The Career of Mike Schaplowsky- a 50 Year Dynasty

[collegesportsfanms]

Before I left, I decided to start another project, this one being another FBCB project (man I love that game!) I'm going to copy and paste my posts from greydogsoftware to here, because quite frankly, there are a lot more followers here than at grey dog software. Here we go.

I have decided to go ahead and do a single player dynasty, but it's not going to be your play em out type dynasty. I will be focusing on Mike Schaplowsky, who I will be starting out with a coach level of 7, so he'll have lots of room to improve. The difference is I'll be simming every game, but I will be handling recruiting, depth chart, and team strategy. I will also be playing out any tournament games, which include conference tournament and any postseason tournament games. I will decide later on what to do about in-season tournament games. I plan on simming the first season then actually taking a job offer, no matter the team or conference prestige, although I'm sure it will be a low prestige team and a low prestige conference. I will look to get job offers with higher prestige conferences and schools. I plan on monthly reports for this dynasty, and I will use Mike Schaplowsky for 50 years, at which time he will retire and I will see how he fits into the coaching leaderboard.

More updates later, I have to pick a team and get it set up, but I plan on getting at least part of a season in tonight. With simming games and monthly reports, I could get through a season fairly quick, but with other projects going on, I expect the 50 in-game seasons to span well over a few months.

[collegesportsfanms]

I will be starting my career with Sam Houston State of the Southland Conference. I totally lucked into this job offer, as they were 28-5 last season, their previous head coach took the job at Weber State, a totally lateral move, but whatever. I'm happy to be here. Let's take a look at things before we get started.

Game Options:

Injuries and suspensions are on:
Players can turn pro out of high school
Non-5th year transfers must redshirt and players can refuse redshirts.
Limited Conference Movement
Team prestige and conference prestige can both change throughout the game, so I'll keep an eye on this.
All 4 tournaments: NCAA, NIT, CBI, CIT. Only difference is NIT will be 40 teams.
Starting year for the dynasty was 2014, so I'll be starting my career in 2015, which means I'll go until 2065.

Sam Houston State History:




Season Team W L CW CL Rank RPI PRS Result
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014 Sam Houston State 28 5 15 1 47 52 53 Loss in NCAA Round 1



COACH DETAILS

Mike Schaplowsky - Head Coach - Sam Houston State
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Age: 35
High School: Wichita West High School
Hometown: Wichita, KS
Alma Mater: Butler Community College

Current Level: 7
Career Record: 0 - 0

Recruiting: 80
Scouting: 50
Offense: 55
Defense: 55


Coaching History:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Season Team Position W L CW CL Postseason
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Awards & Achievements:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Season Award
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No awards won.

Job Movement:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Season Move
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015 Hired by Sam Houston State (Head Coach)

Sam Houston State is in the Southland, which has a conference prestige of 1

[collegesportsfanms]

We have 4 scholarships to hand out this season, and we lose a player at every position except SG. With a small recruiting budget available, we'll definitely look to get the best we can get in the state of Texas.

Here's a look at the 20 players we have selected to our call list and evaluation list to start the recruiting process:




Name Pos Ht Wt Rating Interest State
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lucius Spry PG 6-3 184 *** Very High Texas
Chris Edgar SF 6-7 223 *** Very High Texas
Angelo Mead SF 6-5 192 *** Very High Texas
Lynn Stabler SF 6-9 211 *** Very High Texas
Burt Wan PG 6-0 182 *** Very High Texas
Efrain Reeves PG 6-0 182 ** Very High Texas
Maynard Disney PG 5-10 157 ** Very High Texas
David Brigham PF 6-6 235 *** High Texas
Antwan Marvel SF 6-5 199 *** High Texas
Jewell Wilcher PF 6-5 224 *** High Texas
Chester Kumar SF 6-7 221 *** High Texas
Gustavo Montero PF 6-7 235 *** High Texas
John Higa PF 6-5 235 *** High Texas
Deandre Sandstrom C 6-7 229 ** High Oklahoma
Ray Stephens PF 6-10 221 ** High Texas
Lamont Nordstrom SF 6-5 229 ** High Texas
Samuel Hearne SG 6-1 172 ** High Texas
Jesse Williams SG 5-11 187 ** High Texas
Scott Davis SG 6-1 170 ** High Texas
James Derosier C 6-11 200 *** Average Georgia

Edgar, Wan, and Montero have been offered scholarships, they are all players with either blue or green colored potential and are top 3 on the list.

Looks like we've got a great chance to sign Wan in the early signing period, as we're the only school he is looking at now. Montero has gotten back to a very high interest, but we're only #2 on his list. Derosier has narrowed it down to us and Clemson at the moment.

The early signing period has come and gone, and Derosier signed with Clemson. Nobody signed with us. That scholarship offer has gone to Kumar now.

[collegesportsfanms]

As we get set to start the 2015-2016 season, here's a look at this seasons roster and schedule.

SAM HOUSTON STATE Roster

Player # Pos Yr Ht Wt Sch Acd Status Hometown
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wilson Forbes 4 PG Sr* 6-1 215 Yes 14 OK Florence, TX
Richard Cousin 21 SF Sr* 6-3 218 Yes 52 OK Salado, TX
Paul Erickson 42 C Sr 6-9 239 Yes 87 OK Fremantle, Australia
Adolphe Houzet 20 SG Sr 6-3 207 Yes 82 OK Valence, France
Scott Wolcott 25 SF Jr* 6-3 205 Yes 86 OK Brownsburg, IN
Tony Atkins 13 PG Jr* 6-2 185 Yes 64 OK Hitchcock, TX
James Tesch 3 PF Jr 6-7 249 Yes 25 OK San Antonio, TX
Lonnie Tingley 50 C So 6-8 251 Yes 26 OK Hitchcock, TX
George Travers 2 C So 6-10 245 Yes 87 OK Paris, TX
Cody Headley 1 PF So 6-6 226 Yes 28 OK Port Lavaca, TX
George Hazard 54 PF Fr* 6-6 224 Yes 45 OK Grandview, TX
Kevin Penland 10 SG Fr 6-3 182 Yes 23 OK Marble Falls, TX
Jason Wicker 35 SF Fr 6-5 211 Yes 43 OK Katy, TX
Thomas Ewald 41 SG Fr 6-4 213 No 57 OK Sunray, TX
Jorge Guerrero 22 PG Fr 5-9 161 No 30 Redshirt Pasadena, TX


As you can see, we lose quite a bit of talent next season. Forbes is our make or break player, and the other 3 seniors, well, they just didn't quite produce like we'd hoped. The starting lineup will consist of:

C- Paul Erickson
PF- James Tesch
SF- Richard Cousin
SG- Scott Wolcott
PG- Wilson Forbes

SAM HOUSTON STATE Schedule



Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/15/15 at South Dakota 0-0 330
11/20/15 vs. Michigan 0-0 159
11/30/15 at Louisiana Tech 0-0 140
12/10/15 Arkansas-Little Rock 0-0 14
12/12/15 Prairie View A&M 0-0 212
12/14/15 Rice 0-0 219
12/16/15 Texas Christian 0-0 262
12/19/15 at Houston 0-0 109
12/23/15 Southern Methodist 0-0 245
12/25/15 at Texas A&M 0-0 269
12/28/15 Murray State 0-0 174
01/02/16 Southern Mississippi 0-0 246
01/09/16 Southeastern Louisiana 0-0 241
01/13/16 at McNeese State 0-0 154
01/16/16 Texas A&M-CC 0-0 270
01/18/16 at Northwestern State 0-0 194
01/27/16 Lamar 0-0 133
01/30/16 Texas State 0-0 250
02/01/16 at Texas-San Antonio 0-0 275
02/06/16 at Texas-Arlington 0-0 273
02/08/16 Stephen F. Austin 0-0 258
02/13/16 Central Arkansas 0-0 342
02/17/16 at Nicholls State 0-0 183
02/20/16 at Lamar 0-0 133
02/24/16 Texas-San Antonio 0-0 275
02/27/16 at Texas A&M-CC 0-0 270
02/29/16 Texas-Arlington 0-0 273
03/05/16 at Texas State 0-0 250

Not the most grueling schedule, the game against Michigan is part of the Alaska Shootout in which we are the 5th seed. That will be tough. Houston, TCU, Rice, and Texas A&M will also be challenges.

[collegesportsfanms]

November 2015


Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/15/15 at South Dakota 1-3 312 W 65-48 1-0
11/20/15 vs. Michigan 2-1 13 L 84-70 1-1
11/21/15 vs. Delaware 0-4 316 W 93-85 2-1
11/22/15 vs. Kansas State 3-1 114 L 99-97 2-2
11/30/15 at Louisiana Tech 3-2 88 W 71-58 3-2


3-2 in the month of November, I'll take it. The win at LA Tech was really nice, and we hung with Michigan for about 30 minutes before running out of gas, and took the Wildcats to double overtime. I'm happy, but we have to keep it going.

Overall Record: 3-2
Home Record: 0-0
Road Record: 2-0
Neutral Record: 2-1
Rank: NR
RPI: 237

Leaders

PPG

PG Wilson Forbes- 20.4
SG Scott Wolcott- 17.0
PG Richard Cousin- 11.4

RPG

PF James Tesch- 8.6
C Paul Erickson- 6.0
PG Richard Cousin- 4.2

APG

PG Wilson Forbes- 3.2
SG Scott Wolcott- 3.2
SF Adolphe Houzet- 3.0

Recruiting News

I have just gotten my first signing, as SF Chester Kumar signed with us. He's ranked 364th overall.

Still hoping to land Edgar, Wan, and Montero.

[collegesportsfanms]

December 2015

SAM HOUSTON STATE Schedule

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/15/15 at South Dakota 3-9 139 W 65-48 1-0
11/20/15 vs. #22 Michigan 10-2 42 L 84-70 1-1
11/21/15 vs. Delaware 3-9 313 W 93-85 2-1
11/22/15 vs. Kansas State 10-2 15 L 99-97 2-2
11/30/15 at Louisiana Tech 7-4 187 W 71-58 3-2
12/10/15 Arkansas-Little Rock 5-7 138 W 78-60 4-2
12/12/15 Prairie View A&M 2-10 219 W 77-63 5-2
12/14/15 Rice 3-7 291 W 73-50 6-2
12/16/15 Texas Christian 7-5 182 W 74-62 7-2
12/19/15 at Houston 6-6 104 W 58-52 8-2
12/23/15 Southern Methodist 6-5 314 W 89-59 9-2
12/25/15 at Texas A&M 8-3 70 L 74-48 9-3
12/28/15 Murray State 4-8 73 W 68-45 10-3


What a great month! Not too happy about the lack of competition we gave Texas A&M, especially after our close games against Michigan and K-State. Of course, I also didn't expect us to win all the games of the TCU, Houston, SMU series. 10-3 with 1 more non-conference game before we start Southland play. I'll take it!

Overall Record: 10-3
Home Record: 6-0
Away Record: 3-1
Neutral Record: 1-2
Rank: NR (received 2 votes in mid-major poll!)
RPI: 61

I like that RPI, which already has us in contention for an at-large bid.

Season Leaders

PPG

PG Wilson Forbes- 17.8
SG Scott Wolcott- 13.9
SF Richard Cousin- 11.2

RPG

PF James Tesch- 8.1
C Paul Erickson- 7.2
SG Scott Wolcott- 4.4

APG

PG Wilson Forbes- 4.3
SF Richard Cousin- 2.5
SG Scott Wolcott- 2.4

Recruiting News

We have 3 of our 4 pieces filled for next season, as Burt Wan (#272 nation) and Chris Edgar (#212 nation) committed. We beat out Florida for Edgar, and beat out North Carolina and Wake Forest for Wan, so those are definite big time wins in the recruiting wars. Sadly, Gustavo Montero signed with Texas Southern, a school with a prestige of 10. Really Gustavo? You sign with a school that is currently 4-7? Your loss buddy, your loss.

So now we've got 1 scholarship to fill, and it needs to be a big man. I'm going after a guy from Alabama and a guy from Italy. The guy from Italy, Adriano Ferrari, would be huge, as he is the #131 recruit in the nation, and he has nobody on his top school list right now.

[collegesportsfanms]

January 2016

SAM HOUSTON STATE Schedule

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/15/15 at South Dakota 9-12 174 W 65-48 1-0
11/20/15 vs. Michigan 17-4 62 L 84-70 1-1
11/21/15 vs. Delaware 5-16 327 W 93-85 2-1
11/22/15 vs. Kansas State 14-6 17 L 99-97 2-2
11/30/15 at Louisiana Tech 12-8 122 W 71-58 3-2
12/10/15 Arkansas-Little Rock 7-14 261 W 78-60 4-2
12/12/15 Prairie View A&M 8-12 258 W 77-63 5-2
12/14/15 Rice 3-15 242 W 73-50 6-2
12/16/15 Texas Christian 12-9 106 W 74-62 7-2
12/19/15 at Houston 10-10 90 W 58-52 8-2
12/23/15 Southern Methodist 7-12 254 W 89-59 9-2
12/25/15 at Texas A&M 14-5 29 L 74-48 9-3
12/28/15 Murray State 10-11 100 W 68-45 10-3
01/02/16 Southern Mississippi 6-14 157 W 85-76 11-3
01/09/16 Southeastern Louisiana 6-13 329 W 69-57 12-3 (1-0)
01/13/16 at McNeese State 7-12 340 W 88-58 13-3 (2-0)
01/16/16 Texas A&M-CC 7-12 284 L 56-47 13-4 (2-1)
01/18/16 at Northwestern State 5-15 332 W 93-54 14-4 (3-1)
01/27/16 Lamar 9-10 253 W 59-48 15-4 (4-1)
01/30/16 Texas State 6-13 272 W 75-31 16-4 (5-1)

That loss to Texas A&M-CC was the only blemish this month in a month where we absolutely dominated our opponents. Here's a look at the Southland standings:

2015 Southland Conference Standings

EAST CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nicholls State 5 1 .833 10 9 .526 300 16
Stephen F. Austin 4 2 .667 7 11 .389 301 44
Southeastern Louisiana 3 4 .429 6 13 .316 329 28
McNeese State 2 4 .333 7 12 .368 340 24
Central Arkansas 1 5 .167 2 17 .105 285 6
Northwestern State 1 6 .143 5 15 .250 332 25

WEST CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sam Houston State 5 1 .833 16 4 .800 124 53
Texas A&M-CC 4 3 .571 7 12 .368 284 31
Lamar 4 3 .571 9 10 .474 253 29
Texas-Arlington 4 3 .571 5 15 .250 326 28
Texas-San Antonio 4 3 .571 9 10 .474 302 31
Texas State 2 4 .333 6 13 .316 272 14

It's easy to see why this is a 1 bid, prestige 1 conference. Only 2 teams in the conference have winning overall records, us and Nicholls State. Brutal.

Overall Record: 16-4
Conference Record: 5-1
Home Record: 10-1
Road Record: 5-1
Neutral Record: 1-2
Rank: NR (11 votes in mid-major poll)
RPI: 124

No surprise that our RPI took a huge hit once we got into conference play.

Stat Leaders

PPG

PG Wilson Forbes- 17.2
SG Scott Wolcott- 14.8
SF Richard Cousin- 10.7

RPG

PF James Tesch- 8.8
C Paul Erickson- 6.7
SG Scott Wolcott- 4.8

APG

PG Wilson Forbes- 4.7
SF Richard Cousin- 2.6
SF Adolphe Houzet- 2.1

1 injury note to tell you about, as our leading rebounder James Tesch left our last game with a torn ligament, he's done for the season. George Travers will start at PF now. A couple of unhappy players but I don't care, they are nothing but bench warmers anyways.


No good news at all on the recruiting front. Our Italy guy signed with Utah, we just got started way too late recruiting him. I've gone after every PF or C that I can find that is still uncommitted, which doesn't seem to be very many.

[collegesportsfanms]

February 2016

SAM HOUSTON STATE Schedule

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/15/15 at South Dakota 12-15 247 W 65-48 1-0
11/20/15 vs. Michigan 22-7 50 L 84-70 1-1
11/21/15 vs. Delaware 8-22 317 W 93-85 2-1
11/22/15 vs. Kansas State 17-11 24 L 99-97 2-2
11/30/15 at Louisiana Tech 15-13 143 W 71-58 3-2
12/10/15 Arkansas-Little Rock 10-19 222 W 78-60 4-2
12/12/15 Prairie View A&M 11-16 264 W 77-63 5-2
12/14/15 Rice 3-23 275 W 73-50 6-2
12/16/15 Texas Christian 13-15 106 W 74-62 7-2
12/19/15 at Houston 16-12 64 W 58-52 8-2
12/23/15 Southern Methodist 9-18 265 W 89-59 9-2
12/25/15 at Texas A&M 17-11 37 L 74-48 9-3
12/28/15 Murray State 17-12 77 W 68-45 10-3
01/02/16 Southern Mississippi 11-17 109 W 85-76 11-3
01/09/16 Southeastern Louisiana 11-16 320 W 69-57 12-3 (1-0)
01/13/16 at McNeese State 11-16 337 W 88-58 13-3 (2-0)
01/16/16 Texas A&M-CC 12-15 211 L 56-47 13-4 (2-1)
01/18/16 at Northwestern State 10-17 307 W 93-54 14-4 (3-1)
01/27/16 Lamar 13-14 239 W 59-48 15-4 (4-1)
01/30/16 Texas State 7-20 330 W 75-31 16-4 (5-1)
02/01/16 at Texas-San Antonio 12-15 301 W 90-64 17-4 (6-1)
02/06/16 at Texas-Arlington 7-21 336 W 78-67 18-4 (7-1)
02/08/16 Stephen F. Austin 9-17 329 W 70-62 19-4 (8-1)
02/13/16 Central Arkansas 4-23 299 W 68-58 20-4 (9-1)
02/17/16 at Nicholls State 15-12 284 W 66-58 21-4 (10-1)
02/20/16 at Lamar 13-14 239 W 78-59 22-4 (11-1)
02/24/16 Texas-San Antonio 12-15 301 W 97-92 23-4 (12-1)
02/27/16 at Texas A&M-CC 12-15 211 W 73-62 24-4 (13-1)
02/29/16 Texas-Arlington 7-21 336 W 81-51 25-4 (14-1)

A perfect month, and why not? We're running through the Southland and will probably be in a new conference next season. Here is a look at the conference standings with 1 Southland game left:

2015 Southland Conference Standings

EAST CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nicholls State 10 4 .714 15 12 .556 284 16
Southeastern Louisiana 7 7 .500 11 16 .407 320 28
Stephen F. Austin 6 8 .429 9 17 .346 329 44
Northwestern State 6 8 .429 10 17 .370 307 25
McNeese State 6 8 .429 11 16 .407 337 24
Central Arkansas 3 11 .214 4 23 .148 299 6

WEST CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sam Houston State 14 1 .933 25 4 .862 103 53
Texas A&M-CC 9 5 .643 12 15 .444 211 31
Lamar 8 6 .571 13 14 .481 239 29
Texas-San Antonio 7 7 .500 12 15 .444 301 31
Texas-Arlington 6 9 .400 7 21 .250 336 28
Texas State 3 11 .214 7 20 .259 330 14

Sadly, even with our record, our SOS and RPI is so bad thanks to playing in a very weak conference, that the only way we'll sniff the Big Dance is to win the Southland Tournament. It's a shame we aren't in position for an at-large berth. The moral of the story? Schedule tougher non-conference opponents. On a good note, we've wrapped up the top seed in the conference tournament and clinched a postseason berth no matter what.

Overall Record: 25-4
Conference Record: 14-1
Home Record: 14-1
Road Record: 10-1
Neutral Record: 1-2
Rank: NR in AP Poll, #18 in mid-major poll.
RPI: 106

Stat Leaders

PPG

PG Wilson Forbes- 16.7
SG Scott Wolcott- 14.3
SF Richard Cousin- 11.3

RPG

PF James Tesch- 8.8
C Paul Erickson- 7.1
SG Scott Wolcott- 4.6
SF Richard Cousin- 4.6

APG

PG Wilson Forbes- 4.9
SF Richard Cousin- 2.7
SF Adolphe Houzet- 2.4

Pretty sad when our leading rebounder hasn't played in over a month. That tells me how bad of a rebounding team we are.

The injuries piled up this month, as both C Lonnie Tingley and PF George Travers are on the injury list now. 3 of our big men out, which has created a major decline in talent in the low post.

Not much to talk about on the recruiting front, chances are we'll be saving our last scholarship for a possible transfer in the offseason.

[collegesportsfanms]

We had 1 more conference game to begin March, on the 5th we travelled to Texas State and won 78-56, so here are the final conference standings.

EAST CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nicholls State 11 5 .688 16 13 .552 268 16
Southeastern Louisiana 7 9 .438 11 18 .379 324 28
Stephen F. Austin 7 9 .438 10 18 .357 328 44
McNeese State 7 9 .438 12 17 .414 337 24
Northwestern State 7 9 .438 11 18 .379 298 25
Central Arkansas 4 12 .250 5 24 .172 300 6

WEST CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sam Houston State 15 1 .938 26 4 .867 100 53
Texas A&M-CC 9 7 .563 12 17 .414 219 31
Lamar 9 7 .563 14 15 .483 259 29
Texas-San Antonio 9 7 .563 14 15 .483 291 31
Texas-Arlington 7 9 .438 8 21 .276 320 28
Texas State 4 12 .250 8 21 .276 319 14

The Southland tournament is ours to win, and there is no reason why we shouldn't.

Only the top 8 seeds make the tourney, so here are the Quarterfinal match-ups.

