. He is rated 96th overall and 4th among C's. He is graded: Shooting B-, Skills B, Defense B-, Athleticism B, Rebounding A-, IQ A-, Potential A, and Size B+.

PF A.C. Fuller from San Antonio, TX. He is ranked 99th overall. He is 6'7 204 and is graded as follows: Shooting B, Skills B-, Defense B, Athleticism B, REbounding B+, IQ A-, Potential A-, and Size B+.

PF Desmond Stevens is from Rochester, NY. He is my highest rated player at 37th overall and 4th among PF's. He also is 6'7 204. Shooting B, Skills C+, Defensive B+, Athleticism B+, Rebounding A-, IQ A, Potential A-, and Size B+.


We lost out on 7 targets today including All-American PG Charles Sessoms who has chosedn ASU. They'll have a pair of great PG's now and not much else...

Then again, ASU with a nice day today. They signed a very good 4 star SG from San Diego, CA who is rated 83rd overall.


1st week:

We strike out on the 1 lone 5 star player left, a PG from Toronto who choses to go Xavier.

There are no players left worth recruiting. We're going to leave our last scholarships available for now.


A look at the top classes:

1. Nebraska 3 5 star All-Americans and a 4 star.
2. UConn 3 5 star All-Americans and a 4 star.
3. Texas Tech 2 5 stars and 2 3 stars.
4. Vanderbilt 2 5 stars and 2 3 stars.
5. North Carolina State 1 5 star, 1 4 star, and 2 3 stars.
6. Rutgers 1 5 star and 2 4 stars.
7. Xavier 2 5 stars and 1 3 star.
8. Florida 2 5 stars, 1 4 star, and 1 3 star.
9. Miami (FL) 1 5 star, 1 4 star, and 3 3 stars.
10. USC! We have all 4 of our players who are 4 star top 100 players.
11. UCLA 3 4 stars and 2 3 stars.

Oregon is 15 with 1 5 star and 3 4 stars.

Stanford is 28th with 1 4 star and 3 3 stars. Georgia Tech is about 50th with 3 3 stars. Could they be in descent now?

[Tellistto]

Tough out and ouch on the big man going pro early. Be interesting to see how the team looks in the new season.

Tell

[Eaglesfan27]

Despite the massive talent loss, we are ranked 18th in the pre-season media poll. A look at the roster:

PG is our 2nd strongest position offensively:

SR PG Keon McDade is going to get a chance to score in bunches with this group. He's 6'1 175 and is rated 88 overall. He's the best shooter on my team overall and the 2nd best 3 point shooter. He's also the best ball handler and passer. He lacks the defensive prowess, speed, and quickness of Galbreath, but he isn't that far behind where he was. Could become a lottery pick by the end of the year.

RS SO PG Antone Dawson will get the primary backup work. He's now 6'1 186 and is rated 81 overall. He didn't show much growth this offseason. He is a great passer and midrange shooter, but needs work on other parts of his game.

Walk-on RS FS Domonic Cox will hopefully never play. He is from New Zealand and is rated 66 overall.


I'm excited about our tandem of SG's:

JR Jerald Dillard has patiently waited for his PT and he's ready to have a huge year. He's the fastest, quickest SG I've ever had. He's a solid shooter now. The only downside is his defense and his lack of size. He's 6'2 190. He's rated 86 overall.

FR SG Arzelle Farrell is now 6'6 210. He needs work on other parts of his game, but his 3 point shooting is everything I could have hoped for. He's already the best 3 point shooter on the team and I expect in a year or two, he could challenge for the best shooter in the country. He's a good passer, but a poor ball handler, a subpar defender, and he needs to work on his lateral quickness a bit. He's rated 76 overall.


Walk-on RS SR Cassiano Andrisevic will hopefully never play. He's rated 66 overall.


SF is our deepest position and perhaps most talented:

JR SF Troy Toussaint may play some PF if the new kids don't work out early. He's 6'7 239 and is rated 85 overall. Our staff believes he has the highest ceiling of anyone on the roster. He is an explosive dunker, leaper, with excellent speed for a 3 or a 4. His shooting is erratic but when he is on, he is very good.

SO SF Lucious Kabba showed sparks of talent last year and will get more consistent PT this year to show his ability. He's 6'6 231 and is rated 82 overall. His strength is getting by his man and displaying his amazing vertical.

RS FR Leo Annen is still thin, but he has become a bit more physical. He's 6'7 203 and is rated 77 overall. His defense is his big weakness right now. Everywhere else he is slightly above average.


PF is our wide open position:

FR PF Desmond Stevens is the more heralded player and he appears to be the slightly better player at first blush. He's 6'7 214 now. He's the better rebounder between the two. He's the better defender and he's the stronger player. He's rated 76 overall.