(8) Texas-Arlington vs. (1) Sam Houston State
(5) Texas-San Antonio vs. (4) Lamar
(7) Stephen F. Austin vs. (2) Nicholls State
(6) SE Louisiana vs. (3) Texas A&M-CC

[collegesportsfanms]

March 10, 2016

Southland Quarterfinals
(8) Texas-Arlington (8-21) vs. (1) Sam Houston State (26-4)

We beat them by 11 on the road in early February and by 30 at home just a few days ago. They have nobody that averages double figure scoring, so I expect my bench players to get a lot of minutes this game. And as expected, I was able to get everybody in the game, as we won easily, 56-33. I was impressed with the guys that don't get a lot of playing time, I realize it was against subpar competition, but we actually extended the lead in the last 4 minutes of the game. Here's a look at the box score:

Sam Houston State 56, Texas-Arlington 33

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Texas-Arlington (8-22, 7-9):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Andrew Gault C 29 0-3 0-0 0 6 3 3 0
Gavin Ledbetter PF 27 1-2 1-2 1 5 1 3 3
Cyrus Owen SF 29 5-12 1-2 0 2 0 0 11
Gus Shilling SG 29 1-6 0-0 1 4 2 2 2
Gerald McGinn PG 23 1-5 1-2 1 1 0 1 3
Erwin McArdle SG 23 3-10 0-1 0 0 1 3 7
Domingo Hastings PF 13 1-5 0-0 2 4 0 0 2
Scott Fisher SF 11 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 0
Dwain Lewis C 11 1-1 1-2 1 3 0 1 3
Ronald Tharp PG 6 1-1 0-0 0 0 1 0 2

Turnovers: 12 (A.Gault 1, G.Ledbetter 3, C.Owen 2,
G.Shilling 2, G.McGinn 3, D.Hastings 1)
Blocked Shots: 2 (G.Ledbetter 1, D.Hastings 1)
Steals: 3 (G.Ledbetter 2, G.Shilling 1)
3P FGs: 1-6 (C.Owen 0-2, G.Shilling 0-1, G.McGinn 0-1,
E.McArdle 1-1, D.Hastings 0-1)

Sam Houston State (27-4, 15-1):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Paul Erickson C 25 3-3 1-2 5 8 0 2 7
George Travers PF 23 0-3 0-2 2 7 0 1 0
Richard Cousin SF 21 3-7 2-2 0 4 0 2 9
Scott Wolcott SG 18 3-8 5-7 0 1 2 1 12
Wilson Forbes PG 24 2-7 0-0 0 3 3 2 6
Adolphe Houzet SF 19 2-5 2-2 1 4 2 1 6
Kevin Penland SG 15 0-1 0-0 0 6 2 0 0
Tony Atkins PG 14 2-6 0-0 1 2 0 2 4
Lonnie Tingley C 12 0-1 0-0 0 2 0 1 0
George Hazard PF 4 1-1 0-0 1 1 1 0 2
Cody Headley PF 9 2-3 0-0 2 4 0 0 5
Jason Wicker SG 7 1-2 2-2 0 1 1 1 5
Thomas Ewald PF 10 0-3 0-0 1 1 1 0 0

Turnovers: 9 (W.Forbes 2, A.Houzet 2, K.Penland 1,
T.Atkins 2, L.Tingley 2)
Blocked Shots: 1 (T.Atkins 1)
Steals: 2 (R.Cousin 1, T.Atkins 1)
3P FGs: 6-21 (R.Cousin 1-4, S.Wolcott 1-3, W.Forbes
2-6, A.Houzet 0-1, K.Penland 0-1, T.Atkins 0-3,
C.Headley 1-1, J.Wicker 1-1, T.Ewald 0-1)

Player of Game: C Paul Erickson (SMHOU)

Other Southland Tournament Scores:

(4) Lamar- 63, (5) Texas-San Antonio- 59
(7) Stephen F. Austin- 76, (2) Nicholls St.- 46 (WOW!)
(3) Texas A&M-CC- 74, (6) SE Louisiana- 58


March 11, 2016

Southland Semifinals
(4) Lamar (15-15) vs. (1) Sam Houston State (27-4)

We beat Lamar by 11 at home in late January, and by 19 at their place in late February. Brad Branum is about the only player they have worth mentioning, so if we stop him, we should roll along. Unfortunately, we didn't. We only led by 3 at halftime and both Scott Wolcott and Wilson Forbes had 3 fouls, so they would really half to be careful in the second half. They weren't, as both picked up their 4th foul early in the half. In fact, Lamar was in the bonus before the first media timeout. It was all I could do not to get thrown out of the game, but as a team we kept our composure and ended up with nobody fouling out, and fought through struggles to earn, and I mean earn, a 67-57 victory!

Sam Houston State 67, Lamar 57

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lamar (15-16, 9-7):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Larry Houston C 25 1-2 1-2 0 5 2 5 3
Coleman Mullins PF 36 1-4 2-4 1 3 1 2 4
Roger Hathcock SF 37 5-12 1-2 1 1 1 3 13
Brad Branum SG 36 6-18 9-11 2 10 0 2 24
Jose Logan PG 33 1-5 0-2 1 4 4 2 2
Clyde Simmons PG 9 2-4 2-2 0 0 0 0 6
Billy Crespo SG 4 1-1 1-2 0 1 0 1 3
Robert Gallant C 11 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 4 0
John Montero PF 6 1-2 0-0 0 1 0 1 2
Lacy Campbell PG 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Gary Pellegrini C 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 12 (L.Houston 1, C.Mullins 2, B.Branum 5,
J.Logan 3, J.Montero 1)
Blocked Shots: 1 (C.Mullins 1)
Steals: 3 (L.Houston 1, R.Gallant 2)
3P FGs: 5-19 (R.Hathcock 2-5, B.Branum 3-13, J.Logan
0-1)

Sam Houston State (28-4, 15-1):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Paul Erickson C 27 3-6 4-8 0 5 0 1 10
George Travers PF 31 2-5 3-4 2 7 0 2 7
Richard Cousin SF 25 3-9 2-2 1 3 3 3 8
Scott Wolcott SG 14 1-3 2-2 0 2 1 4 5
Wilson Forbes PG 24 5-7 0-0 1 9 7 4 12
Adolphe Houzet SF 15 1-3 2-3 1 2 0 1 5
Kevin Penland SG 14 4-4 2-2 1 1 0 2 11
Tony Atkins PG 11 0-1 1-3 1 2 1 2 1
Lonnie Tingley C 13 2-3 0-0 0 2 1 0 4
George Hazard PF 10 1-4 0-0 0 1 1 0 2
Cody Headley PF 3 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0
Jason Wicker PG 4 0-2 0-0 1 1 0 0 0
Thomas Ewald SG 7 1-2 0-0 0 2 0 1 2

Turnovers: 13 (G.Travers 1, R.Cousin 2, W.Forbes 2,
A.Houzet 5, K.Penland 1, T.Atkins 1, L.Tingley 1)
Blocked Shots: 4 (P.Erickson 2, G.Travers 1, G.Hazard 1)
Steals: 5 (W.Forbes 3, A.Houzet 1, K.Penland 1)
3P FGs: 5-14 (R.Cousin 0-4, S.Wolcott 1-2, W.Forbes
2-2, A.Houzet 1-3, K.Penland 1-1, T.Atkins 0-1,
J.Wicker 0-1)

Player of Game: PG Wilson Forbes (SMHOU)

We will face Texas A&M-CC in the Southland Championship, as they defeated Stephen F. Austin 58-54

[collegesportsfanms]

March 13, 2016

Southland Championsip
(3) Texas A&M-CC (14-17) vs. (1) Sam Houston St. (28-4)

Don't sleep on this team, they handed us our only conference defeat early on in Southland play. Although they don't have much to work with, they are well coached and really know how to grind a game out. We want to run, run, and run some more against these guys and force them to play our game. And it turned out to be another tough first half, as Richard Cousin was hit with a technical early in the game, and he sat most of the first half. We couldn't make a free throw to save our lives, and only led by 3 at halftime. It took us a LONG time to get going in this one, but when we did, we did. Although he didn't get POTG, Tony Atkins is our unsung hero tonight. He came off the bench and really gave us a spark offensively when nobody else could get a shot to fall. We pulled away in the last 6 minutes and won 62-44, which means we are going dancing! I'm not even going to try and guess our seed, we're 29-4, but we play in one of the worst conferences in America, so I wouldn't be surprised if we get a 14, 15 seed. I'm hoping for a 12, but I know that's wishful thinking.

Sam Houston State 62, Texas A&M-CC 44

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Texas A&M-CC (14-18, 9-7):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
David Wade C 30 3-7 2-4 0 3 1 1 8
Albert Yu PF 26 1-1 5-6 0 4 0 2 7
Matthew Gorton SF 30 0-1 2-2 2 5 2 1 2
Homer Young SG 32 4-10 1-2 0 6 1 0 12
Chris Infante PG 30 1-7 2-3 0 2 0 2 4
Ira Tate C 18 0-4 0-0 3 8 2 3 0
Brock Carillo PG 10 0-4 0-0 0 1 1 2 0
Eddy Collins PF 6 0-3 1-2 2 3 0 2 1
Benny Harrison SG 14 2-2 5-7 0 3 1 1 10
Henry Yeung SF 4 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 19 (A.Yu 1, M.Gorton 5, H.Young 3, C.Infante
5, I.Tate 1, B.Carillo 2, E.Collins 1, B.Harrison 1)
Blocked Shots: 2 (M.Gorton 1, I.Tate 1)
Steals: 3 (D.Wade 1, M.Gorton 1, H.Young 1)
3P FGs: 4-19 (M.Gorton 0-1, H.Young 3-6, C.Infante 0-3,
I.Tate 0-3, B.Carillo 0-3, E.Collins 0-1, B.Harrison
1-1, H.Yeung 0-1)

Sam Houston State (29-4, 15-1):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Paul Erickson C 24 2-6 0-0 0 5 0 3 4
George Travers PF 30 4-7 6-8 1 7 1 2 14
Richard Cousin SF 17 0-6 0-0 0 0 3 3 0
Scott Wolcott SG 24 3-7 0-0 3 5 2 1 7
Wilson Forbes PG 24 4-10 2-2 0 1 1 1 11
Adolphe Houzet SF 17 0-5 0-0 2 3 4 1 0
Kevin Penland SG 11 2-2 1-3 0 0 2 3 6
Tony Atkins PG 13 5-8 1-2 1 2 1 1 11
Lonnie Tingley C 12 1-3 0-0 3 6 0 0 2
George Hazard C 10 2-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 4
Cody Headley PF 4 0-2 0-0 1 3 0 0 0
Jason Wicker SF 6 0-0 0-2 0 2 0 1 0
Thomas Ewald SG 8 1-1 0-0 0 2 0 1 3

Turnovers: 9 (P.Erickson 1, G.Travers 1, R.Cousin 1,
S.Wolcott 2, W.Forbes 1, A.Houzet 1, L.Tingley 1,
J.Wicker 1)
Blocked Shots: 1 (P.Erickson 1)
Steals: 8 (S.Wolcott 1, W.Forbes 3, T.Atkins 2,
G.Hazard 2)
3P FGs: 4-16 (R.Cousin 0-3, S.Wolcott 1-2, W.Forbes
1-5, A.Houzet 0-3, K.Penland 1-1, T.Atkins 0-1,
T.Ewald 1-1)

Player of Game: PF George Travers (SMHOU)

As we communed at the school campus for the selection show, I almost choked on my Coke when our name was finally announced. A 14th seed in the NCAA Midwest Region and a meeting with (3) Kansas. It's not a big shock to anybody that I lived the majority of my life so far in the Jayhawk State, so a chance to play Bill Self and his Jayhawks is an honor. Granted, we'll probably get our tails kicked, but I told the guys to go out there, compete, and anything can happen.

To give you an indication of how bad the Southland was this season, we were the only team to receive a postseason bid. In fact, only 1 other team finished with a winning record. That was Nicholls St. at 16-14. Had they not been upset in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament, they might have snuck into the CIT.

[collegesportsfanms]

March 18, 2016

NCAA Tournament Midwest Region First Round,
(14) Sam Houston State (29-4) vs. (3) #20 Kansas

The key to this game is just to have fun, play hard, don't press, and I told the guys to try and win as many 4 minute segments as they can. If we can get the majority of those, we have a good chance to win this game. And we really did play well overall, but Kansas is tall, long, and athletic. They beat us on the boards 43-22, many of those being offensive boards. That was really the difference in the game as our season comes to an end with a 75-59 loss in a game that we had down to 6 early in the second half. So the run ends, and I wished Coach Self well after the game.

Just to show you how wacky this season was, a 10 seed, yes I repeat, a 10 seed made the national championship game. That 10 seed was Vanderbilt, but they were demolished 69-51 by 3 seed North Carolina.

2016 Offseason

Awards

Many awards to talk about. While we got no national awards, we cleaned up in the Southland. Here's a look:

Player of the Year:

SR PG Wilson Forbes Sam Houston State 15.7 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 5.0 APG 1.4 SPG, 0.1 BPG

Freshman of the Year:
FR PG Duane Wilkens Texas-San Antonio 14.4 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 2.4 APG 2.3 SPG, 0.1 BPG

Coach of the Year:
Stuart Koenig Nicholls State 16 - 14 (11 - 5)

All-league 1st Team:
C SR Paul Erickson Sam Houston State 9.4 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 0.9 APG, 0.1 SPG, 2.6 BPG
PF SR Armand Leathers Stephen F. Austin 8.3 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 1.4 APG, 0.5 SPG, 0.1 BPG
SF SR Richard Cousin Sam Houston State 11.0 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 2.5 APG, 0.5 SPG, 0.1 BPG
SG JR Scott Wolcott Sam Houston State 13.5 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 2.0 APG, 1.5 SPG, 0.0 BPG
PG SR Wilson Forbes Sam Houston State 15.7 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 5.0 APG, 1.4 SPG, 0.1 BPG

All-league 2nd Team:
C JR Rupert Rayborn Nicholls State 10.1 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 1.0 APG, 0.5 SPG, 1.6 BPG
PF SR Kyle Dortch Southeastern Louisiana 7.7 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.5 SPG, 0.2 BPG
SF SR Adolphe Houzet Sam Houston State 6.4 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 2.4 APG, 1.5 SPG, 0.1 BPG
SG SR Brad Branum Lamar 15.8 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 1.5 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.1 BPG
PG FR Duane Wilkens Texas-San Antonio 14.4 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 2.4 APG, 2.3 SPG, 0.1 BPG

All-freshman Team:
C FR John Wilford Nicholls State 6.5 PPG, 9.8 RPG, 1.1 APG, 0.3 SPG, 0.4 BPG
PF FR Scott Bloom Central Arkansas 6.6 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 0.9 APG, 0.3 SPG, 0.3 BPG
SF FR Mac Stevenson McNeese State 8.1 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 1.2 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.3 BPG
SG FR Charles Benson Texas-San Antonio 14.3 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.1 BPG
PG FR Duane Wilkens Texas-San Antonio 14.4 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 2.4 APG, 2.3 SPG, 0.1 BPG

The first thing that jumps out at me is that I didn't get Coach of the Year, but I guess it was expected I would take this team as far as I did. If not me, why not give it to the coach that had the only other overall winning record in the conference this season. Nice that we put 4 of 5 on the All-First Team, but I hate that 3 of the 4 are seniors.


Departing Players

PG Wilson Forbes- graduating
SF Richard Cousin- graduating
C Paul Erickson- graduating
SF Adolphe Houzet- graduating

Losing those 4 players hurts, as they were really the heart of our team this season. But, never fear, because..

Final Recruiting Class

JR PG Burt Wan (***, #272 overall)
FR SF Chris Edgar (***, #212 overall)
FR SF Chestar Kumar (***, #364 overall)

That class? Good for 83rd in the nation, and tops in the Southland by a wide margin. Looks like we'll dominate again next season. I expect Chris and Burt to start right away, and there's a chance Chestar will play decent minutes as well.

Sadly, none of our players got drafter, although I did hear that Wilson signed a developmental contract. Our prestige went from 53 to 54, and as expected, our conference prestige stayed at 1. If there was something lower than 1, the Southland would probably have it. A 0.1 maybe?

Conference Movement

We are staying in the Southland this season, but the rumor is that if we dominate like we did last season, we'll get promoted to a prestige 2 conference.

Job Offers

Being my second year as an NCAA coach, I wasn't expecting too much in the way of job offers, and of course I didn't get any at all. No biggie, I've got work to do here at Sam Houston State yet.

We weren't able to secure any transfers, so we'll have an extra scholarship to use this season. We've accepted a bid to the Anaheim Invitational where we'll be the 6th seed.

[bbgunn]

Ah it would have been nice for Mike to knock off Kansas!

[collegesportsfanms]

We've got 4 scholarships to use this season, and I'm debating on cutting a couple of walk-ons to add 2 more scholarships, and maybe try to get a transfer in the offseason. Obviously we'll try and stay as local as possible.

I've got an initial call list of 20 players, and here it is.

Name Pos Ht Wt Rating Interest State
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steven Whitehead PG 5-11 158 *** Very High Texas
Keven Koss C 6-11 210 *** High Texas
Jenaro Menendez PG 6-1 177 *** High Texas
John Leduc SG 6-3 187 *** High Texas
Armando Keys PF 6-9 268 *** High Kansas
Daniel Luna PG 6-3 194 *** High Texas
Freddie Hanna PG 6-2 187 *** High Texas
Ronald Towns PF 6-7 221 *** High Texas
Burt Brown SG 6-1 195 *** High Texas
Chris Smith PF 6-6 206 *** High Texas
Thomas Farias C 6-8 231 *** Average Texas
George Kehoe PF 6-6 222 *** Average Texas
Taylor Harvey SF 6-8 246 *** Average Texas
Brett Bashaw PF 6-10 203 **** Low Texas
Chris Lukas SF 6-7 220 **** Low Texas
Derek Harmon SG 6-1 192 **** Low Texas
Tyler Martin SG 6-2 193 **** Low Texas
Carl McGinnis SF 6-6 229 ***** Very Low Texas
Dudley Dillon PG 6-2 182 **** Very Low Australia
Karl Naß PF 6-7 221 **** Very Low Germany

Obviously the 4 and 5 star players are still a reach, but in order to get this team better for opponents like Kansas, I've got to make some stretches.

[collegesportsfanms]

Offseason Recruiting News

August 2016

I'm offering scholarships to Whitehead and Leduc. I've got a couple 4 star players that have average interest now, and 1 of them is from Texas, so guess what? I'm going to go visit them myself.

September 2016

Well that didn't go as we hoped. We are #1 on Leduc's list now. I'm also offering a scholarship to Dillon, as him being from Australia, I'm hoping since nobody else is looking at him, we can get him to recruit early.

October 2016

Yes! Dillon now has a very high interest in coming to Sam Houston St! He's coming for a visit this month which pretty much eats up our recruiting budget, but if we can get him it would be a huge score! Leduc is still #1 on our list, and Carl McGinnis, the 5 star recruit we are looking at, is still interested in us. I'm going to cut another walk-on so that I have a scholarship to offer him.

November 2016 (early signing period)

Well we knew it was a longshot, but McGinnis declined our offer. So we have offers in to Leduc, Dillon, and Whitehead that we are waiting to hear from. I've also offered a scholarship to Chris Lukas, a 4 star SF.

Nobody is willing to redshirt this season, so we'll have have a 12 man roster that are all eligible to play.

[collegesportsfanms]

Here's a look at our roster for the 2016-2017 season:

Player # Pos Yr Ht Wt Sch Acd Status Hometown
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lonnie Tingley 50 C Jr 6-8 252 Yes 26 OK Hitchcock, TX
James Tesch 3 PF Sr 6-7 249 Yes 25 OK San Antonio, TX
George Travers 2 PF Jr 6-10 260 Yes 87 OK Paris, TX
Cody Headley 1 PF Jr 6-6 227 Yes 28 OK Port Lavaca, TX
George Hazard 54 PF So* 6-6 227 Yes 45 OK Grandview, TX
Jason Wicker 35 SF So 6-5 214 Yes 43 OK Katy, TX
Chris Edgar 30 SF Fr 6-7 224 Yes 57 OK Conroe, TX
Chester Kumar 21 SF Fr 6-7 223 Yes 59 OK Dimmitt, TX
Scott Wolcott 25 SG Sr* 6-3 206 Yes 86 OK Brownsburg, IN
Kevin Penland 10 SG So 6-3 183 Yes 23 OK Marble Falls, TX
Tony Atkins 13 PG Sr* 6-2 186 Yes 64 OK Hitchcock, TX
Burt Wan 23 PG Jr 6-0 184 Yes 26 OK Houston, TX

While you can't see the colors for current/potential, I can tell you this. We have a lot more current and future talent on the perimeter than we do in the post, and here I am recruiting 4 guys that mostly play the perimeter. Well, if that is to be our strength, then so be it. Here's a look at the 2016-2017 schedule:

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/14/16 at Kansas State 0-0 128
11/20/16 vs. Saint Joseph's 0-0 255
11/27/16 Prairie View A&M 0-0 212
11/29/16 New Orleans 0-0 181
12/01/16 Louisiana Tech 0-0 140
12/07/16 at #18 Creighton 0-0 61
12/14/16 at Texas Christian 0-0 262
12/16/16 Southern Mississippi 0-0 246
12/19/16 Rice 0-0 219
12/24/16 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 0-0 15
12/27/16 at Houston 0-0 109
12/31/16 at Tulsa 0-0 281
01/07/17 Stephen F. Austin 0-0 258
01/11/17 at McNeese State 0-0 154
01/14/17 Lamar 0-0 133
01/16/17 at Northwestern State 0-0 194
01/25/17 Texas State 0-0 250
01/28/17 Texas-San Antonio 0-0 275
01/30/17 at Texas A&M-CC 0-0 270
02/04/17 at Texas-Arlington 0-0 273
02/06/17 Central Arkansas 0-0 342
02/11/17 Nicholls State 0-0 183
02/15/17 at Southeastern Louisiana 0-0 241
02/18/17 at Texas State 0-0 250
02/22/17 Texas A&M-CC 0-0 270
02/25/17 at Lamar 0-0 133
02/27/17 Texas-Arlington 0-0 273
03/04/17 at Texas-San Antonio 0-0 275

As you can see, we tried to schedule a little bit tougher by agreeing to go to Kansas State and Creighton. Louisiana Tech, Houston, and Tulsa could be tough games as well

[collegesportsfanms]

November 2016



Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/14/16 at Kansas State 5-2 142 L 85-65 0-1
11/20/16 vs. Saint Joseph's 4-1 26 L 77-43 0-2
11/22/16 vs. Southern Mississippi 3-4 272 W 80-44 1-2
11/23/16 vs. St. John's 2-3 185 W 73-58 2-2
11/27/16 Prairie View A&M 1-4 253 W 80-72 3-2
11/29/16 New Orleans 3-2 186 W 86-55 4-2

Well a nice recovery after losing our first 2, but man do those first 2 losses hurt. Wouldn't be so bad if we competed in either of them, but we didn't. Ironic that we drew Southern Miss in our preseason tourney, especially since we host them later on in December.

Overall Record: 4-2
Home Record: 2-0
Road Record: 0-1
Neutral Record: 2-1
Rank: NR
RPI: 88

Leaders

PPG

PG Burt Wan- 18.3
SG Scott Wolcott- 15.7
SF Chris Edgar- 10.2

RPG

C Lonnie Tingley- 7.7
PF James Tesch- 6.2
SF Chris Edgar- 4.0

APG

SF Chris Edgar- 2.3
SG Scott Wolcott- 2.2
SG Kevin Penland- 1.7

Recruiting News

We have a scholarship offer open now, as Steven Whitehead decided to sign with Rice. Ugh! Fortunately we are still #1 for Dillon and Leduc, but Lukas has Texas in front of us.

[collegesportsfanms]

December 2016

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/14/16 at Kansas State 8-3 53 L 85-65 0-1
11/20/16 vs. Saint Joseph's 9-4 54 L 77-43 0-2
11/22/16 vs. Southern Mississippi 4-8 156 W 80-44 1-2
11/23/16 vs. St. John's 8-4 40 W 73-58 2-2
11/27/16 Prairie View A&M 3-9 193 W 80-72 3-2
11/29/16 New Orleans 7-6 262 W 86-55 4-2
12/01/16 Louisiana Tech 4-8 78 W 79-60 5-2
12/07/16 at #20 Creighton 13-2 89 W 72-51 6-2
12/14/16 at Texas Christian 7-6 218 W 91-84 7-2
12/16/16 Southern Mississippi 4-8 156 W 75-72 8-2
12/19/16 Rice 7-4 194 W 74-67 9-2
12/24/16 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 3-10 308 W 81-77 10-2
12/27/16 at Houston 9-3 88 L 73-66 10-3
12/31/16 at Tulsa 8-4 85 W 76-72 11-3

Only a 7 point loss at Houston kept us from having a perfect December. That win at Creighton is going to be very nice come March. And we didn't just beat Creighton, we humiliated them. Unfortunately, this is where our RPI takes a huge hit, as the start of January also means the start of Southland play. Ugh!

Overall Record: 11-3
Home Record: 6-0
Road Record: 3-2
Neutral Record: 2-1
Rank: NR Media Poll, #13 Mid-Major Poll
RPI: 17

Man I love that RPI, too bad it will drop and keep dropping.

Leaders

PPG

PG Burt Wan- 19.4
SG Scott Wolcott- 15.1
SF Chris Edgar- 9.3

RPG

C Lonnie Tingley- 6.9
PF James Tesch- 6.4
SG Scott Wolcott- 4.4

APG

SG Scott Wolcott- 2.3
SF Chris Edgar- 2.1
SG Kevin Penland- 1.5

Injuries

We currently have 2 injuries affecting the roster. Chris Edgar has a torn ligament, somewhere, the game doesn't specify. He's out for 56 more days, which means we should have him back around tournament time. George Hazard is a little less severe as far as length, as he has a concussion. That is nothing to joke around with, he's out for 2 more weeks.

Recruiting

We've signed our first recruit of the season. John Leduc, a SG, has signed with us. This is big, as we beat out Tulsa, Texas, Kentucky, and Arizona for his services. Dudley Dillon still has us as his #1, and he still has no scholarship offers anywhere else. Chris Lukas only has an offer from us, but he is definitely waiting on the big schools, as there are 3 ahead of us.

[collegesportsfanms]

January 2017

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/14/16 at Kansas State 13-6 32 L 85-65 0-1
11/20/16 vs. Saint Joseph's 14-6 44 L 77-43 0-2
11/22/16 vs. Southern Mississippi 7-13 169 W 80-44 1-2
11/23/16 vs. St. John's 11-9 58 W 73-58 2-2
11/27/16 Prairie View A&M 6-13 267 W 80-72 3-2
11/29/16 New Orleans 11-10 261 W 86-55 4-2
12/01/16 Louisiana Tech 6-14 134 W 79-60 5-2
12/07/16 at #9 Creighton 19-3 54 W 72-51 6-2
12/14/16 at Texas Christian 10-11 122 W 91-84 7-2
12/16/16 Southern Mississippi 7-13 169 W 75-72 8-2
12/19/16 Rice 11-8 158 W 74-67 9-2
12/24/16 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 8-12 292 W 81-77 10-2
12/27/16 at Houston 14-6 28 L 73-66 10-3
12/31/16 at Tulsa 14-6 63 W 76-72 11-3
01/07/17 Stephen F. Austin 4-14 314 W 94-78 12-3 (1-0)
01/11/17 at McNeese State 3-16 345 W 68-48 13-3 (2-0)
01/14/17 Lamar 5-15 282 W 61-48 14-3 (3-0)
01/16/17 at Northwestern State 8-11 264 W 86-75 15-3 (4-0)
01/25/17 Texas State 7-13 143 W 84-69 16-3 (5-0)
01/28/17 Texas-San Antonio 8-10 141 W 97-62 17-3 (6-0)
01/30/17 at Texas A&M-CC 10-10 232 L 65-63 17-4 (6-1)

Well, our hopes of an undefeated conference season were dashed, but to be fair, Texas A&M-CC is the only other team in the conference with a non-losing record. This conference sucks, and I'm hoping that if I'm with Sam Houston St. next year, we'll be in a different conference.

Overall Record: 17-4
Conference Record: 6-1
Home Record: 10-0
Road Record: 5-3
Neutral Record: 2-1
Rank: NR Media Poll, #16 Mid-Major Poll
RPI: 64

Still a pretty good RPI considering everything.

Leaders

PPG

PG Burt Wan- 19.4
SF Scott Wolcott- 16.4
SF Chris Edgar- 9.3

Amazing! Chris hasn't played in over a month and he's still 1 of the top 3 leading scorers on this team.

RPG

C Lonnie Tingley- 6.9
PF James Tesch- 6.6
SF Scott Wolcott- 4.9

APG

SF Scott Wolcott- 2.2
SF Chris Edgar- 2.1
SG Kevin Penland- 1.5

No doubt about it, this is not a passing team.

Injuries

Ugh! The injuries are piling up to begin February. Aside from Chris Edgar being hurt, Tony Atkins sprained his knee and is out 5 more days. Also, Chestar Kumar has a torn ligament, and he's out for 47 days, which means he could be done for the season, depending on how far into March we play.

Recruiting

Score! Thank you Dudley Dillon! He has officially signed with us, making him the first 4 star recruit I've signed here at Sam Houston. Next goal! A 5 star recruit.

Chris Lukas still only has us 3rd on his list. He is bound and determined to wait for the big boys to offer him a scholarship, but I refuse to withdraw mine. And since we've got to have a post player next season, I'm offering a scholarship to a 2 star PF, Thierry Delemontagne out of France.

[collegesportsfanms]

February 2017

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/14/16 at Kansas State 18-9 23 L 85-65 0-1
11/20/16 vs. Saint Joseph's 16-12 77 L 77-43 0-2
11/22/16 vs. Southern Mississippi 8-20 210 W 80-44 1-2
11/23/16 vs. St. John's 15-13 72 W 73-58 2-2
11/27/16 Prairie View A&M 12-15 232 W 80-72 3-2
11/29/16 New Orleans 13-16 266 W 86-55 4-2
12/01/16 Louisiana Tech 8-19 169 W 79-60 5-2
12/07/16 at #6 Creighton 26-4 36 W 72-51 6-2
12/14/16 at Texas Christian 14-13 97 W 91-84 7-2
12/16/16 Southern Mississippi 8-20 210 W 75-72 8-2
12/19/16 Rice 13-14 164 W 74-67 9-2
12/24/16 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 13-14 254 W 81-77 10-2
12/27/16 at Houston 20-8 38 L 73-66 10-3
12/31/16 at Tulsa 21-7 41 W 76-72 11-3
01/07/17 Stephen F. Austin 11-16 273 W 94-78 12-3 (1-0)
01/11/17 at McNeese State 6-21 344 W 68-48 13-3 (2-0)
01/14/17 Lamar 9-19 257 W 61-48 14-3 (3-0)
01/16/17 at Northwestern State 12-15 284 W 86-75 15-3 (4-0)
01/25/17 Texas State 9-18 213 W 84-69 16-3 (5-0)
01/28/17 Texas-San Antonio 13-13 197 W 97-62 17-3 (6-0)
01/30/17 at Texas A&M-CC 11-16 288 L 65-63 17-4 (6-1)
02/04/17 at Texas-Arlington 14-14 274 W 54-53 18-4 (7-1)
02/06/17 Central Arkansas 7-20 283 W 94-45 19-4 (8-1)
02/11/17 Nicholls State 14-13 225 W 71-63 20-4 (9-1)
02/15/17 at Southeastern Louisiana 10-17 316 W 94-63 21-4 (10-1)
02/18/17 at Texas State 9-18 213 W 84-75 22-4 (11-1)
02/22/17 Texas A&M-CC 11-16 288 W 64-56 23-4 (12-1)
02/25/17 at Lamar 9-19 257 W 86-40 24-4 (13-1)
02/27/17 Texas-Arlington 14-14 274 W 67-56 25-4 (14-1)

The good news about the conference is that there are now 3 other teams besides us that have non-losing records, and 1 of those, Nicholls St., even has a winning record. That helps the RPI out. We've clinched the #1 seed in the Southland tournament about.. oh.. 6 games ago. 1 more regular season game in March. Oh yeah, as for the Bubble Watch, we are so safely in that we aren't even listed on the big 15 team overall Bubble Watch. Score!

Overall Record: 25-4
Conference Record: 14-1
Home Record: 14-0
Road Record: 9-3
Neutral Record: 2-1
Rank: Receiving 7 votes in Media Poll, #14 in Mid-Major Poll
RPI: 53

Leaders

PPG

PG Burt Wan- 17.3
SF Scott Wolcott- 17.2
PF James Tesch- 9.3

RPG

C Lonnie Tingley- 7.9
PF James Tesch- 6.7
SF Scott Wolcott- 5.0

APG

SF Scott Wolcott- 2.4
SF Chris Edgar- 1.7
SG Kevin Penland- 1.6

Injuries

No new injuries to speak of, as both Atkins and Edgar are back in the lineup. Kumar has 19 more days, so he may see some action yet this season.

Recruiting

Damn! We lost out on Chris Lukas. Alabama finally shot him an offer, and he took it. We are in the mix for Delemontagne, but he's got us listed 4th on his top 5, and the top 3 have offered. Uh-oh! So now we have another scholarship to offer, and we are going after Craig Turnbull of Australia.

[collegesportsfanms]

We had our final conference game on March 4th, winning it 80-72. The final Southern Conference standings are as follows:

EAST CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nicholls State 10 6 .625 15 14 .517 213 18
Northwestern State 9 7 .563 14 15 .483 280 24
Stephen F. Austin 7 9 .438 12 17 .414 278 38
Southeastern Louisiana 6 10 .375 12 17 .414 307 24
Central Arkansas 6 10 .375 7 22 .241 300 6
McNeese State 4 12 .250 6 23 .207 345 21

WEST CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sam Houston State 15 1 .938 26 4 .867 47 54
Texas-Arlington 10 6 .625 15 14 .517 265 26
Texas A&M-CC 8 8 .500 13 16 .448 276 30
Texas-San Antonio 8 8 .500 14 14 .500 183 30
Lamar 7 9 .438 9 21 .300 267 30
Texas State 6 10 .375 9 20 .310 222 12

Our toughest competition in the Conference Tourney should be Texas-Arlington and Nicholls St. Here are the Quarterfinal Pairings:

(8) Stephen F. Austin vs. (1) Sam Houston St.
(5) Texas A&M-CC vs. (4) Northwestern St.
(6) Texas-San Antonio vs. (3) Texas-Arlington
(7) Lamar vs. (2) Nicholls St.

[collegesportsfanms]

March 9, 2017

Southland Quarterfinals
(8) Stephen F. Austin (12-17) vs. (1) Sam Houston St. (26-4)

This is a game we should have no trouble with, and everybody should get some minutes. We beat them by 16 at home in early January, so we know they can pose a little bit of a threat, but I'm not worried. Well.. I should have been. They jumped out to an 8-0 lead before my guys woke up and decided to play some basketball. It wasn't a clinic on ball handling, as there were 37 combined turnovers, and they actually shot 10% better than we did. The difference in this one was three pointers. We made 11, they made 3. So we advance, but it wasn't pretty.

Sam Houston State 94, Stephen F. Austin 89

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stephen F. Austin (12-18, 7-9):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Harold Bewley C 29 3-6 4-9 1 12 1 5 10
Harrison Ruckman PF 25 4-5 4-4 1 9 0 5 12
Paul Weintraub SF 24 7-14 3-3 0 0 3 5 19
Cedrick Red SG 27 5-6 2-2 1 3 3 1 12
Chris Chin PG 28 2-8 3-4 2 3 2 1 7
Charles Gambrell PF 13 1-1 0-0 0 1 0 0 2
Clinton Lyles PF 6 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 2 0
Issac Moen C 6 0-1 2-2 0 4 0 0 2
Timothy Parks PG 17 3-3 3-4 0 3 0 3 10
Alonso Nigro PG 9 3-4 0-0 0 0 1 2 6
Joseph Walden SF 16 3-8 3-4 1 3 1 4 9
Timothy Rocco SF 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 21 (H.Bewley 1, H.Ruckman 5, P.Weintraub 1,
C.Red 6, C.Chin 3, I.Moen 1, T.Parks 1, A.Nigro 2,
J.Walden 1)
Blocked Shots: 5 (H.Bewley 1, H.Ruckman 2, C.Gambrell 2)
Steals: 7 (H.Bewley 1, P.Weintraub 2, C.Red 2, C.Chin
1, A.Nigro 1)
3P FGs: 3-11 (P.Weintraub 2-5, C.Red 0-1, C.Chin 0-1,
T.Parks 1-1, A.Nigro 0-1, J.Walden 0-2)

Sam Houston State (27-4, 15-1):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
George Travers C 26 3-4 3-5 2 4 0 1 9
James Tesch SF 25 4-11 5-10 3 10 2 3 13
Scott Wolcott SF 19 5-10 0-1 1 1 1 5 13
Burt Wan SG 24 5-12 0-2 0 1 2 5 15
Tony Atkins PG 33 6-10 6-8 2 3 2 4 20
Kevin Penland SG 21 3-6 5-7 2 5 3 0 12
Lonnie Tingley PF 24 1-2 2-2 3 6 0 5 4
George Hazard PF 17 1-5 0-0 1 5 0 1 2
Chris Edgar SF 10 1-5 2-2 0 2 1 0 4
Cody Headley PF 1 0-0 2-2 0 1 0 1 2
Jason Wicker SG 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 16 (J.Tesch 4, S.Wolcott 2, B.Wan 2,
T.Atkins 1, K.Penland 5, G.Hazard 1, C.Edgar 1)
Blocked Shots: 3 (J.Tesch 1, L.Tingley 1, G.Hazard 1)
Steals: 12 (G.Travers 1, S.Wolcott 2, B.Wan 1, T.Atkins
3, K.Penland 4, L.Tingley 1)
3P FGs: 11-24 (J.Tesch 0-3, S.Wolcott 3-4, B.Wan 5-10,
T.Atkins 2-3, K.Penland 1-3, C.Edgar 0-1)

Player of Game: PG Tony Atkins (SMHOU)

Other Conference Tournament Games:

(5) Texas A&M-CC- 63, (4) Northwestern St.- 54
(6) Texas-San Antonio- 59, (3) Texas-Arlington- 51
(2) Nicholls St.- 69, (7) Lamar- 58


March 10, 2017

Southland Semifinals
(5) Texas A&M-CC (14-16) vs. (1) Sam Houston St. (27-4)

This game scares me because they are the only team that defeated us in conference play, even if it was only by 2 points and it was on the road. But even at our house, we only beat them by 8. They've got 2 guys that average double figure scoring, so the key is obviously to stop them. Realizing we are safely in the NCAA tournament, I want my guys to make sure they understand, 2 more wins will probably get us a better seed. And message delivered! It was only a 5 point halftime lead, but we laid into them in the 2nd half, forcing 21 turnovers for the second straight game while committing only 7 ourselves. When you take 14 more shots than your opponent, your chances of making more than them increase significantly, and that's what happened. So for the 2nd straight season we advance to the Southland Final, but who will we play?

Sam Houston State 71, Texas A&M-CC 49

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Texas A&M-CC (14-17, 8-8):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
David Wade C 32 7-13 0-1 4 9 2 1 14
Ira Tate PF 26 0-1 1-2 1 11 1 2 1
Matthew Gorton SF 28 2-8 2-2 1 4 0 3 8
Homer Young SG 26 3-11 0-0 1 4 1 4 8
Chris Infante PG 22 1-3 1-1 1 1 3 0 4
Brock Carillo PG 24 2-6 0-0 1 1 1 5 4
Brian Medina PF 15 1-3 0-2 2 6 1 1 2
Bryan Wessels C 5 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Jack Ward SF 8 3-3 1-1 0 1 1 1 8
Benny Harrison SG 9 0-2 0-0 0 1 0 0 0
Henry Yeung PF 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Val Phillips PG 2 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 1 0

Turnovers: 21 (D.Wade 2, I.Tate 3, M.Gorton 7, H.Young
5, C.Infante 1, B.Medina 1, J.Ward 2)
Blocked Shots: 4 (D.Wade 2, I.Tate 1, M.Gorton 1)
Steals: 4 (H.Young 2, C.Infante 2)
3P FGs: 6-26 (M.Gorton 2-6, H.Young 2-9, C.Infante 1-1,
B.Carillo 0-4, B.Medina 0-1, J.Ward 1-1, B.Harrison
0-2, V.Phillips 0-2)

Sam Houston State (28-4, 15-1):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
George Travers C 24 0-5 2-2 2 7 2 2 2
James Tesch PF 14 2-3 2-4 2 5 0 0 7
Scott Wolcott SF 31 6-20 0-0 5 6 1 2 14
Burt Wan SG 34 6-18 1-2 0 6 2 2 17
Tony Atkins PG 22 4-9 0-0 2 2 1 3 9
Kevin Penland SG 18 3-4 5-6 2 4 1 1 12
Lonnie Tingley PF 30 4-7 2-2 5 9 2 1 10
George Hazard PF 14 0-0 0-0 0 2 0 0 0
Chris Edgar SF 10 0-1 0-1 0 1 1 2 0
Cody Headley PF 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0

Turnovers: 7 (G.Travers 2, S.Wolcott 2, T.Atkins 1,
K.Penland 2)
Blocked Shots: 6 (G.Travers 1, J.Tesch 4, G.Hazard 1)
Steals: 10 (J.Tesch 2, S.Wolcott 2, B.Wan 1, T.Atkins
2, K.Penland 2, C.Edgar 1)
3P FGs: 9-34 (J.Tesch 1-1, S.Wolcott 2-10, B.Wan 4-16,
T.Atkins 1-5, K.Penland 1-1, C.Edgar 0-1)

Player of Game: PF Lonnie Tingley (SMHOU)

Other Conference Tournament Games:

(6) Texas-San Antonio- 74, (2) Nicholls St.- 69


March 12, 2017

Southland Championship
(6) Texas-San Antonio (16-14) vs. (1) Sam Houston St. (28-4)

We'll be playing this game with a new starting PF, as James Tesch suffered a broken nose in practice yesterday. Lonnie Tingley will start in his place. James will probably play, but I'm going to try and limit his minutes based on how the game goes. We definitely lucked out by not having to play Nicholls St., as we beat these guys by 8 at their place and by 35 at ours. Projections have us as a possible 7 or 8 seed in the dance, so this is a must win. And win we did, in convincing fashion, as we jumped out to a big early lead and coasted from there. Burt Wan scored 34 for us and Chris Edgar added 20, and we won our 2nd straight Southland Tournament Championship! Now we await our seed in the Big Dance.

Sam Houston State 78, Texas-San Antonio 60

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Texas-San Antonio (16-15, 8-8):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Larry Smedley C 8 1-1 0-0 1 2 0 1 2
Rodger Coke C 29 6-7 1-4 0 3 0 2 13
Brent Wendt SF 30 3-12 3-3 1 6 3 4 9
Charles Benson SG 30 7-12 0-0 0 4 4 2 15
Duane Wilkens PG 34 5-12 0-0 4 6 2 2 11
Aaron Parks PF 20 1-4 1-2 1 2 1 2 3
Manuel Ruffner SF 10 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 0
Parker Knight SG 14 1-2 1-4 0 3 0 3 3
Scott Hardcastle PG 2 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 3
Michael Rader PF 18 0-2 1-2 2 6 1 2 1
Steven Gunter C 5 0-0 0-0 0 2 0 0 0

Turnovers: 19 (L.Smedley 1, R.Coke 2, B.Wendt 2,
C.Benson 6, D.Wilkens 3, M.Ruffner 3, P.Knight 1,
S.Gunter 1)
Blocked Shots: 1 (R.Coke 1)
Steals: 6 (R.Coke 3, D.Wilkens 2, M.Rader 1)
3P FGs: 3-11 (B.Wendt 0-1, C.Benson 1-3, D.Wilkens 1-3,
A.Parks 0-1, P.Knight 0-1, S.Hardcastle 1-1, M.Rader
0-1)

Sam Houston State (29-4, 15-1):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
George Travers C 26 1-4 0-0 0 2 0 0 2
Lonnie Tingley PF 19 2-2 2-2 3 8 1 4 6
Chris Edgar SF 34 7-16 5-7 1 5 0 1 20
Scott Wolcott SG 30 2-7 1-2 2 3 6 3 6
Burt Wan PG 28 12-18 3-4 0 2 4 2 34
Kevin Penland SG 13 0-1 1-2 0 0 0 2 1
Tony Atkins PG 10 2-3 0-0 0 1 1 0 4
George Hazard PF 23 1-2 0-0 1 9 0 2 2
Cody Headley PF 13 0-1 1-2 0 1 0 3 1
Jason Wicker SF 5 1-2 0-0 0 0 1 0 2

Turnovers: 15 (L.Tingley 1, C.Edgar 2, S.Wolcott 5,
B.Wan 2, G.Hazard 4, C.Headley 1)
Blocked Shots: 1 (G.Travers 1)
Steals: 6 (S.Wolcott 3, B.Wan 2, T.Atkins 1)
3P FGs: 9-30 (C.Edgar 1-8, S.Wolcott 1-6, B.Wan 7-13,
K.Penland 0-1, T.Atkins 0-1, C.Headley 0-1)

Player of Game: PG Burt Wan (SMHOU)

I still think we're gonna get screwed on our seeding, as we are 26th out of 33 teams in conference RPI. But, I had the gang over to my house for the selection show. And guys, I gotta tell you, this team is head over heels right now. Not only did our seed come close to matching projections, as we got the 9th seed in the South Region, but our opponent is very, very beatable. We draw George Mason in the First Round, so obviously the committee is trying to get rid of a non-BCS team right off the bat, but that's ok. We win this game, we get Tennessee, who is the #1 seed in our region. I want Tennessee, but we can't overlook George Mason. Oh and btw, we'll go into the NCAA Tournament ranked #25 in the Media Polls!! George Mason isn't even getting any votes there. We are 10th in the Mid-Major Top 25, and they are 16th.

Texas-San Antonio got rewarded for getting to the Southland Championship, as they got the 15th seed in the CIT. They will travel to 2nd seeded Montana. Nicholls St. was the only other team with an overall winning record in the Southland, and they got left out. Makes sense, especially since they lost in the Quarterfinals of the Southland Tourney.

[collegesportsfanms]

As I am pressed for time, I won't go into a lot of detail about the NCAA Tournament, we lost to (8) George Mason 63-54, meaning a first round exit 2 years in a row. Damn, I thought we could get this one. So it's on to the offseason.

2017 Offseason

Awards

Southland Coach of the Year goes to.. me! Let's take a look at the Southland Awards in full:

2016 SOUTHLAND AWARDS

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Player of the Year:

SR SF Scott Wolcott Sam Houston State 16.6 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 2.4 APG 2.5 SPG, 0.2 BPG

Freshman of the Year:
FR PF Stephen Kroll Texas State 12.4 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 1.1 APG 0.3 SPG, 0.6 BPG

Coach of the Year:
Mike Schaplowsky Sam Houston State 29 - 5 (15 - 1)

All-league 1st Team:
C SR David Wade Texas A&M-CC 16.3 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 1.0 APG, 0.4 SPG, 0.8 BPG
PF SR Harrison Ruckman Stephen F. Austin 12.9 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 1.1 APG, 0.3 SPG, 0.8 BPG
SF SR Scott Wolcott Sam Houston State 16.6 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 2.4 APG, 2.5 SPG, 0.2 BPG
SG SO Homer Young Texas A&M-CC 13.7 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 1.8 APG, 0.6 SPG, 0.1 BPG
PG JR Burt Wan Sam Houston State 17.6 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 1.6 APG, 1.6 SPG, 0.2 BPG

All-league 2nd Team:
C SR Rupert Rayborn Nicholls State 10.0 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 1.2 APG, 0.4 SPG, 1.8 BPG
PF SR James Tesch Sam Houston State 9.1 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 1.2 APG, 0.5 SPG, 2.2 BPG
SF JR Brent Wendt Texas-San Antonio 10.6 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 2.4 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.2 BPG
SG SO Charles Benson Texas-San Antonio 12.3 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 1.7 APG, 0.9 SPG, 0.2 BPG
PG SO Duane Wilkens Texas-San Antonio 13.4 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 2.1 APG, 2.2 SPG, 0.1 BPG

All-freshman Team:
C FR Larry Ramos Lamar 3.4 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 0.8 APG, 0.5 SPG, 0.2 BPG
PF FR Stephen Kroll Texas State 12.4 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 1.1 APG, 0.3 SPG, 0.6 BPG
SF FR Gary Pascual Northwestern State 8.1 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 1.8 APG, 0.6 SPG, 0.2 BPG
SG FR James Jason Central Arkansas 9.4 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 1.4 APG, 0.1 SPG, 0.1 BPG
PG FR Lorencio Vila Texas State 9.2 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 1.7 APG, 1.8 SPG, 0.1 BPG


Departing Players

SF Scott Wolcott- graduating
PG Tony Atkins- graduating
PF James Tesch- graduating

Losing this guys hurts, especially Scott, as he was huge for us this season. Tony played some key minutes as did James when he wasn't hurt.