FR PF A.C. Fuller is 6'7 212 and is the better shooter and the more athletic player between the two. However, he's further behind in rebounding and defending. He's rated 75 overall. A tough choice..


C is our weakest position:

SO C Olu Vega gets the benefit of Zimmerman leaving early. Vega is now 7'1 254 and is rated 78 overall. In theory, he has a nice midrange shot but it has not been present in games. He is a strong rebounder and shot blocker. The shot blocking in particular excites me.

FR C Jeromy Abdur-Rahim could push for playing time. He's now 6'9 234. He's rated 76 overall. He's a faster more athletic player than Olu. Our staff thinks he has better range on his shot. However, he is a much worse shot blocker and isn't as good in the post in general defensively. However, he is the better post player offensively.

We also got a nice Walk-on Freshman C from Jersey City, NJ who was interested in me all year. Duane English is 6'10 233 and is rated 72 overall. He is actually the best rebounder of the 3 and is a good shot blocker, but he doesn't do much else well. If someone gets hurt, I wouldn't hesitate to play him a few minutes a night.

[Eaglesfan27]

I have 3 scholarships available.

Priorities:

1. A PG. I don't want to have Dawson be the only game ready PG next year.

2. Perhaps a SG or SF?

3. PF or C? Lots of flexibility this year to go after the best players who seem interested.

Players who seem interested in USC:

1. JC FR PG Oliver Haigler. I'm not usually a fan of JC players, but this kid in Maryland is a 5 star player who has tons of big schools after him including Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, yet he has USC as his #1 option... I like that.

2. Delbert Anthony is an All-American PG from Brooklyn. He is ranked 6th in the nation. I worry that he wants to stay close to home, but he has USC and Wisconsin in his top 5, so maybe that isn't a consideration. Seems like UConn would be tough to beat..

3. Jamie McBridle is an All-American PG from Washington, DC who is ranked 17th overall. He's got us #1 on his list. UConn, Wisconsin, and NC State are also in his top 5.

I'm going to take a much closer look at Haigler and McBridle.


I'll also look at PG Marcellus Badu who is an All-American PG from Pomona, CA. He's ranked 21st overall. He has us in his top 3 which is very tight between USC, UCLA, and Washington.


SR SF Devon Kilgore is the 2nd highest ranked player from Los Angeles and he has USC #1 on his list. I'll take a closer look at him.

SR SF Kody Hehn is the top ranked player from Los Angeles. He seems very interested in Washington or Stanford, but I won't let him go without taking a closer look and seeing if I can make any gains.

[Eaglesfan27]

After taking a closer look, I decide to back off Haigler. I think he is overrated. He is a bad 3 point shooter and he has horrible stamina issues.

I really like both Badu and McBridle. If I get McBridle, UConn is losing a potentially great player. If I get Badu, UCLA or Washington or losing a great player. I decide to focus my efforts more on Badu and hope that I don't regret it..

As I take a closer look at the two SF's, my staff likes Kilgore more as they think he is the more athletic player. Furthermore, he wants to be a Trojan much more clearly than Hehn who seems to want to go north. I focus on Kilgore.


Our first game is at Iona. They have a roster rating of 75. Ours is a 91 currently. Their starters are all rated in the high 60's to low 70's with their bench being in the high 50's. I'll play them tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our starting 5:

McDade, Dillard, Troy, Stevens, and Vega.


15:00 - Our defense is worse than expected. Our offense is as good as I expected. We lead 10-8.

12:04 - Dillard picks up his 2nd foul. Time for Farrell to get into the game! We lead 11-10.

11:55 - Troy picks up his 2nd foul. Kabba comes into the game.

11:25 - Kabba beats his man and gets a 2nd foul on their center who has been their main scorer.

8:40 - I rest my other starters. McDade is our leading scorer with 10, so it will be interesting to see how the offense functions with him out. We lead 22-18.

3:33 - Terrible showing by the 2nd unit. Farrell is missing his 3's (after hitting 1 of 2 early), Dawson is missing open shots as our the rest of our guys. Worse, we are playing terrible defensively. We are down 30-26 as I call a timeout. I bring in McDade at SG and Annen comes in at SF.

Our full court trap isn't working with this group. I back off that for the game.


Halftime: We are down 38-31. Wow. I knew we were going to have struggles this year, but didn't expect it against this team.

McDade is our leading our team with 11 points, 4 assists, and a steal.

Vega and Annen each have 4 points.


17:18 - Vega picks up his 3rd foul. I bring in Abdur-Rahim. We are down 40-36.