Final Recruiting Class

PG Dudley Dillon (****, #99 overall)
SG John Leduc (***, #329 overall)

Dissapointing that we filled 2 of our 4 scholarships this season, but the guys we got will be huge! Dudley is our most prized recruit, being that he is the first 4 star I've signed. Unfortunately, we've already got Burt starting at PG, and I'm sure not gonna waste a redshirt on Dudley, but John however, is looking like a redshirt candidate, if he'll accept it. Our class was ranked 82nd in the nation and tops in the Southland.

None of our seniors got drafted, and our prestige stayed at 54.

Conference Movement

To my surprise, we are staying in the Southland this season, I really thought we'd move up after dominating the conference 2 straight seasons. We are still listed as a conference prestige of 1, wish some of these other teams would start playing ball. I'll entertain any job offers I get, because it's getting boring running through this sh*t hole of a conference.

Job Offers

Well, that settled that. No frikkin offers this season either. Are you kidding me? Not 1 school wants the services of a guy that has dominated his conference for the last 2 seasons? OK, whatever, I'll go dominate the cropland.. I mean the Southland again.

And this is where I stop, as I am heading out of town for the next 5 days, coming back sometime Monday.

[collegesportsfanms]

After cutting some dead weight from the team, we've got a whopping 6 scholarships to hand out! Unfortunately, this is going to create a problem as we already have 11 players on the roster. I'm not sure if there is a max roster, I was thinking it was 15. We only lose 3 seniors, so I have a feeling not every scholarship is going to get used, and if they do, I may have to say bye bye to some players I really don't want to lose. As it stands, the plan of attack this year is to go after big men, as all 3 of the seniors we lose are big men, and we only have 1 other on the roster. 4 big men total, yikes! Here is the initial 20 man call list.

Name Pos Ht Wt Rating Interest State
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Domenic Fogel C 6-7 228 *** Very High Texas
Carlos Villa C 6-11 289 *** High Texas
J.C. Devaughn C 6-9 228 *** High Texas
Charles West PF 6-8 269 *** High Texas
David Diorio SF 6-5 237 *** High Texas
David Leach SG 5-10 177 *** High Texas
Kendall Sirois C 6-9 247 *** Average Texas
Michael Parker C 6-8 228 *** Average Texas
Judson Stutz PF 6-7 241 *** Average Texas
Chris Guffey C 6-11 226 *** Average Kansas
Kenneth Rigdon C 6-9 234 *** Average Oklahoma
Abraham Hillard PF 6-7 206 *** Average Oklahoma
Rodger Smyth C 6-10 263 *** Average Ohio
Richard Shepherd PF 6-9 251 **** Low Texas
Jed Caines PF 6-6 222 *** Low Kansas
Dewitt Donald PF 6-8 242 ***** Very Low Texas
Sebastian Sthilaire C 6-7 221 ***** Very Low Illinois
Fritz Daniels C 6-8 245 **** Very Low Kansas
Brian Palumbo C 6-9 258 **** Very Low Wisconsin
Walter Cruz C 6-7 223 **** Very Low Indiana

As always, some of these guys will be reaches, and some of these guys will get cut from the call list after evaluation, but I've got a nice starting base to go off of, as once again I tried to stay local, as local as I could.

[collegesportsfanms]

Offseason Recruiting News

August 2017

I've offered scholarships to Devaughn, Daniels, and Sirois, all centers, but they all can play PF if I need them to. Unfortunately only Devaughn is showing any interest in us at the moment.

September 2017

David Leach, a SG, has been offered a scholarship after his evaluation, as has Dewitt Donald, a 5 star PF. What a steal he would be. Sadly, Devaughn now has only average interest in us.

October 2017

We are going after 5 guys that have average interest in us, time to start thinking about back-up plans, as the early signing period is about to begin, and I have a feeling we are gonna lose at least 2 of these guys.

November 2017 (early signing period)

As I feared, we lost out on Leach, Donald, and Sirois. Dangit! I've thrown some more players on the call list, as back-ups, but I did an absolutely horrible job of recruiting this time around, as I spent way too much time going after guys I had no chance of getting as opposed to sticking with the 3 star guys that showed interest in us. Rats!

I redshirted Jon Leduc, as he was the only one willing, so that gives us 10 eligible players this season. That's more than enough, as long as nobody gets hurt or suspended, knock on wood!

[collegesportsfanms]

Here's a look at the roster for the upcoming season:

SAM HOUSTON STATE General

Player # Pos Yr Ht Wt Sch Acd Status Hometown
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
George Travers 2 C Sr 6-10 267 Yes 87 OK Paris, TX
Lonnie Tingley 50 PF Sr 6-9 255 Yes 26 OK Hitchcock, TX
Chris Edgar 30 SF So 6-7 225 Yes 57 OK Conroe, TX
Burt Wan 23 PG Sr 6-0 192 Yes 26 OK Houston, TX
Dudley Dillon 4 PG Fr 6-2 187 Yes 93 OK Mackay, Australia
Kevin Penland 10 SG Jr 6-4 184 Yes 23 OK Marble Falls, TX
George Hazard 54 PF Jr* 6-6 229 Yes 45 OK Grandview, TX
Chester Kumar 21 SF So 6-7 225 Yes 59 OK Dimmitt, TX
Cody Headley 1 PF Sr 6-6 227 Yes 28 OK Port Lavaca, TX
Jason Wicker 35 SF Jr 6-5 215 Yes 43 OK Katy, TX
John Leduc 55 SG Fr 6-3 199 Yes 93 Redshirt Forth Worth, TX

I wish I could figure out a way to get the current/potential colors to show up, as you could see how troubling the roster for the future really is. Aside from any recruits we may get, we'll have just 4 players of blue or green potential coming back. As for this year, the team should run through Wan, no doubt about it.

And a look at the schedule:

SAM HOUSTON STATE Schedule

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/10/17 at Massachusetts 0-0 153
11/14/17 Nebraska 0-0 176
11/18/17 at San Diego 0-0 230
11/22/17 at Texas A&M 0-0 269
11/24/17 Grambling State 0-0 101
11/30/17 Louisiana Tech 0-0 140
12/06/17 Alcorn State 0-0 7
12/10/17 Air Force 0-0 1
12/14/17 vs. Niagara 0-0 182
12/24/17 at Houston 0-0 109
12/26/17 at Louisiana State 0-0 139
12/28/17 Rice 0-0 219
01/06/18 Texas State 0-0 250
01/10/18 at McNeese State 0-0 154
01/13/18 Texas-San Antonio 0-0 275
01/17/18 at Southeastern Louisiana 0-0 241
01/24/18 Nicholls State 0-0 183
01/27/18 at Texas A&M-CC 0-0 270
01/31/18 Central Arkansas 0-0 342
02/03/18 at Lamar 0-0 133
02/07/18 at Northwestern State 0-0 194
02/10/18 Stephen F. Austin 0-0 258
02/14/18 Texas-Arlington 0-0 273
02/17/18 at Texas-San Antonio 0-0 275
02/21/18 Lamar 0-0 133
02/24/18 at Texas State 0-0 250
02/28/18 at Texas-Arlington 0-0 273
03/03/18 Texas A&M-CC 0-0 270

Definitely not as tough of a schedule as it was last season, but still some challenging games upcoming.

[collegesportsfanms]

November 2017

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/10/17 at Massachusetts 1-5 211 W 81-65 1-0
11/14/17 Nebraska 2-4 265 W 64-50 2-0
11/18/17 at San Diego 3-3 53 W 71-52 3-0
11/22/17 at Texas A&M 2-3 98 W 75-65 4-0
11/24/17 Grambling State 0-4 96 W 61-45 5-0
11/30/17 Louisiana Tech 3-3 221 L 62-59 5-1


Rats! So close to a perfect month, dang it Louisiana Tech! Still a much better start than I figured, but we've got a couple more tough ones in December.

Overall Record: 5-1
Home Record: 2-1
Road Record: 3-0
Rank: RV in media poll, #9 in mid-major poll
RPI: 217

We will definitely be going down in both polls after our loss to LA Tech.

Leaders

PPG

SG Burt Wan- 18.2
SF Chris Edgar- 14.5
PG Dudley Dillon- 9.2

RPG

PF Lonnie Tingley- 11.8
C George Travers- 6.8
SF Chris Edgar- 3.7

APG

SG Kevin Penland- 2.2
SG Burt Wan- 2.0
PF Lonnie Tingley- 2.0

Recruiting News

We lost out on a couple recruits we were going after, and I knew we would. I'm evaluating some new recruits and hoping we can make it work.

[collegesportsfanms]

December 2017

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/10/17 at Massachusetts 5-8 169 W 81-65 1-0
11/14/17 Nebraska 4-7 284 W 64-50 2-0
11/18/17 at San Diego 5-8 174 W 71-52 3-0
11/22/17 at Texas A&M 6-6 171 W 75-65 4-0
11/24/17 Grambling State 1-10 119 W 61-45 5-0
11/30/17 Louisiana Tech 9-4 129 L 62-59 5-1
12/06/17 Alcorn State 5-6 180 W 87-42 6-1
12/10/17 #24 Air Force 12-2 53 W 64-61 7-1
12/14/17 vs. Niagara 7-6 65 W 68-56 8-1
12/16/17 vs. Michigan State 10-3 80 L 82-72 8-2
12/24/17 at Houston 9-3 35 L 93-69 8-3
12/26/17 at #17 Louisiana State 11-2 24 L 80-56 8-4
12/28/17 Rice 4-8 307 W 74-73 9-4

Well we've already lost as many games this season as we did last season, but we've played some really good competition. Air Force was a great win and we hung with Michigan St. Houston and LSU were games to forget though.

Overall Record: 9-4
Home Record: 5-1
Road Record: 3-2
Neutral Record: 1-1
Rank: NR in media poll, #13 in mid-major poll.
RPI: 31

That RPI proves how tough our schedule has been early on, and it could have been even tougher. It's almost time for conference play, and I'm expecting nothing less than a dominant run again.

Leaders

PPG

SG Burt Wan- 18.6
SF Chris Edgar- 13.5
PG Dudley Dillon- 10.5

RPG

PF Lonnie Tingley- 9.4
C George Travers- 6.2
SF Chris Edgar- 3.5

APG

SG Burt Wan- 2.6
PG Dudley Dillon- 2.3
SG Kevin Penland- 1.7

Recruiting News

We've lost out on a couple more recruits, but we might get a steal with Richard Jeter, as right now we are at the top of his list, overtaking some big schools. He's coming to campus this month and hopefully that'll seal the deal.

Now for the really bad news: We've lost Burt Wan for the rest of the season. The clown decided that grades weren't important, and now he's done for the season, on academic suspension. Really Burt? Really? Kevin Penland will take his place in the starting line-up, and now we are just 9 deep heading into conference play.

[collegesportsfanms]

January 2018

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/10/17 at Massachusetts 5-16 308 W 81-65 1-0
11/14/17 Nebraska 9-11 187 W 64-50 2-0
11/18/17 at San Diego 8-14 222 W 71-52 3-0
11/22/17 at Texas A&M 9-11 121 W 75-65 4-0
11/24/17 Grambling State 4-15 205 W 61-45 5-0
11/30/17 Louisiana Tech 14-6 66 L 62-59 5-1
12/06/17 Alcorn State 9-10 168 W 87-42 6-1
12/10/17 Air Force 16-6 29 W 64-61 7-1
12/14/17 vs. Niagara 10-10 128 W 68-56 8-1
12/16/17 vs. #16 Michigan State 17-5 38 L 82-72 8-2
12/24/17 at Houston 14-7 58 L 93-69 8-3
12/26/17 at Louisiana State 14-7 11 L 80-56 8-4
12/28/17 Rice 8-12 219 W 74-73 9-4
01/06/18 Texas State 9-11 175 W 76-62 10-4 (1-0)
01/10/18 at McNeese State 7-13 270 W 65-54 11-4 (2-0)
01/13/18 Texas-San Antonio 9-11 246 W 87-71 12-4 (3-0)
01/17/18 at Southeastern Louisiana 9-11 159 L 68-60 12-5 (3-1)
01/24/18 Nicholls State 11-9 228 W 76-61 13-5 (4-1)
01/27/18 at Texas A&M-CC 11-9 304 W 72-66 14-5 (5-1)
01/31/18 Central Arkansas 3-17 320 W 72-46 15-5 (6-1)


We just can't seem to make that undefeated run through conference play, as there always seems to be a slip-up. Not to be expected though, when you play in a conference as weak as ours, of course there's going to be mental lapses.

Overall Record: 15-5
Conference Record: 6-1
Home Record: 9-1
Road Record: 5-3
Neutral Record: 1-1
Rank: NR in Media Poll, #11 in mid-major poll.
RPI: 60

No surprise our RPI would drop from playing in this conference, but not as much as I thought. Still a month left in the season though, and we really need to go through February undefeated.

Leaders

PPG

SG Burt Wan- 18.6
SF Chris Edgar- 13.3
PG Dudley Dillon- 10.2

RPG

PF Lonnie Tingley- 9.4
C George Travers- 6.7
SF Chris Edgar- 3.7

APG

SG Burt Wan- 2.6
PG Dudley Dillon- 2.6
SG Kevin Penland- 2.2

Recruiting News

We're still on top in the race for Richard Jeter, and I'll be visiting him personally this month. Out of necessity, I've went after some 2 star recruits. I can safely say this won't be our best recruiting year. Naturally, this will be the year we get promoted to a better conference, when the recruiting is down.

[collegesportsfanms]

February 2018

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/10/17 at Massachusetts 6-23 319 W 81-65 1-0
11/14/17 Nebraska 9-19 190 W 64-50 2-0
11/18/17 at San Diego 15-14 159 W 71-52 3-0
11/22/17 at Texas A&M 12-16 101 W 75-65 4-0
11/24/17 Grambling State 9-19 244 W 61-45 5-0
11/30/17 Louisiana Tech 16-12 92 L 62-59 5-1
12/06/17 Alcorn State 14-13 182 W 87-42 6-1
12/10/17 Air Force 21-8 25 W 64-61 7-1
12/14/17 vs. Niagara 18-10 96 W 68-56 8-1
12/16/17 vs. #12 Michigan State 23-6 28 L 82-72 8-2
12/24/17 at Houston 21-8 38 L 93-69 8-3
12/26/17 at Louisiana State 18-11 14 L 80-56 8-4
12/28/17 Rice 11-17 222 W 74-73 9-4
01/06/18 Texas State 14-14 148 W 76-62 10-4 (1-0)
01/10/18 at McNeese State 10-18 304 W 65-54 11-4 (2-0)
01/13/18 Texas-San Antonio 13-15 257 W 87-71 12-4 (3-0)
01/17/18 at Southeastern Louisiana 15-13 230 L 68-60 12-5 (3-1)
01/24/18 Nicholls State 14-14 290 W 76-61 13-5 (4-1)
01/27/18 at Texas A&M-CC 16-12 287 W 72-66 14-5 (5-1)
01/31/18 Central Arkansas 8-20 301 W 72-46 15-5 (6-1)
02/03/18 at Lamar 6-22 333 W 61-48 16-5 (7-1)
02/07/18 at Northwestern State 8-20 312 W 68-56 17-5 (8-1)
02/10/18 Stephen F. Austin 12-16 310 W 70-64 18-5 (9-1)
02/14/18 Texas-Arlington 13-15 327 W 54-52 19-5 (10-1)
02/17/18 at Texas-San Antonio 13-15 257 W 83-56 20-5 (11-1)
02/21/18 Lamar 6-22 333 W 61-48 21-5 (12-1)
02/24/18 at Texas State 14-14 148 W 65-64 22-5 (13-1)
02/28/18 at Texas-Arlington 13-15 327 L 90-88 22-6 (13-2)

And let the downslide begin. For the first time in my reign here, we've lost 2 conference games. I suppose it's a good loss though, as it gives another team a chance to make the postseason. Anything to better the conference, as our conference ranking is currently 28th. Eek! Brutal

Overall Record: 22-6
Conference Record: 13-2
Home Record: 12-1
Road Record: 9-4
Neutral Record: 1-1
Rank: RV (8 votes) in Media Poll, #6 in mid-major poll.
RPI: 53

Leaders

PPG

SG Burt Wan- 18.6
SF Chris Edgar- 13.6
PG Dudley Dillon- 10.6

RPG

PF Lonnie Tingley- 9.9
C George Travers- 6.4
PG Dudley Dillon- 3.6

APG

PG Dudley Dillon- 2.8
SG Burt Wan- 2.6
SG Kevin Penland- 2.5

Finally, somebody overtakes Burt in a statistical category.

Recruiting News

Ugh! Richard Jeter ended up signing with UConn. We'll now look to go after SG Johannes Bory hard, as we are at the top of his list. We're also going after a few others, but no way do we fill all 6 scholarships, and to me that is just embarrassing.

[collegesportsfanms]

We won our final conference game 81-59, so the final Southland standings look as follows:

EAST CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Southeastern Louisiana 11 5 .688 16 13 .552 219 21
Nicholls State 10 6 .625 15 14 .517 291 21
McNeese State 6 10 .375 10 19 .345 296 17
Northwestern State 6 10 .375 8 21 .276 329 23
Central Arkansas 5 11 .313 8 21 .276 298 6
Stephen F. Austin 5 11 .313 12 17 .414 322 34

WEST CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sam Houston State 14 2 .875 23 6 .793 47 54
Texas State 11 5 .688 14 15 .483 142 11
Texas-Arlington 9 7 .563 14 15 .483 303 26
Texas A&M-CC 8 8 .500 16 13 .552 282 29
Texas-San Antonio 7 9 .438 14 15 .483 252 29
Lamar 4 12 .250 7 22 .241 338 27


Again, we win the conference with ease and clinch a postseason berth no matter what. We're projected in the NCAA Tournament, as of now, but I'd prefer just to go take care of business and win 3 games in our conference tournament to leave no doubt. Here are the Quarterfinal pairings:

(8) McNeese St. vs. (1) Sam Houston St.
(5) Texas-Arlington vs. (4) Nicholls St.
(6) Texas A&M-CC vs. (3) Texas St.
(7) Texas-San Antonio vs. (2) SE Louisiana

I'm pretty sure it won't make a difference, but SE Louisiana and Texas A&M-CC are both 16-13, the next best overall records in our conference (pathetic). If either one of those schools advances to the Southland Championship, I think they have a great chance to make the postseason.

[collegesportsfanms]

March 8, 2017

Southland Quarterfinals
(8) McNeese St. (10-19) vs. (1) Sam Houston St. (23-6)

This should be a game we win easily as we beat them by 11 at their place early in the conference season. Unfortunately it was a lot tougher than it should have been, as we trailed by 6 at halftime and had to rely on a last second putback from George Travers just to send the game to overtime, but we pulled it out 59-56. Whew! Unfortunately we lost Chester Kumar for the rest of the season. He didn't start, but he did give us minutes off the bench, and we are now just 8 deep the rest of the way.

Sam Houston State 59, McNeese State 56

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
McNeese State (10-20, 6-10):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Clint Dressler C 37 2-8 0-0 1 10 1 3 4
Mark Billy PF 31 1-10 0-0 1 3 1 5 2
Mac Stevenson SF 34 6-12 6-7 0 5 2 2 18
Dionisio Pena SG 26 2-5 4-6 2 5 3 3 8
Jenaro Menendez PG 26 3-6 3-4 1 3 1 4 11
John Gatewood PG 19 2-6 1-2 0 2 1 2 5
Arthur Foss SG 21 2-5 0-0 0 1 2 2 5
Jack Whited PG 4 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 2
John Cromer SF 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Poncio Delgado PF 16 0-0 1-2 1 2 2 3 1
James Beck C 6 0-2 0-0 0 2 0 0 0

Turnovers: 15 (C.Dressler 1, M.Billy 2, M.Stevenson 4,
D.Pena 2, J.Menendez 1, A.Foss 4, P.Delgado 1)
Blocked Shots: 4 (C.Dressler 2, J.Gatewood 1, A.Foss 1)
Steals: 8 (C.Dressler 1, M.Billy 2, M.Stevenson 4,
J.Gatewood 1)
3P FGs: 3-12 (M.Stevenson 0-2, D.Pena 0-1, J.Menendez
2-3, J.Gatewood 0-3, A.Foss 1-3)

Sam Houston State (24-6, 14-2):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
George Travers C 38 6-8 3-4 0 7 1 3 15
Lonnie Tingley PF 34 0-2 2-2 1 17 5 1 2
Chris Edgar SF 22 3-9 1-1 0 2 0 4 7
Kevin Penland SG 36 3-9 2-4 2 5 0 4 9
Dudley Dillon PG 36 4-7 5-6 1 4 4 2 15
George Hazard PF 17 0-1 0-2 1 3 0 1 0
Chester Kumar PG 20 2-5 2-3 1 2 1 2 6
Cody Headley SG 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Jason Wicker SF 19 1-8 2-2 2 2 1 2 5

Turnovers: 23 (G.Travers 3, L.Tingley 3, C.Edgar 3,
K.Penland 2, D.Dillon 6, C.Kumar 2, C.Headley 1,
J.Wicker 3)
Blocked Shots: 3 (L.Tingley 2, G.Hazard 1)
Steals: 5 (G.Travers 1, K.Penland 1, D.Dillon 2,
C.Kumar 1)
3P FGs: 4-20 (C.Edgar 0-4, K.Penland 1-5, D.Dillon 2-3,
C.Kumar 0-2, J.Wicker 1-6)

Player of Game: C George Travers (SMHOU)

Other Conference Tournament Games:

(4) Nicholls St.- 67, (5) Texas-Arlington- 64
(3) Texas St.- 80, (6) Texas A&M-CC- 59
(7) Texas-San Antonio- 70, (2) SE Louisiana- 59


March 9, 2018

Southland Semifinals
(4) Nicholls St. (16-14) vs. (1) Sam Houston St. (24-6)

After last night, I'm not taking anything for granted here. Nicholls St. is a pretty good team, even if we did beat them by 15 at home in conference play. Things have changed a lot since then though. The bad news in this one was that we didn't play a lick of defense. The good news is neither did they, and we escaped with a 95-90 victory to advance to the championship game. The real difference in this one came at the line as we made 8 more free throws than they did.

Sam Houston State 95, Nicholls State 90

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nicholls State (16-15, 10-6):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Kristopher Shreve C 19 2-5 0-0 0 3 1 2 5
John Wilford C 30 2-6 1-2 2 5 1 1 5
Henry Delisle SF 24 3-8 1-2 0 2 2 2 8
Tony Nesbit SG 17 4-9 3-3 1 2 2 5 12
Lindsey Carlile PG 29 7-11 2-2 3 5 6 3 20
Porter Webster SF 24 2-7 5-5 2 5 5 5 10
Loyd Thompson PF 18 2-4 1-2 2 4 1 0 5
Raymond Beltran PF 12 5-5 0-0 0 1 1 0 10
D. Weatherspoon PG 11 2-2 0-0 0 0 1 3 4
James Bollinger SG 14 5-6 0-0 0 0 2 4 11
Jerry Lines SF 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 12 (K.Shreve 1, J.Wilford 1, H.Delisle 1,
T.Nesbit 1, L.Carlile 2, P.Webster 4, L.Thompson 1,
J.Bollinger 1)
Blocked Shots: 2 (J.Wilford 1, P.Webster 1)
Steals: 12 (K.Shreve 1, H.Delisle 2, T.Nesbit 2,
L.Carlile 1, P.Webster 1, L.Thompson 2, D.Weatherspoon
1, J.Bollinger 2)
3P FGs: 9-21 (K.Shreve 1-1, J.Wilford 0-1, H.Delisle
1-2, T.Nesbit 1-5, L.Carlile 4-7, P.Webster 1-2,
L.Thompson 0-1, J.Bollinger 1-2)

Sam Houston State (25-6, 14-2):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
George Travers C 35 5-11 0-0 1 6 1 2 10
Lonnie Tingley PF 31 1-4 0-0 1 7 1 0 2
Chris Edgar SF 33 10-17 6-6 5 7 5 3 31
Kevin Penland SG 22 2-7 3-4 2 3 0 4 8
Dudley Dillon PG 33 9-15 10-13 2 7 3 3 32
George Hazard PF 19 2-2 0-0 2 4 0 3 4
Cody Headley PF 3 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 2
Jason Wicker SG 24 2-4 2-4 4 4 2 1 6

Turnovers: 16 (G.Travers 1, C.Edgar 4, K.Penland 4,
D.Dillon 4, G.Hazard 1, J.Wicker 2)
Blocked Shots: 1 (G.Hazard 1)
Steals: 7 (G.Travers 1, L.Tingley 2, C.Edgar 1,
D.Dillon 3)
3P FGs: 10-22 (C.Edgar 5-8, K.Penland 1-5, D.Dillon 4-9)

Player of Game: PG Dudley Dillon (SMHOU)

Other Conference Tournament Games:

(3) Texas St.- 85, (7) Texas-San Antonio- 73


March 11, 2018

Southland Championship
(3) Texas St. (16-15) vs. (1) Sam Houston St. (25-6)

We beat them by 14 at home and by 1 at their place in the regular season, as they are in our division we see them twice. They base their game through the post play, so if we can shut that down we have a good chance to win our 3rd consecutive Southland Tournament, if not, we could very well lose. And lose we did, as Texas St. came out hot, never looked back, and beat us 79-73. The good thing is the conference will be sending at least 2 teams to postseason play, but now we have to sweat it out to see if we made the NCAA Tournament.

Texas State 79, Sam Houston State 73

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Texas State (17-15, 11-5):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Stephen Kroll C 19 4-7 1-2 1 6 1 4 9
Kris Hill PF 29 4-6 2-2 1 5 3 2 10
Lorencio Vila SF 26 2-4 2-3 0 1 1 4 7
G. Litchfield SG 23 7-11 0-0 1 2 0 2 17
Tom Sanchez PG 25 8-11 3-5 0 4 1 3 23
George Manzano SG 25 2-8 1-2 3 3 4 4 5
Jack McDonald SF 10 1-4 0-0 1 2 1 0 2
Leonel Sims PF 14 0-1 0-0 0 2 0 1 0
Lewis Kimura PG 7 1-3 1-1 0 2 0 1 3
Earnest Witmer C 11 1-1 0-0 0 2 2 0 2
James McKenzie C 6 0-1 1-2 0 0 0 1 1
Earl Helmer C 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Charles Thomas SG 3 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0

Turnovers: 11 (S.Kroll 1, K.Hill 2, L.Vila 2,
G.Litchfield 2, G.Manzano 1, J.McDonald 1, L.Kimura 1,
J.McKenzie 1)
Blocked Shots: 3 (E.Witmer 3)
Steals: 6 (L.Vila 1, G.Litchfield 3, T.Sanchez 1,
J.McDonald 1)
3P FGs: 8-14 (L.Vila 1-1, G.Litchfield 3-3, T.Sanchez
4-5, G.Manzano 0-4, J.McDonald 0-1)

Sam Houston State (25-7, 14-2):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
George Travers C 34 5-13 4-5 1 9 2 5 14
Lonnie Tingley PF 29 3-4 1-2 4 8 1 0 7
Chris Edgar SF 32 4-16 2-2 1 2 2 3 10
Kevin Penland SG 33 7-15 1-1 10 14 3 3 19
Dudley Dillon PG 25 3-7 3-5 1 3 3 4 9
George Hazard PF 20 2-3 1-1 3 4 1 1 5
Cody Headley PF 5 0-0 0-0 0 3 0 0 0
Jason Wicker PG 21 2-7 4-5 0 1 2 2 9

Turnovers: 15 (G.Travers 2, L.Tingley 2, C.Edgar 4,
K.Penland 3, D.Dillon 2, J.Wicker 2)
Blocked Shots: 5 (G.Travers 1, D.Dillon 1, G.Hazard 2,
C.Headley 1)
Steals: 4 (G.Travers 1, L.Tingley 1, K.Penland 2)
3P FGs: 5-31 (C.Edgar 0-9, K.Penland 4-12, D.Dillon
0-4, G.Hazard 0-1, J.Wicker 1-5)

Player of Game: PG Tom Sanchez (SWTS)

Texas St. received the #15 seed in the NCAA Midwest Region where they will play #2 seed Creighton in the First Round. We had to sweat it out for a couple regions, but were ecstatic when we saw our name pop up: Sam Houston St. earns an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament as the 11th seed in the South Region, where we will take on #6 seed Florida St. It's going to be a tough game for sure, but I am crazy happy that we had a good enough resume to get an at-large berth.

The Southland had 4 teams make the postseason this year, as SE Louisiana and Texas A&M-CC both made the CIT. SE Louisiana will be the 11th seed and travel to 6th seed Wichita St., while Texas A&M-CC will be the 12th seed and travel to 5th seed Wright St.

[collegesportsfanms]

March 15, 2018

NCAA Tournament- South Region First Round
(11) Sam Houston St. (25-7) vs. (6) Florida St. (23-9)

The one thing I haven't accomplished here yet is winning an NCAA Tournament game. I'm 0-2 so far, and this one certainly won't be easy. The Seminoles really only go about 7 deep, and all 5 of their starters average over 30 mins a game. The key is to get a couple of them in foul trouble and make them get into their bench. And we did, getting 2 of their starters and 1 of their bench players in foul trouble. We led by 3 at halftime, and quite frankly outplayed them, but 1 frikkin basket cost us, as we walked off 53-51 losers, ending our season with a 25-8 record. Heartbreaking loss.

Florida State 53, Sam Houston State 51

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sam Houston State (25-8, 14-2):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
George Travers C 34 5-12 3-5 2 8 1 1 13
Lonnie Tingley PF 31 2-4 0-0 0 9 2 3 4
Chris Edgar SF 28 4-13 1-3 0 1 2 3 11
Kevin Penland SG 24 1-5 0-0 0 2 1 5 2
Dudley Dillon PG 34 2-6 3-4 1 4 2 3 8
George Hazard SF 21 0-2 0-0 1 2 1 1 0
Cody Headley PF 7 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Jason Wicker SG 21 4-7 3-4 2 4 2 3 13

Turnovers: 12 (G.Travers 1, L.Tingley 1, C.Edgar 3,
K.Penland 2, D.Dillon 3, G.Hazard 1, J.Wicker 1)
Blocked Shots: 1 (G.Hazard 1)
Steals: 8 (G.Travers 3, K.Penland 2, D.Dillon 3)
3P FGs: 5-19 (C.Edgar 2-10, K.Penland 0-3, D.Dillon
1-3, J.Wicker 2-3)

Florida State (24-9, 11-5):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Jonathon Gott C 34 4-5 2-2 3 19 2 2 10
Dennis Riddle PF 36 2-6 1-2 3 8 2 1 5
Thomas Catlett SF 29 3-6 0-1 0 1 1 4 7
Jose Ellis SG 31 4-7 4-4 1 4 2 4 14
Andrew Alton PG 31 4-14 2-4 2 3 2 2 10
Prince Calton PF 8 1-2 0-0 1 2 0 0 2
Logan Crim SG 18 1-6 2-3 3 3 1 5 5
Lyle Hardy PG 11 0-4 0-1 0 1 0 0 0
Harold Keene SG 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Antone Gowan C 2 0-1 0-0 0 2 0 0 0

Turnovers: 15 (D.Riddle 3, T.Catlett 3, J.Ellis 4,
A.Alton 3, L.Crim 2)
Blocked Shots: 7 (J.Gott 1, D.Riddle 4, J.Ellis 2)
Steals: 2 (J.Ellis 1, A.Alton 1)
3P FGs: 4-15 (T.Catlett 1-2, J.Ellis 2-4, A.Alton 0-4,
L.Crim 1-3, L.Hardy 0-2)

Player of Game: C Jonathon Gott (FLST)

The other Southland teams had about the same kind of results, as Texas St. lost 84-57 to Creighton in the NCAA Midwest Region First Round, SE Louisiana lost 90-82 to Wichita St. in the CIT First Round, and Texas A&M-CC actually beat Wright St. 52-51 before losing to 13th seeded San Diego 67-61, ending the Southland run in the postseason.

One huge upset in the NCAA Tournament, and I do mean huge! 16th seeded St. Francis-NY shocked the world by beating top seed Washington in the NCAA West Region First Round, then followed that up with a 65-54 win over 9th seeded San Diego St. in the Second Round before getting hammered by 4th seed Kentucky in the Sweet Sixteen. If they can do it, we can too.

[collegesportsfanms]

2018 Offseason

Awards

No national awards, and I didn't get Southland Coach of the Year. That went to Milton Gaona of Texas St. I'm ok with that. However, we did have several conference awards. Let's take a look:

2017-2018 SOUTHLAND AWARDS

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Player of the Year:

JR SG Charles Benson Texas-San Antonio 16.5 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 2.3 APG 1.2 SPG, 0.0 BPG

Freshman of the Year:
FR PG Dudley Dillon Sam Houston State 11.5 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 2.8 APG 1.3 SPG, 0.2 BPG

Coach of the Year:
Milton Gaona Texas State 17 - 16 (11 - 5)

All-league 1st Team:
C SO Clinton Lyles Stephen F. Austin 14.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 1.3 APG, 0.5 SPG, 0.2 BPG
PF SR Lonnie Tingley Sam Houston State 6.3 PPG, 9.9 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.4 SPG, 0.7 BPG
SF SO Chris Edgar Sam Houston State 13.6 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 1.7 APG, 0.9 SPG, 0.3 BPG
SG JR Charles Benson Texas-San Antonio 16.5 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1.2 SPG, 0.0 BPG
PG SO Franklin Williams Texas-Arlington 10.3 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 5.0 APG, 0.6 SPG, 0.3 BPG

All-league 2nd Team:
C SR George Travers Sam Houston State 9.7 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 1.0 APG, 0.5 SPG, 0.6 BPG
PF SR Issac Moen Stephen F. Austin 6.1 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 1.6 APG, 0.4 SPG, 0.6 BPG
SF JR Gregory Litchfield Texas State 12.1 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 1.5 APG, 1.6 SPG, 0.1 BPG
SG SO Lorencio Vila Texas State 9.4 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 1.6 APG, 1.7 SPG, 0.0 BPG
PG FR Dudley Dillon Sam Houston State 11.5 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.2 BPG

All-freshman Team:
C FR Omar Hammond Texas-San Antonio 6.4 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 0.9 APG, 0.7 SPG, 0.2 BPG
PF FR Trey Cox Southeastern Louisiana 7.7 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 0.9 APG, 0.5 SPG, 0.3 BPG
SF FR Teddy Price Stephen F. Austin 10.3 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 1.9 APG, 0.8 SPG, 0.1 BPG
SG FR Delmar Scarberry Northwestern State 10.3 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 2.3 APG, 0.6 SPG, 0.2 BPG
PG FR Dudley Dillon Sam Houston State 11.5 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.2 BPG

Nice job Dudley! We'll be relying on him for sure next season.

Departing Players

PF Lonnie Tingley- graduating
C George Travers- graduating
PF Cody Headley- graduating
SG Burt Wan- graduating

Lonnie, George, and Burt are going to be killers to lose, and I wish Burt would have stayed eligible for his senior season, as we really could have used him down the stretch. Each of these guys played key roles, and unfortunately with our lack of a recruiting class this season, we're in some trouble depth wise.

Final Recruiting Class

none. Not one single recruit. That falls on me. I went after guys that were out of our range, and my fallback guys had already committed elsewhere. I screwed the pooch here. No need to mention our recruiting class was last in the nation. Whew boy!

None of our seniors got drafted, and our prestige again stayed at 54. Also, my coaching skill improved, so I put 10 points each in offensive and defensive coaching, bringing those up to 65 each.

Conference Movement

A little bit bittersweet, as once again Sam Houston St., even after 3 regular season conference championships in a row, does NOT get promoted. Actually, with a depth chart of 7 right now, the last thing we needed is to move up. We may actually have our struggles in the Southland this season.

Job Offers

I actually got 3 offers in the first round of head coach movement, but they were all crap offers: Brown, Texas-Arlington, and UC Santa Barbara. Why in blue blazes would I wanna move to a team in the same conference, especially since we've dominated it? Although Texas-Arlington does have a stacked roster, and by stacked I mean 15 players, but only a few look to be decent. Same thing with Brown. UCSB tempted me for a moment, but no.

The second round of head coach movement was a completely different story. Belmont, Houston, Memphis, Penn, Western Kentucky, and Winthrop all want me. I gotta be honest with you, that Memphis job is looking very, very tempting. The only thing stopping me from jumping on it is guilt. Is it fair for me to leave Sam Houston St. with just 7 eligible players on the roster? Kinda like I'm letting somebody else clean up my mess. I'm gonna have to stop here and think about it. I realize it's only a game, and if this was a real life decision it'd be that much tougher. I'm treating it like a real life situation. Anybody that has any opinions, feel free. I'm gonna sit on this one for a little while.

[britrock88]

Not going to push you one way or the other, but I'll be anticipating your decision. :)

[collegesportsfanms]

For those wondering, I have made a decision... Mike Schaplowsky is moving to Memphis! In the long run it was just too good of an opportunity to pass up. I'll still feel a little bad about leaving Sam Houston State in such bad shape depth wise, and I'll continue to track them, but this is about my career. Had they gotten a promotion to a better conference like they should have, then I might have stayed.

So, when I get back from my road trip next week, I'll be taking a look at what's going on with my new school, the Memphis Tigers.

[collegesportsfanms]

Here's a look at our initial 20 man call list, my first in my new job at Memphis.



Name Pos Ht Wt Rating Interest State
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jake Struck PF 6-5 240 *** Very High Arkansas
Irvin Haynie SF 6-7 218 *** Very High Mississippi
Tony Mick PG 6-3 209 *** High Illinois
Marcel Jones SF 6-6 237 *** High Ohio
Steven Luster SG 6-5 183 *** High South Carolina
Alexander Mann C 6-10 229 *** High Oklahoma
Anthony Oden SF 6-5 204 *** High Minnesota
Sylvester Johnson SF 6-4 215 *** High Kansas
Troy Tomblin C 6-8 236 *** High Florida
Brice Meyer SF 6-5 232 *** High Georgia
Larry Easterday SG 6-3 184 *** High Alabama
Paco Prieto SF 6-6 222 *** High Texas
Eric Strom PF 6-7 220 ***** Average Georgia
Emory Maggio PG 6-2 172 ***** Average Mississippi
Michael Hatcher PF 6-8 244 **** Average Illinois
Timothy Castello SF 6-5 239 **** Average Texas
David Parkman SF 6-5 203 **** Average Indiana
Fletcher Kopp SF 6-5 210 **** Average Indiana
Elliot Nemeth PF 6-9 245 **** Average Virginia
Fred Cepeda PG 5-9 160 **** Average South Carolina

With a $28,000 a month recruiting budget, I can certainly do a lot more than I could at Sam Houston, as I evaluated quite a few more players than those that are on the call list.

[collegesportsfanms]

Offseason Recruiting News

August 2018

I've offered scholarships to Tomblin, Maggio, Hatcher, and Strom. I feel like my chances are good to get Tomblin, even if he is just a 3 star recruit. Maggio and Strom are already evaluated out to be decent players. I have 6 scholarships, I'm holding onto the other 2 for now.

September 2018

We are still at the top of Tomblin's list, while Hatcher, Strom, and Maggio have us toward the bottom. I've offered my last 2 scholarships to Nemeth and Mick, who aren't being heavily recruited at the moment, so if I can steal them it would be great for the program.

October 2018

Tomblin has given us a verbal, so we've got him. I think we've got a shot at Mick, as Green Bay and Wisconsin are his other choices right now, and Wisconsin hasn't offered. If they don't, I think we'll jump over Green Bay. We're in a dead heat for Maggio, with Auburn and UAB. As far as Hatcher, Strom, and Nemeth go, I don't like our chances.

November 2018 (early signing period)

It was a no on everybody but Tomblin, and not even Tomblin signed his letter this time. Bummer, back to the grind. I suck at recruiting. We've offered scholarships to the other 3 still on our call list that haven't signed, those being Prieto, Parkman, and Cepeda. There's a 4 star player from Russia that nobody is looking at, so we're going after him now as well.

That's it for tonight, roster and schedule coming tomorrow.

[collegesportsfanms]

Here is a look at the roster for your 2018 Memphis Tigers.

Player # Pos Yr Ht Wt Sch Acd Status Hometown
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Franklyn Crandell 42 C Jr 6-11 243 Yes 39 OK Lebanon, MO
Gaston Lytle 5 C Jr 6-10 253 Yes 74 OK Byhalia, MS
David Berg 50 SF Sr 6-6 230 Yes 6 OK Memphis, TN
Thomas Diaz 55 SG Sr 6-3 197 Yes 61 OK Eddyville, KY
Amos Lusk 23 PG Fr 6-0 173 Yes 44 OK Madisonville, KY
Carrol Nilsen 43 PF Sr 6-6 228 Yes 67 OK Richland, MO
Mark Cohen 20 PF So 6-10 217 Yes 54 OK Stuttgart, AR
Antione Cantwell 0 SG Fr 6-2 206 Yes 29 OK Memphis, TN
Kurt Marshall 4 C Sr* 6-8 266 Yes 11 OK Jasper, AL
John Breland 3 SF So 6-7 239 Yes 23 OK Paris, TN
Michael Higgins 45 SG So 6-0 176 Yes 33 OK Memphis, TN
Gerald Sena 40 PG Fr 6-3 201 No 74 OK Bethalto, IL

Post play is going to be the strength of this years team, as we have 4 C/PF that are either green or blue current. We've only got 1 perimeter play that is currently rated in the blue, but a few others with blue potential.

And the schedule:

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/15/18 vs. Detroit 0-0 69
12/01/18 at #4 Tennessee 0-0 264
12/06/18 Yale 0-0 325
12/10/18 Milwaukee 0-0 320
12/13/18 Green Bay 0-0 319
12/17/18 Western Kentucky 0-0 313
12/22/18 Wichita State 0-0 315
12/29/18 at George Mason 0-0 93
01/05/19 Villanova 0-0 300
01/07/19 at Southern Illinois 0-0 244
01/09/19 North Carolina Central 0-0 338
01/12/19 at Miami 0-0 157
01/16/19 at Tulsa 0-0 281
01/19/19 at Marshall 0-0 150
01/23/19 at Southern Methodist 0-0 245
01/26/19 at Rice 0-0 219
01/30/19 Southern Methodist 0-0 245
02/02/19 Central Florida 0-0 43
02/06/19 Houston 0-0 109
02/09/19 Rice 0-0 219
02/13/19 Marshall 0-0 150
02/16/19 at Southern Mississippi 0-0 246
02/20/19 at UTEP 0-0 296
02/23/19 Tulane 0-0 280
02/27/19 at Central Florida 0-0 43
03/02/19 UAB 0-0 282
03/06/19 at East Carolina 0-0 74
03/09/19 Tulsa 0-0 281

By no means is this the worlds toughest schedule, with Tennessee being our toughest non-conference opponent. But with this my first season on the job, I wanted to get a good feel for the team. Don't get me wrong, this schedule isn't a cakewalk. Villinova and Southern Illinois should both provide tough games, and Wichita St. and George Mason could as well.

Something I have to deal with here at Memphis that I didn't really have to deal with at Sam Houston St. is the possibility of early draft entries. We've got 2 such players this season. Gaston Lytle is projected to go late in the draft, so he most likely will not enter. Mark Cohen is projected to go late 1st round, and he is still on the fence.

[collegesportsfanms]

November 2018

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/15/18 vs. Detroit 0-1 170 W 90-63 1-0
11/17/18 vs. Creighton 1-1 252 W 72-70 2-0
11/24/18 vs. #8 Maryland 2-1 114 W 76-68 3-0
11/26/18 vs. #18 Connecticut 4-0 11 L 74-68 3-1

Not a bad start to the season, as we lost in the championship game of the Preseason NIT. Didn't have any other games scheduled this month because we know there was a possibility of a deep run.

Overall Record: 3-1
Neutral Record: 3-1
Rank: #7 in Coaches Poll (apparently Memphis isn't a mid-major team as Conference USA appears to be a prestige of 5).
RPI: 23

There will be a decrease in the polls thanks to the UConn loss.

Leaders

PPG

PG Amos Lusk- 14.8
PF Gaston Lytle- 14.0
C Franklyn Crandell- 8.8
SG Thomas Diaz- 8.8

RPG

SG Thomas Diaz- 10.5
C Franklyn Crandell- 6.5
PF Mark Cohen- 5.0

APG

SG Thomas Diaz- 4.0
SF David Berg- 2.5
PG Amos Lusk- 2.3

Never would have expected a shooting guard to be the team rebounding leader, let alone average double figures in rebounding. Not only that, but he is the assist leader, but still, 4 a game isn't earth shattering.

Recruiting News

We did get a commit this month, but had 3 other offers declined.

Troy Tromblin, a 3 star center from Florida, signed on the dotted line. Not as if we needed another post, but when you're trying to fill slots, you'll take what you get. Still 5 scholarships to hand out though.

[collegesportsfanms]

December 2018

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/15/18 vs. Detroit 2-8 128 W 90-63 1-0
11/17/18 vs. Creighton 6-5 106 W 72-70 2-0
11/24/18 vs. #17 Maryland 9-3 55 W 76-68 3-0
11/26/18 vs. #22 Connecticut 9-2 7 L 74-68 3-1
12/01/18 at #3 Tennessee 11-0 16 L 67-61 3-2
12/06/18 Yale 4-6 262 W 72-61 4-2
12/10/18 Milwaukee 6-6 62 W 75-73 5-2
12/13/18 Green Bay 6-5 91 L 86-84 5-3
12/17/18 Western Kentucky 1-11 308 W 81-64 6-3
12/22/18 Wichita State 7-4 26 L 78-71 6-4
12/29/18 at George Mason 7-4 103 W 71-63 7-4

A 4-3 month is my worst month ever as a D1 head coach. I knew that some of those non power 5 schools would be a challenge, and Green Bay and Wichita St. proved to be. Of course, Tennessee is rolling over everybody so far, but as soon as I get my guys in here (who am I kidding, I suck at recruiting) maybe we'll be good again.

Overall Record: 7-4
Home Record: 3-2
Road Record: 1-1
Neutral Record: 3-1
Rank: NR
RPI: 58

Leaders

PPG

PF Gaston Lytle- 12.8
SF David Berg- 10.9
PG Amos Lusk- 10.7

RPG

SG Thomas Diaz- 9.2
C Franklyn Crandell- 6.7
PF Mark Cohen- 5.1

APG

SG Thomas Diaz- 3.9
PG Amos Lusk- 2.6
SF David Berg- 2.5

I do like the fact we have 4 guys averaging double figures in scoring, with 1 more just missing the double figure mark. Diaz has to be our MVP right now, as he is averaging 9.9 PPG along with leading the team in RPG and APG.

Recruiting News

4 scholarship offers, all rejected. We're going overseas to find guys that aren't being recruited yet and hopefully steal some of those. Recruiting is pathetic right now, has to get better.