14:40 - McDade is tired. I bring in Dawson. We are down 44-38.

11:39 - We are pushing the tempo more now and it is working. We are down 50-47.

Dawson gets fouled shooting a 3... he misses all 3 FT's.

Their SG gets a 3 at the other end, right over Dillard.

Dillard fouls their SG on the next possession, and he still hits a 3. 4 point play is complete. We are down 57-47.

I call a timeout and bring in Farrell, Kabba, Fuller, and Vega.

7:10 - Vega gets a 4th foul on their center who has 18 points against us. We are down 66-56. I call a timeout and get a rested McDade back into the game. He is our only consistent scorer.. time for him to take over.

4:47 - I bring back Troy. We are down 70-60. Our defense is so bad and they are hitting their 3's.

2:32 - Troy knocks away a pass, dives into the seats and flips it up the court to save it, and that leads to a McDade fast break dunk. McDade has 10 of our last 12 points. We are down 72-68.

Fuller gives up a post shot and then a post shot with the foul. We are down 77-70.

McDade misses a pair of 3's and we are done.


We lose the game 79-72. We allowed their center to score 22 points. Yikes.

Their PF had 18 against us. Their starting SG had 13.


McDade was our top player with 24 points, 7 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 9 of 16, 3 of 9, and 3 of 5.

Dillard with 5 points, 1 board, 1 assist, and 1 steal. He shot 2 of 7.

Troy with 10 points, 3 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal. He shot 4 of 10, 1 of 4, and 1 of 1.

Stevens with 0 ponts and 2 boards.

Vega with 7 points, 8 boards, and a block. He shot 3 of 5 including a 12 footer that he made.


Kabba with 2 points and 1 assist.

Annen with 4 points and 1 board.

Farrell with 6 points and 1 board. He shot 1 of 7 from the arc. Not at all what I was expecting.

Abdur-Rahim with 6 points, 2 boards, and a block.

Fuller with 8 points and 3 boards.

[Eaglesfan27]

Badu really responded well to his visit on campus. We are his clear #1. McBridle also responded well to his visit. They both seem to really want to be Trojans and who am I to turn down All-Americans when I have flexibility and Dawson didn't impress? I offer them both scholarships along with Kilgore who will be a Trojan unless Washington can steal him at the last moment.


Nov 9, 2034 -

Can we rebound at Davidson? They are 1-0 with a roster rating of 68.

Yes, we beat them 69-50. Troy led the team with 12 points and 6 boards on 4 of 10 shooting.

McDade with 9 points and 2 assists. He shot 3 of 9. Kabba with 10 points. Dillard led the team with 3 assists. He also had 5 points. Vega with 10 points, 5 boards, and 3 blocks.


We've now dropped out of the rankings.



Our next game is at 3-2 Tulane. They have a roster rating of 77. We beat them 74-71.

McDade led the way with 17 points and 7 assists. He shot 5 of 12.

Stevens with his first big game, 14 points, 7 boards, and 3 blocks.

Dawson with 11 points. Kabba with 10 points.

Troy pulled his hamstring in the game and will be less than 100% for 3-4 weeks.




We are now 2-1. Our next game is against Saint Mary's in the Orange County Shootout. They are 4-0 with a roster rating of 82.

They are led by SR PF J.P Riggs who is rated 81 overall. He's 6'8 215 and is a very fast big man. He's averaging 12.3 ppg and 6.7 rpg.

SO C Emmett Cruz is 7'1 235 and is rated 76 overall. He's averaging 12 ppg and 6 rpg.

SO SF Jeremie Irvin is 6'6 213 and is rated 75 overall. He's averaging 7 ppg.

SR PF Travis Weiss is 6'1 183 and he is fast. He's averaging 11 ppg and 3.4 apg. He's rated 74 overall.

FR SG Ted Muurinen is 6'3 190 and is rated 70 overall. He's averaging 5 ppg.


The bench is all in the high 60's.

[Ironhead]

Looks like a tough couple of days all around: rough ending to the season, some big losses in the offseason and the opening season loss.

I absolutely love that this is still going after 2+ years.

[Eaglesfan27]

Looks like a tough couple of days all around: rough ending to the season, some big losses in the offseason and the opening season loss.

I absolutely love that this is still going after 2+ years.

The only positive of the death of the College Hoops 2k series for me is that I've been able to have such continuity with this dynasty. Even if the series comes back, I'm so far along I think I would keep playing this until my coach eventually retires (which I'm planning on happening around when he is 70 right now, 75 at the latest.)

He's currently 54 having started in the business at a young age. I meant to mention that I hit 600 wins during last year's great run. My career record is now 619-274.