[collegesportsfanms]

January 2019

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/15/18 vs. Detroit 7-12 59 W 90-63 1-0
11/17/18 vs. Creighton 12-8 73 W 72-70 2-0
11/24/18 vs. #15 Maryland 14-5 10 W 76-68 3-0
11/26/18 vs. Connecticut 16-4 13 L 74-68 3-1
12/01/18 at #4 Tennessee 17-2 1 L 67-61 3-2
12/06/18 Yale 9-8 252 W 72-61 4-2
12/10/18 Milwaukee 9-11 123 W 75-73 5-2
12/13/18 Green Bay 11-9 101 L 86-84 5-3
12/17/18 Western Kentucky 6-15 263 W 81-64 6-3
12/22/18 Wichita State 12-7 40 L 78-71 6-4
12/29/18 at George Mason 12-8 165 W 71-63 7-4
01/05/19 #23 Villanova 13-5 16 L 74-56 7-5
01/07/19 at #24 Southern Illinois 16-5 18 W 76-75 8-5
01/09/19 North Carolina Central 4-16 169 W 75-59 9-5
01/12/19 at Miami 7-11 90 W 74-55 10-5
01/16/19 at Tulsa 10-9 111 W 97-80 11-5 (1-0)
01/19/19 at Marshall 7-12 330 W 84-64 12-5 (2-0)
01/23/19 at Southern Methodist 6-11 243 W 79-59 13-5 (3-0)
01/26/19 at Rice 9-9 215 W 66-56 14-5 (4-0)
01/30/19 Southern Methodist 6-11 243 W 72-50 15-5 (5-0)

Conference play has been my saving grace in my first season at Memphis, as the non-conference slate was an issue to say the least. We are currently on an 8 game winning streak, but let's be honest. Conference USA isn't exactly one of the elite conferences, as it is only 13th in the conference RPI. However, we've got a great win at Southern Illinois on our resume. It's not out of the realm of possibility that we only end up with 1 or 2 more losses in the regular season.

Overall Record: 15-5
Conference Record: 5-0
Home Record: 5-3
Road Record: 7-1
Neutral Record: 3-1
Rank: #19 Coaches Poll, not eligible for mid-major poll
RPI: 25

Leaders

PPG

PF Gaston Lyle- 12.2
SF David Berg- 11.0
PG Amos Lusk- 10.4

RPG

SG Thomas Diaz- 8.0
C Franklyn Crandell- 7.3
PF Mark Cohen- 4.9

APG

SG Thomas Diaz- 3.9
SF David Berg- 2.8
PG Amos Lusk- 2.5

6 guys averaging 9 ppg or more is nice, but I'm still disappointed that our highest assist guy is only 3.9 apg. Gotta find some guys that are willing to share the ball a little better.

Recruiting News

SF Stan Martin is now #1 on our list, and we are #1 on his. If the campus visit goes well, we should get him. Sadly, that still leaves 3 scholarships to fill, assuming we do get Stan. There's a 4 star guy still out there that hasn't received any offers, we're gonna try to steal him.

[collegesportsfanms]

February 2019

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/15/18 vs. Detroit 13-14 40 W 90-63 1-0
11/17/18 vs. Creighton 19-9 47 W 72-70 2-0
11/24/18 vs. #12 Maryland 18-9 16 W 76-68 3-0
11/26/18 vs. Connecticut 22-6 15 L 74-68 3-1
12/01/18 at #8 Tennessee 19-7 9 L 67-61 3-2
12/06/18 Yale 14-10 219 W 72-61 4-2
12/10/18 Milwaukee 12-16 157 W 75-73 5-2
12/13/18 Green Bay 13-15 116 L 86-84 5-3
12/17/18 Western Kentucky 11-18 286 W 81-64 6-3
12/22/18 Wichita State 15-12 55 L 78-71 6-4
12/29/18 at George Mason 18-10 96 W 71-63 7-4
01/05/19 Villanova 18-8 2 L 74-56 7-5
01/07/19 at Southern Illinois 22-6 19 W 76-75 8-5
01/09/19 North Carolina Central 6-21 178 W 75-59 9-5
01/12/19 at Miami 10-16 112 W 74-55 10-5
01/16/19 at Tulsa 18-9 56 W 97-80 11-5 (1-0)
01/19/19 at Marshall 10-17 265 W 84-64 12-5 (2-0)
01/23/19 at Southern Methodist 6-19 316 W 79-59 13-5 (3-0)
01/26/19 at Rice 12-14 160 W 66-56 14-5 (4-0)
01/30/19 Southern Methodist 6-19 316 W 72-50 15-5 (5-0)
02/02/19 Central Florida 11-14 95 W 59-49 16-5 (6-0)
02/06/19 Houston 15-12 65 L 67-65 16-6 (6-1)
02/09/19 Rice 12-14 160 W 77-60 17-6 (7-1)
02/13/19 Marshall 10-17 265 W 66-58 18-6 (8-1)
02/16/19 at Southern Mississippi 7-20 293 W 76-45 19-6 (9-1)
02/20/19 at UTEP 19-8 76 L 77-72 19-7 (9-2)
02/23/19 Tulane 16-10 126 W 82-65 20-7 (10-2)
02/27/19 at Central Florida 11-14 95 W 81-66 21-7 (11-2)

I picked up my 100th career win in the 77-60 win over Rice, and I'm now 104-25 in my career. As expected, we did lose a couple in February, and we've got 3 games left. We lead the Conference USA by 1.5 games over Tulsa, who, ironically we play in the last game of the regular season, a game that could decide the C-USA regular season title. Either way, we're a lock for the Big Dance, although that could change if we lose our last 3 regular season games.

Overall Record: 21-7
Conference Record: 11-2
Home Record: 9-4
Road Record: 9-2
Neutral Record: 3-1
Rank: #19 in coaches poll, not eligible for mid-major poll
RPI: 34

Leaders

PPG

PF Gaston Lyle- 11.8
SG Thomas Diaz- 11.4
SF David Berg- 11.0

RPG

SG Thomas Diaz- 8.1
C Franklyn Crandell- 6.9
PF Mark Cohen- 4.5

APG

SG Thomas Diaz- 3.5
SF David Berg- 2.6
PG Amos Lusk- 2.4

Diaz is the MVP of this team, no doubt. He's in the top 3 in almost all of the statistical categories, and leading 3 of them (he's also leading us in steals per game). Of course, he just so happens to be a senior, which means I'm losing a lot of my production next season, and recruiting isn't going as well as I'd hoped. Speaking of...

Recruiting News

As expected, we did sign SF Stan Martin, another 3 star prospect, out of Australia. Unfortunately, everybody else we were looking at signed elsewhere. All we can do now is go after the best 3 star guys that we can find, and hope we can luck out in getting a couple of them, otherwise we'll have 4 scholarships available for transfers.

[Vaevictis_386]

Cool career, hope you keep it up.

I think Memphis was a no brainer -- you had to go, I mean just the year before you couldnt wait to get out of southland.

[collegesportsfanms]

Cool career, hope you keep it up.

I think Memphis was a no brainer -- you had to go, I mean just the year before you couldnt wait to get out of southland.

Thanks for reading, I appreciate any comments I get. Yeah, I think I knew I was going to go to Memphis all along, I just felt bad for leaving Sam Houston St's cupboard bare. Which reminds me, I need to check and see how they are doing. Thanks again for following.

[collegesportsfanms]

We rolled through our last 3 conference games in March, and the final C-USA standings look like this.

TEAM CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#16 Memphis 14 2 .875 24 7 .774 34 79
Tulsa 11 5 .688 19 11 .633 57 69
UTEP 11 5 .688 21 9 .700 70 64
Tulane 10 6 .625 17 12 .586 120 45
Houston 9 7 .563 18 12 .600 62 71
UAB 9 7 .563 19 11 .633 115 79
Rice 7 9 .438 13 16 .448 165 39
East Carolina 7 9 .438 10 19 .345 189 43
Southern Mississippi 6 10 .375 8 22 .267 305 51
Central Florida 6 10 .375 13 15 .464 97 57
Marshall 6 10 .375 12 18 .400 252 52
Southern Methodist 0 16 .000 6 22 .214 328 41

I'd be shocked if it isn't us against either Tulsa or UTEP in the championship.

We get a bye into the Quarterfinals, and on March 13th, 2019, the First Round was played. Here are those results.

(5) Houston- 72, (12) SMU- 53
(11) Marshall- 65, (6) UAB- 49
(7) Rice- 77, (10) Central Florida- 71
(8) ECU- 78, (9) Southern Miss- 66

The Quarterfinal pairings are as follows:

(8) ECU vs. (1) Memphis
(5) Houston vs. (4) Tulane
(7) Rice vs. (2) Tulsa
(11) Marshall vs. (3) UTEP

[collegesportsfanms]

March 14, 2019

Conference USA Quarterfinals
(8) ECU (11-19) vs. (1) #12 Memphis (24-7)

We only played these guys once in the regular season, and we beat them by 30 at their place. I'm not expecting much trouble with this one at all. Once again though, I came in overconfident and not with the best gameplan. They jumped out to an 8-2 lead early before we righted the ship, forcing 19 turnovers and holding them to 36.5% shooting in a 63-55 win.

Memphis 63, East Carolina 55

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
East Carolina (11-20, 7-9):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Dannie Gallaher C 24 0-4 1-4 0 4 1 4 1
Desmond Parham PF 29 0-3 0-0 2 6 0 2 0
Harold Shaw SF 33 5-11 1-1 2 9 0 2 11
Bernard Deleon SG 25 2-9 1-2 0 3 2 2 5
Jon Powell PG 31 9-14 1-2 1 5 0 2 23
Z. Crutchfield C 26 2-6 6-6 5 8 0 3 10
Kenneth Voorhees SG 14 0-0 0-1 1 2 0 2 0
Thomas Hare SF 7 0-3 0-0 0 0 1 1 0
Chuck Dulin C 3 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0
Errol Jones SG 7 1-2 2-3 0 0 0 2 5

Turnovers: 19 (D.Gallaher 2, D.Parham 2, H.Shaw 3,
B.Deleon 1, J.Powell 4, Z.Crutchfield 2, K.Voorhees 4,
T.Hare 1)
Blocked Shots: 6 (D.Gallaher 1, D.Parham 3, H.Shaw 1,
J.Powell 1)
Steals: 3 (B.Deleon 2, Z.Crutchfield 1)
3P FGs: 5-20 (D.Gallaher 0-3, D.Parham 0-1, H.Shaw 0-2,
B.Deleon 0-4, J.Powell 4-5, Z.Crutchfield 0-1, T.Hare
0-2, E.Jones 1-2)

Memphis (25-7, 14-2):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Franklyn Crandell C 33 4-8 0-0 6 12 2 2 8
Gaston Lytle PF 26 2-7 2-4 2 5 1 1 6
David Berg SF 33 3-11 6-6 2 5 3 3 13
Thomas Diaz SG 33 4-5 2-2 2 8 2 3 11
Amos Lusk PG 17 2-9 1-2 2 2 2 2 5
Carrol Nilsen PF 12 1-7 4-4 0 3 1 1 6
Mark Cohen PF 9 5-6 0-2 1 3 0 5 10
Antione Cantwell PG 24 2-7 0-2 1 2 1 2 4
Kurt Marshall C 6 0-0 0-1 0 1 0 0 0
John Breland SF 1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0
Michael Higgins SG 5 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Gerald Sena PG 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 10 (F.Crandell 2, D.Berg 1, T.Diaz 4, A.Lusk
1, M.Higgins 2)
Blocked Shots: 5 (F.Crandell 4, D.Berg 1)
Steals: 11 (F.Crandell 2, D.Berg 4, T.Diaz 3, A.Lusk 1,
K.Marshall 1)
3P FGs: 2-8 (D.Berg 1-4, T.Diaz 1-2, A.Lusk 0-1,
A.Cantwell 0-1)

Player of Game: SF David Berg (MMPHS)

Other Conference Tournament Games:

(5) Houston- 74, (4) Tulane- 55
(3) UTEP- 74, (11) Marshall- 66
(2) Tulsa- 76, (7) Rice- 68

As expected, we take care of business in the semifinals, we face either UTEP or Tulsa in the ship.


March 15, 2019

Conference USA Semifinals
(5) Houston (20-12) vs. (1) #12 Memphis (25-7)

Crap! I just found out Amos Lusk tore his ACL during yesterdays quarterfinal, and he's out for a long time. Houston is another team we only played once in the regular season, and they handed us one of our 2 conference losses, so this is a revenge game for us. Unfortunately, we didn't play like it. The Cougars dominated us from start to finish, leading by 13 at the half. The free throw shooting disparity, which is a big problem in FBCB, went their way. They were 24-30, we were 10-15, a huge factor. The final score, 93-80 in their favor. So now we sit and wait, knowing we will be safely in, but also knowing we blew a huge chance.

Houston 93, Memphis 80

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Houston (21-12, 9-7):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Timothy Jimerson C 27 4-15 0-0 2 7 0 1 8
Mervin Weathers PF 26 2-8 5-6 2 7 0 2 9
Don Wynn SF 26 4-11 0-0 1 5 2 1 12
Angelo Mead SG 22 5-8 1-2 2 3 3 2 14
John Cline PG 26 5-8 6-7 0 1 1 1 17
Eddie Emery SG 21 1-2 4-4 4 7 4 2 7
Dusty Murphy C 20 3-5 1-2 1 1 1 1 7
Britt Crockett SF 13 3-5 3-4 0 1 1 2 10
David Hamilton PG 9 2-4 0-0 0 1 1 1 5
Steven House SF 2 0-1 3-3 0 0 1 0 3
Andrew Rosenbaum PF 7 0-0 1-2 1 4 1 2 1

Turnovers: 10 (T.Jimerson 1, M.Weathers 1, D.Wynn 2,
A.Mead 1, J.Cline 3, E.Emery 2)
Blocked Shots: 1 (J.Cline 1)
Steals: 9 (M.Weathers 1, A.Mead 1, J.Cline 2, E.Emery
3, D.Murphy 1, A.Rosenbaum 1)
3P FGs: 11-21 (D.Wynn 4-8, A.Mead 3-4, J.Cline 1-1,
E.Emery 1-2, B.Crockett 1-2, D.Hamilton 1-3, S.House
0-1)

Memphis (25-8, 14-2):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Franklyn Crandell C 33 8-11 0-0 3 13 3 0 16
Gaston Lytle PF 12 3-5 0-0 0 0 1 5 6
David Berg SF 23 3-7 0-0 0 0 1 4 7
Thomas Diaz SG 34 7-11 0-0 2 9 5 3 18
Antione Cantwell PG 27 4-7 2-2 2 3 2 3 11
Carrol Nilsen PF 16 1-6 3-4 1 3 0 1 5
Mark Cohen PF 16 1-5 2-4 1 5 0 2 4
Kurt Marshall C 9 0-1 0-0 1 3 0 3 0
John Breland SF 9 2-5 1-2 0 2 0 1 6
Michael Higgins PG 16 1-3 0-1 0 0 4 2 2
Gerald Sena PG 3 1-2 2-2 0 0 0 0 5

Turnovers: 17 (G.Lytle 2, D.Berg 2, T.Diaz 2,
A.Cantwell 3, C.Nilsen 1, M.Cohen 1, K.Marshall 1,
J.Breland 2, M.Higgins 3)
Blocked Shots: 15 (F.Crandell 9, G.Lytle 1, D.Berg 1,
A.Cantwell 1, M.Cohen 2, K.Marshall 1)
Steals: 5 (F.Crandell 1, G.Lytle 1, T.Diaz 2, C.Nilsen
1)
3P FGs: 8-20 (D.Berg 1-5, T.Diaz 4-6, A.Cantwell 1-3,
K.Marshall 0-1, J.Breland 1-3, M.Higgins 0-1, G.Sena
1-1)

Player of Game: C Franklyn Crandell (MMPHS)

The Tulsa-UTEP game came down to a buzzer beater, as Tulsa won 82-80. The Golden Hurricane kept it going in the C-USA Championship, getting another buzzer beater to win 80-78 over Houston and win the conferences automatic bid.

2019 Selection Sunday

Tulsa got the 12th seed in the NCAA Midwest Region, and will take on 5th seed Southern Illinois.

We received the 7th seed in the NCAA South Region, and will take on 10th seed USC.

UTEP got the 4th seed in the NIT West Region and will host 5th seed George Mason in the Second Round.

Houston got the top seed in the NIT Midwest Region and will host the winner between (9) Arizona St./(8) Penn in the Second Round.

UAB got the 7th seed in the NIT South Region and will host 10th seed Winthrop in the First Round, with the winner travelling to 2nd seed Texas A&M.

And finally, Tulane got the 14th seed in the CBI and will travel to 3rd seed St. Marys in the First Round.

Oh, and for those that are wondering, Sam Houston St. finished 18-13 overall, and 13-3 in the Southland. They were upset in the First Round of the Southland Tournament, but got an automatic bid to the NIT as a result of winning the Southland regular season conference title.

[Izulde]

That's still a nice first year so far (not sure what the board's expectations are - don't remember if you posted it). If there's a second bad recruiting year, though (because a Top 25 team should be doing better than 3* guys IMO), you may want to jump ship. :D

[collegesportsfanms]

March 21, 2019

NCAA Tournament- South Region First Round
(10) USC (21-9) vs. (7) #14 Memphis (25-8)

This is a winnable game, but we're still gonna have to bring our A game. USC has 8 guys that can hurt us at any time, and we've got to key in on their post guys. If we can shut down action in the post, I think we've got a good chance to win.

And win we do! It was only a 2 point game at halftime, but we turned it up in the 2nd half, forcing a lot of turnovers and forcing them to take some terrible shots. For the first time in my career, I've accomplished the goal of winning an NCAA Tournament game, as we advance with a 68-57 victory!

Memphis 68, Southern California 57

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Southern California (21-10, 11-7):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Carter Norman C 28 0-2 1-2 1 8 1 4 1
Micheal Leech PF 24 6-9 4-5 1 5 0 4 17
Brian Garcia SF 28 2-6 0-0 4 7 1 4 5
Joe Fowlkes SG 25 3-11 2-2 1 5 2 1 10
Brad Lanning PG 29 1-5 0-0 1 1 4 2 2
William Porter SG 24 5-13 2-2 0 3 1 1 15
Thomas Shifflett SG 11 1-6 0-0 0 2 0 0 3
Dennis Moniz C 19 1-1 2-3 0 3 1 3 4
Logan Rude PF 7 0-2 0-0 0 0 1 1 0
Mark Gordon PF 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Enrique Pascual SF 2 0-0 0-0 1 2 1 0 0

Turnovers: 17 (C.Norman 4, M.Leech 1, B.Garcia 3,
J.Fowlkes 3, B.Lanning 3, W.Porter 2, D.Moniz 1)
Blocked Shots: 5 (C.Norman 5)
Steals: 4 (B.Garcia 1, B.Lanning 1, W.Porter 2)
3P FGs: 8-28 (M.Leech 1-1, B.Garcia 1-3, J.Fowlkes 2-8,
B.Lanning 0-3, W.Porter 3-8, T.Shifflett 1-5)

Memphis (26-8, 14-2):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Franklyn Crandell C 35 7-11 1-3 2 5 2 1 15
Gaston Lytle PF 23 6-10 1-2 0 2 1 2 13
David Berg SF 35 0-6 4-4 2 6 2 1 4
Thomas Diaz SG 35 2-7 0-1 2 11 4 2 6
Antione Cantwell PG 31 3-9 1-4 3 4 4 3 7
Carrol Nilsen PF 14 6-9 2-4 0 5 0 1 14
Mark Cohen PF 8 2-3 1-2 1 5 1 3 5
Kurt Marshall C 3 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 2 2
John Breland SF 3 1-1 0-0 0 1 0 0 2
Michael Higgins PG 12 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0
Gerald Sena PG 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 2 1 0

Turnovers: 13 (F.Crandell 1, G.Lytle 4, T.Diaz 4,
A.Cantwell 2, C.Nilsen 1, M.Higgins 1)
Blocked Shots: 6 (F.Crandell 4, D.Berg 1, C.Nilsen 1)
Steals: 8 (G.Lytle 1, D.Berg 2, T.Diaz 1, A.Cantwell 1,
C.Nilsen 1, M.Cohen 1, J.Breland 1)
3P FGs: 2-12 (D.Berg 0-5, T.Diaz 2-6, A.Cantwell 0-1)

Player of Game: C Franklyn Crandell (MMPHS)


March 23, 2019

NCAA Tournament- Second Round
(15) Illinois-Chicago vs. (7) #14 Memphis (26-8)

Wow! I'm not sure what to make of the fact that we are playing Illinois-Chicago, who beat (2) Villanova 57-54 in the First Round. On paper, it looks like we should have the advantage, but they beat a team that beat us by 18 back in January. To say I'm nervous is an understatement, especially since I was really looking forward to a rematch against Villanova. But.. we move on. A look at Illinois-Chicago's roster doesn't really scare me too much, they've got a PG and a C that are currently in the green, but they've got 8 or 9 others with green potential. We just need to play a good, balanced game.

As expected, this one was tough! They jumped out on us quick, but we responded like a championship team should, taking an 11 point lead into the locker room. Their starting backcourt, Gerry Passmore and James Stotts, combined for 35 of their points, but we were able to shut everybody else down. Despite the fact that we committed 21 turnovers, which I'm not happy about, we move on to the Sweet Sixteen with a 67-62 victory!

Memphis 67, Illinois-Chicago 62

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Memphis (27-8, 14-2):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Franklyn Crandell C 35 1-6 2-2 2 8 1 2 4
Gaston Lytle PF 27 5-11 3-4 0 4 0 2 13
David Berg SF 34 4-9 3-3 0 8 3 1 12
Thomas Diaz SG 35 3-8 1-2 1 10 1 1 8
Antione Cantwell PG 17 3-3 0-0 0 1 0 4 6
Carrol Nilsen PF 13 2-5 2-2 0 4 0 1 6
Mark Cohen PF 6 1-3 2-4 1 1 0 2 4
John Breland SF 3 0-0 0-0 0 2 1 1 0
Michael Higgins PG 26 3-5 2-4 0 0 2 1 8
Gerald Sena PG 3 2-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 6

Turnovers: 21 (F.Crandell 1, G.Lytle 2, D.Berg 1,
T.Diaz 7, A.Cantwell 1, C.Nilsen 1, M.Cohen 3,
J.Breland 2, M.Higgins 3)
Blocked Shots: 5 (F.Crandell 1, D.Berg 1, C.Nilsen 3)
Steals: 9 (G.Lytle 1, D.Berg 2, T.Diaz 3, C.Nilsen 1,
M.Higgins 2)
3P FGs: 4-10 (D.Berg 1-3, T.Diaz 1-3, M.Higgins 0-2,
G.Sena 2-2)

Illinois-Chicago (19-17, 7-11):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Eusebio Benz C 31 3-9 0-2 6 13 0 2 6
August Goforth PF 17 1-4 0-0 3 5 0 4 3
John Weis SF 28 2-11 2-2 0 0 3 0 8
Gerry Passmore SG 32 6-16 2-6 1 4 0 3 17
James Stotts PG 35 7-9 2-4 2 7 3 4 18
Derrick Barber PF 25 4-12 0-0 1 5 1 2 8
Henry Smith PG 19 0-3 0-0 0 4 6 1 0
William Tice PG 1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
David Kline SF 5 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 2 0
Kevin Reams C 5 1-1 0-0 1 1 0 0 2
Dwight Shell PF 1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0

Turnovers: 16 (E.Benz 2, J.Weis 3, G.Passmore 6,
J.Stotts 1, D.Barber 1, H.Smith 1, D.Kline 2)
Blocked Shots: 2 (E.Benz 1, D.Shell 1)
Steals: 10 (A.Goforth 1, J.Weis 1, G.Passmore 3,
J.Stotts 3, D.Barber 1, D.Kline 1)
3P FGs: 8-28 (A.Goforth 1-3, J.Weis 2-8, G.Passmore
3-11, J.Stotts 2-2, H.Smith 0-2, W.Tice 0-1, D.Kline
0-1)

Player of Game: PG James Stotts (ILCHI)

[collegesportsfanms]

That's still a nice first year so far (not sure what the board's expectations are - don't remember if you posted it). If there's a second bad recruiting year, though (because a Top 25 team should be doing better than 3* guys IMO), you may want to jump ship. :D

Thanks, yea I always forget to put the board expectation. The one thing I like better about DDS:CB is that there is more than just 1 goal, usually 4 or 5. DDS:CB is a more advanced game, and I just can't get it to run right consistently on my computer, plus the loading times are longing. I'd like to see some changes made to FBCB, but nonetheless, the goal for the season was to Reach the Sweet Sixteen, so we've accomplished that.

The way the season started, I was wondering if we'd even make the postseason or not. It was a rough start. As for recruiting, I for the life of me can't seem to figure out how to recruit on this game. I always go in with a plan, but I never get the guys I want, then I have to scramble. I know recruiting isn't that hard, it's just not happening for me. I agree, Memphis should be getting more 4 and even 5 star recruits.

[collegesportsfanms]

March 29, 2019

NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen
(7) #14 Memphis (27-8) vs. (3) #22 Auburn (25-9)

I'm not quite sure how Auburn did so well this season, other than about 3 blue/green rated players on their roster, the rest are yellow, orange, or red. Aldo Waring and James Ange are the guys to stop, if we can contain them, we've got a good chance. If not we probably end our season today.

What we needed to do, we didn't. Ange lit us up for 30 points, Waring had 15, and they had 2 other guys in double figures. They certainly didn't beat the tar out of us, as the lead never got into double digits, but it was steady, holding between 6 and 9 most of the game. We led once, and that was only because we scored the first basket. Our season ends with a 90-81 loss.

Auburn 90, Memphis 81

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Auburn (26-9, 12-4):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Thomas Mello C 23 2-5 6-8 1 4 2 4 10
Brett Witkowski PF 20 1-4 0-0 5 5 2 4 2
Aldo Waring SF 33 5-19 4-5 7 17 1 1 15
James Ange SG 34 9-17 6-7 0 2 4 4 30
Malik Tucker PG 34 2-7 9-10 1 5 3 3 13
Patrick Hirsch SG 14 2-7 2-2 0 2 1 2 7
Michael Williams PG 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Sidney McCormick SG 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0
Wes Lathrop SF 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Charles Nix C 26 3-3 0-0 2 4 0 1 7
Harland Barton PF 11 2-2 2-2 2 3 0 3 6

Turnovers: 12 (T.Mello 3, A.Waring 3, J.Ange 3,
M.Tucker 1, P.Hirsch 1, C.Nix 1)
Blocked Shots: 6 (C.Nix 6)
Steals: 8 (A.Waring 1, J.Ange 2, M.Tucker 2, P.Hirsch
1, C.Nix 1, H.Barton 1)
3P FGs: 9-33 (T.Mello 0-1, A.Waring 1-13, J.Ange 6-11,
M.Tucker 0-2, P.Hirsch 1-5, C.Nix 1-1)

Memphis (27-9, 14-2):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Franklyn Crandell C 33 2-7 1-1 3 8 2 4 5
Gaston Lytle PF 27 5-11 8-10 2 4 0 5 18
David Berg SF 22 5-7 4-4 2 3 1 5 16
Thomas Diaz SG 33 2-6 7-8 0 3 0 3 13
Antione Cantwell PG 29 0-3 4-4 2 4 8 3 4
Carrol Nilsen SF 17 4-9 2-2 2 6 0 2 10
Mark Cohen PF 11 1-3 1-1 2 6 2 2 3
Kurt Marshall C 3 0-1 2-2 0 0 0 0 2
John Breland SF 7 3-6 0-0 0 0 0 2 8
Michael Higgins PG 16 1-5 0-0 0 2 2 0 2
Gerald Sena PG 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 13 (F.Crandell 2, G.Lytle 2, D.Berg 2,
T.Diaz 3, A.Cantwell 2, C.Nilsen 1, M.Higgins 1)
Blocked Shots: 5 (F.Crandell 2, T.Diaz 1, C.Nilsen 2)
Steals: 4 (D.Berg 2, M.Higgins 2)
3P FGs: 6-20 (F.Crandell 0-1, D.Berg 2-3, T.Diaz 2-5,
A.Cantwell 0-3, J.Breland 2-4, M.Higgins 0-4)

Player of Game: SG James Ange (AUBRN)

[collegesportsfanms]

2019 Postseason Wrap-Up

I won't go into a full postseason run-down, Kansas beat Maryland in the National Championship game, while Mercer beat Indiana in the NIT championship.

Tulsa lost 87-69 to Southern Illinois in the First round of the NCAA Tournament.

UTEP lost to George Mason 76-67 in the Second Round of the NIT Tournament.

Houston lost 88-85 to Penn in the Second Round of the NIT Tournament.

Our most successful conference teams were UAB, who made it to the NIT Elite Eight, and Tulane, who won the CIT.

Next time, I'll take a look at the offseason. I can tell you right now, that this team next year might resemble the team I would have had at Sam Houston St. this season. It's going to be ugly.

[collegesportsfanms]

2019 Offseason

Awards

No national awards, which is a bit disappointing, but I was named Conference USA Coach of the Year, and several of my players got awards. Let's take a look:

2018-2019 CONFERENCE USA AWARDS

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Player of the Year:

SR SG Thomas Diaz Memphis 11.3 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 3.2 APG 1.9 SPG, 0.2 BPG

Freshman of the Year:
FR SF Greg Henriquez Rice 14.6 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 1.9 APG 1.0 SPG, 0.1 BPG

Coach of the Year:
Mike Schaplowsky Memphis 27 - 9 (14 - 2)

All-league 1st Team:
C SR Bryan Voyles Central Florida 15.4 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 1.3 APG, 0.3 SPG, 2.4 BPG
PF SR Tony Griffin Tulsa 12.1 PPG, 9.7 RPG, 1.6 APG, 1.2 SPG, 0.4 BPG
SF SR Jordan Justice Tulsa 14.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 1.6 APG, 0.8 SPG, 0.3 BPG
SG SR Thomas Diaz Memphis 11.3 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 3.2 APG, 1.9 SPG, 0.2 BPG
PG SR Andrew Hubbard Tulane 11.9 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 6.4 APG, 0.7 SPG, 0.1 BPG

All-league 2nd Team:
C JR Franklyn Crandell Memphis 8.4 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.5 SPG, 3.8 BPG
PF JR Mervin Weathers Houston 10.5 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 1.6 APG, 0.3 SPG, 0.5 BPG
SF SR David Berg Memphis 10.9 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 2.6 APG, 1.4 SPG, 0.3 BPG
SG JR Wilton Glaser Tulane 18.8 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 2.1 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.3 BPG
PG SR Rafael Cano UTEP 14.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 4.5 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.2 BPG

All-freshman Team:
C FR Charles West Rice 2.3 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 1.0 APG, 0.6 SPG, 1.5 BPG
PF FR Abraham Hillard Tulsa 2.1 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 0.5 APG, 0.2 SPG, 0.4 BPG
SF FR Greg Henriquez Rice 14.6 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.1 BPG
SG FR Lenard Meunier Marshall 15.5 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 2.2 APG, 1.4 SPG, 0.2 BPG
PG FR Amos Lusk Memphis 9.7 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.1 BPG

Departing Players

C Kurt Marshall- graduating
SG Thomas Diaz- graduating
SF David Berg- graduating
PF Carrol Nilsen- graduating
PF Mark Cohen- entering draft
C Franklyn Crandell- entering draft
PF Gaston Lytle- entering draft.

F*ck!!!!! Basically my entire post is gone. Kurt didn't play much, and Carrol was disappointing, but the other 5 are huge losses. We are losing the C-USA player of the year in Diaz, while Franklyn Crandell was on the C-USA Second Team. Ok, so to be honest, while it sucks losing Cohen, he wasn't as big of a star as he should have been. Lytle outplayed him, but man it would have been nice to have 1 of those 2 back, and Crandell. Ugh!

Final Recruiting Class

FR C Troy Tomblin (***, #173 overall)
FR SF Stan Martin (***, #407 overall)

Well, at least I did sign 2 recruits this year, but I lost 7 players. And of those 7, only 1 was drafted. Mark Cohen went 44th overall. Damn you Gaston and Franklyn. Despite all that, Memphis still pulled the #124 class in the nation, but only 5th in the C-USA. Troy is going to thrown into the fire early, as he is the only big man on the roster, although John Breland is 6'7'', he may see some time at the 4. Stan will most likely redshirt. I'm hoping for some luck as far as transfers go.

Chuck Lugo, my recruiting coordinator, wants a raise. Yea, I'm taking a huge chance here, but I'm giving him his raise. Joshua Amos also wants a raise, but he didn't do squat to help me this season, so he isn't getting that raise.

No conference movement to speak of, so we're ok there.

Job Offers

Louisiana Tech has offered me their head coaching position. While they do have a full roster, it's a roster that quite frankly sucks. No thanks.

And that was it. I'm staying at Memphis. Talk about a slap in the face. Remember how I gave Chuck Lugo that raise? So how does he thank me? By taking the head coaching job at LA Tech. What a POS. Now I need a new recruiting coordinator. Didn't take long for me to find my guy. Gregg Orman is my new recruiting coordinator. His recruit rating is 81, which is 6 better than Chuck. But he's also costing me $60,000 more than Chuck would have.

Transfers

Remember how I said this years roster would resemble the roster of Sam Houston St. if I'd have stayed there? I wasn't lying. We go 7 deep, 6 if you take out Amos, who is still injured for another 286 days and probably won't be able to play until next February, at best. We've got 7 scholarships available for transfers. We need bodies, I don't care if they are red/red, red/orange, we just need bodies, especially in the post.

We've added 2 to the roster, C Scottie Harris and PF Brenton Tweedy. Neither one will amount for much but a warm body, which is what we need. Still 5 schollies to dish out.

Add 1 more to the roster, PF Monte Donofrio, another red/orange guy.

So we'll play the 2019-2020 season with 10 players. 10 sounds a lot better than 7.

[collegesportsfanms]

Here is a look at the initial 20 man call list for the recruiting period

Name Pos Ht Wt Rating Interest State
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hector Friday C 6-11 311 *** Very High Tennessee
Daniel Stout SG 6-2 177 *** Very High Tennessee
Drew Osterman SF 6-6 222 *** Very High Tennessee
Randell Sellars SG 6-3 171 **** High Tennessee
Eldridge Boyd C 6-11 261 *** High Illinois
Nicolas Lack PG 5-9 181 *** High Illinois
Robert Nickel SG 6-4 197 *** High South Carolina
David Gilpin C 6-9 221 ***** Average Minnesota
Brent Sides C 6-8 230 ***** Average Wisconsin
Mark Santoro SF 6-4 217 ***** Average New York
Johnny Carillo C 6-7 232 **** Average Tennessee
Wayne Rogers C 6-11 224 **** Average Illinois
Garrett Oliveira C 6-8 235 **** Average North Carolina
Roosevelt Mason PF 6-10 229 **** Average Texas
Ervin Parent PF 6-6 231 **** Average Washington
Claud Stevens PF 7-0 230 **** Average North Carolina
Chris Sharp PF 6-9 234 **** Average Indiana
John Farrell C 6-10 241 **** Average Virginia
Clint Goodnight C 6-9 221 *** Average Tennessee
Xander Aguilar PF 6-10 211 *** Average Tennessee

With 3 scholarships to hand out, we are still in a serious need for post players that can contribute, but I can't pass up on a 4 star SG that has high interest in us at the moment. Simply put, we need to get the best players we can get, and hopefully get these scholarships filled quickly.

[collegesportsfanms]

Offseason Recruiting News

August 2019

We've offered scholarships to 3 centers, Boyd, Friday, and Gilpin. All are either green or blue rated potential.

September 2019

No change in the 3 guys we offered schollies to, as Boyd and Friday still have very high interest, while Gilpin has average interest. We freed up another scholarship by cutting another walk-on, and offered it to 4 star Garrett Oliveira, another center. Good thing is, all 4 of these guys can play PF if need be.

October 2019

No change in interest with Boyd, Friday, or Gilpin. Boyd has us as his #1, with Xavier and Auburn on our heels. Friday has us #2, with Ole Miss in the lead. We're competing with Kansas for the services of Gilpin. Oliveira now has high interest in us, but we're behind North Carolina for his services.

November 2019 (early signing period)

Gilpin signed with Kansas, Friday signed with Ole Miss, Oliveira signed with North Carolina, and Boyd signed with us. Now we're back to the grind on our other 3 scholarships. I've added a few players to the call list, and here is what the new, updated call list looks like:

Name Pos Ht Wt Rating Interest State
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Houser C 6-9 232 *** Average Oklahoma
Donato Vila C 6-9 246 *** Average Spain
Cyrus Cathey C 6-8 221 *** Average Texas
Daniel Stout SG 6-2 177 *** Average Tennessee
Robert Nickel SG 6-4 197 *** Average South Carolina
Dominic Hewett SF 6-7 220 ***** Low Texas
Mario Albertini PG 5-10 154 ***** Low Italy
Richard Mundell PG 5-11 155 ***** Low Canada

We'll go 10 deep this season, as I decided to redshirt Amos Lusk. He's still injured for another 3 months, and if he came back this season, it would be in mid-February. Why have him waste a whole season on the IR? So he redshirts, everybody else plays.

[collegesportsfanms]

Here is a look at the roster for the 2019-2020 Memphis Tigers, as I finally learned how to use print screen for screenshots, so now you can see the color ratings:

The order of screenshots is as follows: overall, offense, defense, potential

[collegesportsfanms]

ok, so that didn't work like I thought it would, I thought it would actually show the screenshots in the post, but instead you have to click on the links. If you guys like it that way, I'll do it that way year by year, but if not, I'll just do the copy and paste and code from FBCB without the color codes. Here's a look at the schedule.



Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/10/19 vs. Detroit 0-0 66
11/22/19 VCU 0-0 69
11/27/19 at Utah State 0-0 45
12/01/19 at #9 Tennessee 0-0 6
12/05/19 Towson 0-0 38
12/09/19 at Kansas State 0-0 35
12/15/19 Purdue 0-0 287
12/20/19 South Florida 0-0 52
12/22/19 UL-Lafayette 0-0 84
12/28/19 Alcorn State 0-0 236
12/30/19 Texas Tech 0-0 65
01/04/20 Seton Hall 0-0 108
01/15/20 Tulane 0-0 67
01/18/20 at Tulsa 0-0 39
01/22/20 Southern Methodist 0-0 322
01/25/20 at Rice 0-0 151
01/29/20 at Southern Methodist 0-0 322
02/01/20 at UAB 0-0 106
02/05/20 UTEP 0-0 107
02/08/20 at East Carolina 0-0 198
02/12/20 at Tulane 0-0 67
02/15/20 Tulsa 0-0 39
02/19/20 Houston 0-0 58
02/22/20 Rice 0-0 151
02/26/20 UAB 0-0 106
02/29/20 Southern Mississippi 0-0 289
03/04/20 at Central Florida 0-0 122
03/07/20 at Marshall 0-0 238

[collegesportsfanms]

November 2019

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/10/19 vs. Detroit 1-2 173 W 88-86 1-0
11/11/19 vs. Western Michigan 1-2 184 W 57-43 2-0
11/17/19 vs. #13 Southern Illinois 7-0 13 L 83-66 2-1
11/22/19 VCU 1-4 315 W 67-66 3-1
11/27/19 at Utah State 4-1 91 L 64-59 3-2


About what I expected, as Southern Illinois is really good, and going to Utah State is always tough. 2 of our 3 wins have been by a combined 3 points. Oh boy!

Overall Record: 3-2
Home Record: 1-0
Road Record: 0-1
Neutral Record: 2-1
Rank: NR
RPI: 77

Recruiting News

None to speak of, no signings, none of the guys we are looking at signed elsewhere. I offered a couple scholarships to some of the 5 star guys that have average interest that haven't been offered yet.

Player Averages

Attached is a link to the player averages, so you can see how everybody is doing statwise.

[collegesportsfanms]

Well I'll be damned, this time the screenshot actually showed up. I guess it only works if it is a single attachment and not multiple. Crazy.

[collegesportsfanms]

December 2019

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/10/19 vs. Detroit 4-7 138 W 88-86 1-0
11/11/19 vs. Western Michigan 3-7 247 W 57-43 2-0
11/17/19 vs. #8 Southern Illinois 13-0 27 L 83-66 2-1
11/22/19 VCU 3-9 346 W 67-66 3-1
11/27/19 at Utah State 11-2 69 L 64-59 3-2
12/01/19 at #23 Tennessee 8-2 133 L 92-57 3-3
12/05/19 Towson 7-2 84 L 70-53 3-4
12/09/19 at Kansas State 6-5 189 L 85-71 3-5
12/15/19 Purdue 6-6 150 L 97-74 3-6
12/20/19 South Florida 9-3 50 L 61-51 3-7
12/22/19 UL-Lafayette 7-4 25 L 72-62 3-8
12/28/19 Alcorn State 3-8 202 L 89-66 3-9
12/30/19 Texas Tech 9-3 71 L 78-69 3-10


I'm about to go all Izulde on this game. How in the f*ck do we lose EVERY SINGLE GAME IN DECEMBER? Including getting pounded by teams like Towson and Alcorn St? Un-frikkin-believable! This team is an absolute joke, and it's thanks to my inept recruiting that we are in such bad shape. Of course it didn't help that half the team decided to leave early to go pro, and where are those guys now? I hope you like walking the streets looking for a dollar, you POSes. We start conference play next month, and hopefully, by the grace of god, that will be our saving grace.

Overall Record: 3-10
Home Record: 1-6
Road Record: 0-3
Neutral Record: 2-1
Rank: NR
RPI: 199

199? Really? That's f'in pathetic. This is not Memphis basketball. I may be looking for a new job next season due to the fact that my ass got canned here.

Recruiting News

The 5 star guys we were looking at signed elsewhere, but check this out, Mario Albertini, from Italy, is another 5 star recruit. And guess what, his interest in us is very high. Amazing, since we're not even on his top 5 list of schools. But nobody has offered him yet, so guess what, we're throwing everything his way, including a scholarship offer. Maybe I'll get lucky here.

Player Averages

Here's a look at the player averages through December, and it's not pretty.

[collegesportsfanms]

January 2020

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/10/19 vs. Detroit 8-12 134 W 88-86 1-0
11/11/19 vs. Western Michigan 7-11 250 W 57-43 2-0
11/17/19 vs. #8 Southern Illinois 21-1 14 L 83-66 2-1
11/22/19 VCU 5-16 327 W 67-66 3-1
11/27/19 at Utah State 14-6 93 L 64-59 3-2
12/01/19 at #18 Tennessee 14-4 28 L 92-57 3-3
12/05/19 Towson 15-3 47 L 70-53 3-4
12/09/19 at Kansas State 9-10 136 L 85-71 3-5
12/15/19 Purdue 11-9 100 L 97-74 3-6
12/20/19 South Florida 14-5 49 L 61-51 3-7
12/22/19 UL-Lafayette 14-6 79 L 72-62 3-8
12/28/19 Alcorn State 8-11 185 L 89-66 3-9
12/30/19 Texas Tech 12-6 27 L 78-69 3-10
01/04/20 #14 Seton Hall 16-3 38 L 59-43 3-11
01/15/20 Tulane 13-6 215 L 89-65 3-12 (0-1)
01/18/20 at Tulsa 12-7 81 L 68-66 3-13 (0-2)
01/22/20 Southern Methodist 5-13 346 W 60-59 4-13 (1-2)
01/25/20 at Rice 8-10 231 W 91-75 5-13 (2-2)
01/29/20 at Southern Methodist 5-13 346 L 79-56 5-14 (2-3)


Well, at least we won a couple games in January, but this team is still absolutely pathetic. We'll be lucky to win 10 games this season. I just don't understand it. Ah well, I'm still in good with the AD, let's write this season off and move on to next season.

Overall Record: 5-14
Conference Record: 2-3
Home Record: 2-8
Road Record: 1-5
Neutral Record: 2-1
Rank: NR
RPI: 195

Recruiting News

Boom shaka boom boom! That 5 star PG from Italy, Marco Albertini? We took a chance and through a schollie his way because nobody else had, and the MFer ACCEPTED IT! Hells yeah, that is my first 5 star signing so far. It's sad that it had to be a foreign guy though. We also signed SG Justin Bouldin. So I've got 1 scholarship left to fill, and I'm using it on a 4 star C from Washington who hasn't signed yet. If not, I have a fallback (hopefully) on a 3 star C from Georgia who hasn't been offered yet.

Player Averages

Here's a look at the player averages through January.

[collegesportsfanms]

February-March 7, 2020

I decided there was no reason to waste a post just for 2 regular season games in March, so I lumped them into the February post.

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/10/19 vs. Detroit 16-13 65 W 88-86 1-0
11/11/19 vs. Western Michigan 16-13 157 W 57-43 2-0
11/17/19 vs. #8 Southern Illinois 31-2 12 L 83-66 2-1
11/22/19 VCU 12-20 254 W 67-66 3-1
11/27/19 at Utah State 18-12 109 L 64-59 3-2
12/01/19 at #18 Tennessee 20-9 39 L 92-57 3-3
12/05/19 Towson 21-8 47 L 70-53 3-4
12/09/19 at Kansas State 15-15 107 L 85-71 3-5
12/15/19 Purdue 14-16 106 L 97-74 3-6
12/20/19 South Florida 20-10 44 L 61-51 3-7
12/22/19 UL-Lafayette 19-10 72 L 72-62 3-8
12/28/19 Alcorn State 13-16 190 L 89-66 3-9
12/30/19 Texas Tech 18-11 16 L 78-69 3-10
01/04/20 #11 Seton Hall 24-6 30 L 59-43 3-11
01/15/20 Tulane 22-8 115 L 89-65 3-12 (0-1)
01/18/20 at Tulsa 15-15 165 L 68-66 3-13 (0-2)
01/22/20 Southern Methodist 7-22 346 W 60-59 4-13 (1-2)
01/25/20 at Rice 15-14 166 W 91-75 5-13 (2-2)
01/29/20 at Southern Methodist 7-22 346 L 79-56 5-14 (2-3)
02/01/20 at UAB 23-8 34 L 84-61 5-15 (2-4)
02/05/20 UTEP 17-13 145 W 88-75 6-15 (3-4)
02/08/20 at East Carolina 14-15 180 L 89-70 6-16 (3-5)
02/12/20 at Tulane 22-8 115 L 64-63 6-17 (3-6)
02/15/20 Tulsa 15-15 165 W 77-60 7-17 (4-6)
02/19/20 Houston 18-10 67 L 100-93 7-18 (4-7)
02/22/20 Rice 15-14 166 W 79-71 8-18 (5-7)
02/26/20 UAB 23-8 34 L 62-38 8-19 (5-8)
02/29/20 Southern Mississippi 13-17 189 L 77-61 8-20 (5-9)
03/04/20 at Central Florida 13-16 154 W 74-63 9-20 (6-9)
03/07/20 at Marshall 10-20 245 W 78-47 10-20 (7-9)

At least we've got some momentum going into the C-USA Tournament, and we did get to 10 wins with an absolutely crap roster. It's pretty simple though, it's win the C-USA Tourney and get the auto bid to the NCAA Tourney, or for the first time in my career, I'll be watching the entire postseason from home.

Overall Record: 10-20
Conference Record: 7-9
Home Record: 5-11
Road Record: 3-8
Neutral Record: 2-1
Rank: NR
RPI: 173

Recruiting News

Nothing new on the recruiting front, we've still got 1 scholarship to use, and I've gone after some 3 star players who haven't been offered yet. Not that I'm expecting anything, I think I'll have that scholarship to use for a possible transfer. In any case, that 5 star guy we picked up has me excited for the future... that is if I have a future here after this season is over.


Here's a look at the final C-USA standings.


TEAM CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tulane 13 3 .813 22 8 .733 115 50
Houston 11 5 .688 18 10 .643 67 70
UTEP 10 6 .625 17 13 .567 145 65
UAB 10 6 .625 23 8 .742 34 76
Rice 10 6 .625 15 14 .517 166 42
Central Florida 8 8 .500 13 16 .448 154 55
East Carolina 8 8 .500 14 15 .483 180 45
Memphis 7 9 .438 10 20 .333 173 81
Tulsa 6 10 .375 15 15 .500 165 71
Southern Mississippi 5 11 .313 13 17 .433 189 49
Marshall 5 11 .313 10 20 .333 245 51
Southern Methodist 3 13 .188 7 22 .241 346 40

We are the #9 seed in the C-USA Tournament and will take on #8 seed Tulsa.

The other First Round Pairings are as follows:

(12) SMU vs. (5) Rice
(10) Southern Miss vs. (7) ECU
(11) Marshall vs. (6) Central Florida

Player Averages

Here's a look at the final player stat averages through the regular season:

[collegesportsfanms]

Just wanted to touch base and let everybody know that I will not be around much for the next couple weeks. There is a huge baseball tournament coming to town that I am helping out with. I may occasionally sneak in a post or 2 over the next 3 weeks, but don't hold your breath.

I will have a lot more free time starting mid-August though, so hopefully I can really get a move on this. Thanks for your patience all

[collegesportsfanms]

March 11, 2020

Conference USA First Round
(9) Tulsa (15-15) vs. (8) Memphis (10-20)

I've never been in this position in my young coaching career, playing so early in a conference tournament. We lost to Tulsa by 2 at their place, but won by 17 at home. This is a neutral game, so it'll be interesting to see how it plays out. They've got a great guard tandem of Lamar Coble and Jere Salter, so if we can contain them, our chances are good. We got lucky as Coble only played 11 minutes due to foul trouble, and Salter only scored 9 points. They did have 2 that had 16, but we had 4 in double figures led by Troy Tomblin with 18. The result was a 73-60 win, and we are one step closer to going back to the NCAA Tournament.

Memphis 73, Tulsa 60

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tulsa (15-16, 6-10):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Leandro Pena C 30 0-5 0-0 2 8 0 4 0
Dewey Rasmussen PF 21 1-1 0-0 1 4 0 5 2
D. Ghesquier SF 27 4-17 0-0 3 5 1 2 10
Lamar Coble SG 11 0-1 0-0 1 2 3 4 0
Jere Salter SG 32 3-12 1-2 2 6 5 3 9
Everette Sapp PG 27 6-12 1-2 2 2 1 3 16
James Stauffer PG 3 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 0 2
Paul Porter SG 15 5-11 3-4 1 1 2 3 16
Abraham Hillard PF 16 0-1 0-0 1 5 0 0 0
Ricky Braziel C 11 1-4 0-0 3 5 1 0 2
Lamont Nordstrom SF 5 1-2 0-0 0 1 1 0 3
Charles Marino PF 2 0-1 0-0 0 1 0 0 0

Turnovers: 7 (D.Rasmussen 1, D.Ghesquier 2, L.Coble 2,
J.Salter 2)
Blocked Shots: 2 (L.Pena 1, P.Porter 1)
Steals: 3 (J.Salter 3)
3P FGs: 11-39 (L.Pena 0-1, D.Ghesquier 2-11, L.Coble
0-1, J.Salter 2-9, E.Sapp 3-5, J.Stauffer 0-2,
P.Porter 3-8, L.Nordstrom 1-2)

Memphis (11-20, 7-9):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Troy Tomblin C 25 4-8 10-13 2 6 1 1 18
Monte Donofrio PF 27 1-3 2-2 1 8 3 4 4
John Breland SF 29 6-13 0-0 1 6 0 3 13
Gerald Sena SG 35 4-6 4-4 0 2 3 0 14
Antione Cantwell PG 33 5-13 3-4 2 3 0 2 13
Brenton Tweedy C 22 2-3 0-1 2 12 0 0 4
Jerry Robertson SG 19 1-5 5-8 0 1 0 3 7
Stan Martin SF 9 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0
Scottie Harris C 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 6 (M.Donofrio 3, J.Breland 1, A.Cantwell 1,
S.Martin 1)
Blocked Shots: 5 (A.Cantwell 1, B.Tweedy 2, J.Robertson
2)
Steals: 1 (G.Sena 1)
3P FGs: 3-13 (J.Breland 1-2, G.Sena 2-4, A.Cantwell
0-3, J.Robertson 0-4)

Player of Game: PF Troy Tomblin (MMPHS)



March 12, 2020

Conference USA Quarterfinals
(8) Memphis (11-20) vs. (1) Tulane (22-8)

We played Tulane to a 1 point loss at their place, and if that team shows up, we've got a great chance to win this game. It's not going to be easy though. They've got very balanced scoring, and Wilton Glaser is their stud, averaging 20 points a game. We'll definitely be keying tight on him. While Glaser did score his 14 points, John Breland was sensational for us, scoring 31 points in this shootout. We trailed by 5 at halftime but turned it on in the second half to stun Tulane, as we move to the semifinals with an 84-77 victory!

Memphis 84, Tulane 77

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Memphis (12-20, 7-9):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Troy Tomblin C 18 4-5 3-4 1 3 0 4 11
Monte Donofrio PF 34 3-4 1-2 1 4 2 2 7
John Breland SF 34 12-29 0-0 2 9 1 0 31
Gerald Sena PG 37 5-8 3-3 1 4 1 1 15
Antione Cantwell PG 10 1-2 8-10 0 1 0 4 10
Brenton Tweedy C 10 0-1 0-0 1 2 0 5 0
Jerry Robertson SG 22 0-1 0-0 0 3 1 4 0
Stan Martin SF 19 4-7 2-2 2 7 3 2 10
Scottie Harris C 16 0-2 0-0 1 5 1 0 0

Turnovers: 10 (M.Donofrio 2, J.Breland 2, G.Sena 1,
B.Tweedy 1, J.Robertson 1, S.Martin 3)
Blocked Shots: 4 (M.Donofrio 1, J.Breland 1, S.Martin
1, S.Harris 1)
Steals: 5 (J.Breland 1, G.Sena 2, J.Robertson 1,
S.Martin 1)
3P FGs: 9-18 (J.Breland 7-14, G.Sena 2-2, S.Martin 0-1,
S.Harris 0-1)

Tulane (22-9, 13-3):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
C. Pomerleau C 30 6-13 3-5 4 7 4 3 15
Stephen Jarboe PF 30 2-4 4-6 1 6 2 0 9
Herschel Xiong SF 28 1-4 0-0 0 1 0 2 3
Wilton Glaser SG 30 4-12 3-4 1 6 5 5 14
Floyd Leos PG 15 5-6 0-0 0 2 0 5 13
Gerardo Clark SG 24 2-4 4-4 0 1 1 2 10
Stanton Mangum PF 17 1-2 3-4 0 3 1 2 5
Wayne Whitehouse PG 13 2-5 1-2 0 2 0 0 6
John Dunning PF 5 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 0 2
Charles Clawson SG 5 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 2 0
Basil Jenkins PG 1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Charles Poland SF 2 0-1 0-0 0 2 0 0 0

Turnovers: 13 (S.Jarboe 2, H.Xiong 3, W.Glaser 4,
S.Mangum 2, W.Whitehouse 1, J.Dunning 1)
Blocked Shots: 1 (G.Clark 1)
Steals: 3 (H.Xiong 2, W.Whitehouse 1)
3P FGs: 11-24 (S.Jarboe 1-2, H.Xiong 1-3, W.Glaser 3-8,
F.Leos 3-3, G.Clark 2-3, W.Whitehouse 1-3, B.Jenkins
0-1, C.Poland 0-1)

Player of Game: SF John Breland (MMPHS)

[collegesportsfanms]

March 13, 2020

Conference USA Semifinals
(8) Memphis (12-20) vs. (4) UAB (24-8)

It doesn't get any easier here in the tourney, as UAB is really one of the toughest teams in the conference. They hammered us twice in the regular season, and we're going to have to play a perfect game to beat them. Not much to talk about with their team, they are stacked, with 2 guys averaging over 15 ppg. We're just hoping not to get blown out of the water here.

As expected, they jumped out on us early, but we hung with them. They led by 6 at halftime, and 2 of their players combined for 39 of their points. If only we could have stopped them. As it stands, a gallant effort but not enough. We end a very, very dismal season with a 68-59 loss.

UAB 68, Memphis 59

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UAB (25-8, 10-6):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
David Barnett C 27 3-10 0-0 3 5 2 0 6
Jackson Mobley PF 38 1-3 0-0 4 12 5 3 2
Chris Francis SF 29 6-11 2-3 2 5 0 2 16
Arthur Doane SG 28 11-22 0-1 3 9 2 4 23
Chris Fairfield PG 27 3-7 2-3 1 7 0 3 9
Brian Thompson SG 18 0-2 0-0 0 2 1 2 0
John Springer PG 13 2-3 0-1 0 1 1 1 5
Kerry Perry SF 4 2-2 0-0 1 1 0 0 5
Dennis Eggleston SG 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Tan She C 15 1-4 0-1 2 3 1 0 2

Turnovers: 13 (J.Mobley 4, A.Doane 3, C.Fairfield 2,
B.Thompson 3, D.Eggleston 1)
Blocked Shots: 7 (D.Barnett 1, J.Mobley 4, C.Fairfield
1, T.She 1)
Steals: 5 (J.Mobley 1, C.Francis 1, A.Doane 1,
B.Thompson 2)
3P FGs: 6-17 (C.Francis 2-4, A.Doane 1-4, C.Fairfield
1-4, B.Thompson 0-2, J.Springer 1-1, K.Perry 1-1,
T.She 0-1)

Memphis (12-21, 7-9):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Troy Tomblin C 26 1-12 0-0 0 2 3 2 2
Monte Donofrio PF 34 1-3 0-0 3 7 4 2 2
John Breland SF 32 4-18 0-0 2 6 2 0 11
Gerald Sena SG 36 4-9 6-7 2 6 1 0 15
Antione Cantwell PG 33 8-11 0-0 2 4 3 2 17
Brenton Tweedy C 17 2-2 0-0 1 7 1 2 4
Jerry Robertson SG 11 3-4 0-0 0 1 1 1 6
Stan Martin SF 10 1-4 0-0 1 2 1 1 2
Scottie Harris C 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 8 (T.Tomblin 1, M.Donofrio 1, G.Sena 2,
A.Cantwell 4)
Blocked Shots: 2 (J.Breland 1, B.Tweedy 1)
Steals: 4 (M.Donofrio 1, B.Tweedy 2, J.Robertson 1)
3P FGs: 5-15 (J.Breland 3-11, G.Sena 1-2, A.Cantwell
1-2)

Player of Game: SG Arthur Doane (UAB)

I just realized I forgot to put the other conference tournament scores up, my bad. But in the C-USA championship, UAB hammered UTEP 68-48.

2020 Selection Sunday

It was a very down year for Conference USA, who is sending only 4 teams to the postseason.

UAB got the 9th seed in the NCAA South Region and will face (8) Texas Tech in the First Round.

Houston got the 5th seed in the NIT West Region and will travel to (4) Wake Forest in the Second Round.

Tulane got the 5th seed in the NIT South Region and will travel to (4) Syracuse in the Second Round.

UTEP got the 8th seed in the CBI and will host (9) Elon in the First Round.

[collegesportsfanms]

2020 Postseason Wrap-Up

Auburn beat Arizona 70-58 to win the NCAA Tournament.
Wake Forest beat Kent St. 70-58 (go figure) to win the NIT.
Georgetown beat Iowa 2 games to 1 to win the CBI.
St. Marys beat Western Illinois 58-50 to win the CIT.

UAB lost to (8) Texas Tech 99-84 in the First Round of the NCAA Tourney.

Houston lost to (4) Wake Forest 71-68 in the Second Round of the NIT.

Tulane lost to (4) Syracuse 80-72 in the Second Round of the NIT.

UTEP beat (9) Elon 95-91 in the First Round of the CBI, then in the Quarterfinals beat (1) Hampton 72-70, but lost to (13) Iowa 83-62 in the Semifinals.

Not a good postseason for the C-USA.

Next post will include a few notes about the Memphis Tigers season, as well as get into the offseason.

[bbgunn]

Looking for Memphis to take out all challengers next season!

[collegesportsfanms]

2020 Offseason

Awards

To the surprise of nobody, we were shut out on the national award front. 1 of my players got a conference award. Let's take a look.

Player of the Year:

SR SG Wilton Glaser Tulane 21.5 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 2.2 APG 1.0 SPG, 0.3 BPG

Freshman of the Year:
FR SG Norman May UTEP 14.7 PPG, 1.9 RPG, 2.3 APG 0.8 SPG, 0.1 BPG

Coach of the Year:
Carey Finlay Tulane 22 - 10 (13 - 3)

All-league 1st Team:
C SR Chance Hewlett UAB 6.6 PPG, 11.6 RPG, 1.3 APG, 0.5 SPG, 3.6 BPG
PF SR Mervin Weathers Houston 12.0 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 1.7 APG, 0.5 SPG, 1.0 BPG
SF SO Chris Francis UAB 15.8 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 2.1 APG, 0.7 SPG, 0.1 BPG
SG SR Wilton Glaser Tulane 21.5 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 2.2 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.3 BPG
PG JR Jere Salter Tulsa 14.6 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 4.9 APG, 0.7 SPG, 0.1 BPG

All-league 2nd Team:
C SR Chris Hart UTEP 7.8 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 1.2 APG, 0.7 SPG, 2.2 BPG
PF SR Jackson Mobley UAB 5.0 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 1.8 APG, 0.6 SPG, 3.0 BPG
SF JR John Breland Memphis 15.2 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 1.8 APG, 0.9 SPG, 0.8 BPG
SG SO Greg Henriquez Rice 20.4 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.2 BPG
PG JR Steven Whitehead Rice 12.4 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 5.8 APG, 1.2 SPG, 0.1 BPG

All-freshman Team:
C FR Dewey Rasmussen Tulsa 7.1 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 0.9 APG, 0.2 SPG, 0.2 BPG
PF FR Ricky Braziel Tulsa 4.2 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 0.9 APG, 0.4 SPG, 0.1 BPG
SF FR Gerardo Clark Tulane 7.7 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 1.4 APG, 0.6 SPG, 0.1 BPG
SG FR Norman May UTEP 14.7 PPG, 1.9 RPG, 2.3 APG, 0.8 SPG, 0.1 BPG
PG FR Tobias Waugh Central Florida 4.1 PPG, 1.0 RPG, 1.4 APG, 0.5 SPG, 0.1 BPG

The question is, does Breland return? I sure hope so.

Departing Players

none, and this pleases me very much. Memphis should return back to prominence next season.

Final Recruiting Class

FR PG Mario Albertini (*****, #20 overall)
FR C Eldridge Boyd (***, #523 overall)
FR SG Justin Bouldin (***, #531 overall)

Not the greatest class, but I'm stoked about Albertini, he's going to be sensational. All 3 of these players have either blue or green potential, and FBCB rated our class 47th best in the nation, which is tops in the C-USA. We are the only school in the conference to pick up a 5 star recruit, and only 1 other school even got a 4 star recruit. Don't call me Coach Calipari, I did everything by the book!

Joshua Amos is still requesting a raise. I was lucky enough to keep him this season without giving him a raise, to me he's not good enough to be bumped up to $50,000, so I'm keeping him at $40,000 and if he walks, he walks.

No conference movement that concerns us, so now it's time to see what kind of offers come my way. Not that I expect to take any of them, as I'm expecting huge things at Memphis this season.

Aaaaand my decision was made quite easy. Nobody wants my services after the disastrous season I had, so I'll be staying at Memphis, not that I wasn't going to anyways.

Unbelievably, Joshua Amos is still here. Nobody else thinks he's worth $50,000 a year either.

Transfers

We've still got one scholarship to use on transfers, if I care to. I put out a couple feelers, but no takers, so I'm keeping my roster the way it is.

[collegesportsfanms]

2020 Initial Recruiting

We've got 3 scholarships to hand out and have a major need for SF and PF, so we're keying on those areas. Unfortunately, with the disastrous season we had last season, most of the interest comes from 3 star players, but I've stretched to add a few 4 and 5 star players as well. Here's a look at the initial 20 man call list:

Name Pos Ht Wt Rating Interest State
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prince Burden PF 6-6 224 ***** Low Mississippi
Del Owen PF 6-9 222 **** Average Georgia
Donnie Kozlowski PF 6-7 222 **** Average Illinois
Boris Herrod PF 6-5 225 **** Low North Carolina
Danilo Cohen PF 6-10 247 **** Low North Carolina
David Wang PF 6-7 223 **** Low Florida
Russel Hines PF 6-8 240 **** Low Florida
Carl Hurtado SF 6-4 238 **** Average Georgia
Joesph Bethel SF 6-4 207 **** Low Mississippi
Teddy Johnson C 7-1 231 *** High Kentucky
Manuel Abel PF 6-8 221 *** Very High Tennessee
David Marvin PF 6-6 211 *** High Louisiana
Brian Crow PF 6-7 206 *** High Illinois
Paul Russell PF 6-7 221 *** High Texas
Arthur Saito PF 6-7 205 *** High Oklahoma
Alphonse Chester SF 6-8 223 *** Very High Tennessee
Hector Whitmer SF 6-7 213 *** High Illinois
William Barrera SF 6-6 210 *** High Illinois
David Roberson SG 6-1 180 *** Very High Arkansas
Darrin Chesson SG 6-3 177 *** High Texas

[collegesportsfanms]

2020 Recruiting News

August 2020

4 star Donnie Kozlowski is showing average interest in us now, so I'm going after him fairly hard. I offered a scholarship, we'll see what happens. I also offered a scholarship to 5 star Prince Burden, but I'm sure I'll end up with 3 star recruits.

September 2020

Kozlowski is still showing average interest, but we've got Burden up to average interest, crossing fingers. I'm probably making a mistake by putting all my recruiting into those 2 players and looking at a few others.

October 2020

I'm about to give up on Burden, as Florida and Mississippi St. are at the top, and I don't think we can overtake them. I like my chances to get Kozlowski though, as right now Iowa is in the lead, but we've offered, they haven't. I've also sent an offer to Manuel Abel. He's a 3 star, but he is still showing very high interest in us. He'll be a good backup.

November 2020 (early signing period)

1 for 2 with the recruits so far, as Abel signed with us, but Burden signed with Florida. That's ok, that means Kozlowski is still on the market, but he's still average. We'll keep after him though. Hey at least we finally pulled a signing in the early signing period.

We've got 3 guys willing to redshirt: Brenton Tweedy, Scottie Harris, and Monte Donofrio. All post players. All juniors. None of my freshmen are willing to redshirt, and I was hoping at least one would be. So, here's what we're going to do, since I only have 5 post players, with a couple others than can play post if necessary, I'm going to redshirt Harris and Tweedy. That means John Breland, who is only 6'7'', will probably spend some time at PF. Fortunately I have a number of perimeter players, so I can mix and match there.

Early draft reports are in, even with a heck of a training camp, John Breland is still projected to go undrafted. That's just crazy talk. And of our projected starting 5: 4 of the 5 are green rated currently, with another current green player (Albertini) set to come off the bench. Our weakness is Donofrio who is only orange rated current. Unfortunately, the bench isn't very strong, but we'll make it work. Our starting 5 plus a top reserve should each get over 30 minutes a game.

[collegesportsfanms]

November 2020

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/16/20 at Illinois 3-1 38 L 79-70 0-1
11/20/20 UL-Lafayette 2-3 152 W 81-72 1-1
11/22/20 vs. East Tennessee State 0-6 310 W 69-57 2-1
11/24/20 vs. Green Bay 3-3 33 L 69-67 2-2
11/25/20 vs. Notre Dame 2-1 60 L 85-63 2-3
11/30/20 at Arizona State 0-2 273 W 93-84 3-3


Aside from the Notre Dame loss, all our other losses have been close, but man, losing to Green Bay? I've still got a long ways to go to get this team good again. At least we finished the month at .500.

Overall Record: 3-3
Home Record: 1-0
Road Record: 1-1
Neutral Record: 1-2
Rank: NR
RPI: 265

That is a good awful RPI!

Recruiting News

No change as far as Kozlowski goes, he's still got us behind Iowa, but we'll keep fighting to get him. We're also going after Danilo Cohen, another 4 star PF although not as highly ranked.

Player Stats

Here's a look at the stats through November.

[collegesportsfanms]

December 2020

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/16/20 at Illinois 9-5 10 L 79-70 0-1
11/20/20 UL-Lafayette 8-5 47 W 81-72 1-1
11/22/20 vs. East Tennessee State 4-11 304 W 69-57 2-1
11/24/20 vs. Green Bay 6-7 144 L 69-67 2-2
11/25/20 vs. #18 Notre Dame 10-1 171 L 85-63 2-3
11/30/20 at Arizona State 4-7 62 W 93-84 3-3
12/09/20 Tennessee-Martin 5-7 213 L 79-67 3-4
12/14/20 at Tennessee State 7-6 256 W 63-62 4-4
12/19/20 Western Kentucky 5-9 235 L 77-69 4-5
12/22/20 Mississippi Valley State 3-7 160 W 97-65 5-5
12/25/20 Wisconsin 9-3 16 L 72-66 5-6
12/29/20 at Oakland 1-10 117 W 93-77 6-6


Are you kidding me? Teams like Tennessee-Martin and Western Kentucky should not be beating us. I mean don't get me wrong, I'm glad we're at .500, but we should be at least 3 games over .500. And things don't get any easier in January, as we finish off the non-conference schedule against 2 teams with a combined record of 19-3. I'd be willing to bet the farm that we are sitting under .500 at the end of the month.

Recruiting News

Cohen signed with N.C. State, Kozlowski with Iowa. Now it's just a matter of getting the best guys we can. That could start with Korbl Willner, a 4 star PF out of Germany. He's tops on the list right now. We're also looking at Timothy Jepson, a 3 star SF.

Player Stats

Here's a look at the averages through January, and you can see they aren't where I thought they'd be.

[collegesportsfanms]

January 2021

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/16/20 at Illinois 14-7 25 L 79-70 0-1
11/20/20 UL-Lafayette 14-7 83 W 81-72 1-1
11/22/20 vs. East Tennessee State 6-17 323 W 69-57 2-1
11/24/20 vs. Green Bay 8-14 199 L 69-67 2-2
11/25/20 vs. #18 Notre Dame 15-5 35 L 85-63 2-3
11/30/20 at Arizona State 6-13 116 W 93-84 3-3
12/09/20 Tennessee-Martin 10-11 214 L 79-67 3-4
12/14/20 at Tennessee State 11-11 308 W 63-62 4-4
12/19/20 Western Kentucky 8-14 287 L 77-69 4-5
12/22/20 Mississippi Valley State 6-14 311 W 97-65 5-5
12/25/20 Wisconsin 13-8 40 L 72-66 5-6
12/29/20 at Oakland 9-11 141 W 93-77 6-6
01/02/21 West Virginia 14-6 14 L 76-57 6-7
01/07/21 Kansas State 13-6 13 W 82-77 7-7
01/13/21 Southern Mississippi 8-11 247 L 73-65 7-8 (0-1)
01/16/21 at UTEP 9-11 161 W 81-63 8-8 (1-1)
01/20/21 Tulsa 10-8 72 L 99-81 8-9 (1-2)
01/23/21 East Carolina 8-12 96 L 68-63 8-10 (1-3)
01/27/21 at East Carolina 8-12 96 W 92-83 9-10 (2-3)
01/30/21 at Marshall 7-11 238 W 68-60 10-10 (3-3)


I'm happy that this team is still at .500 as we enter February. The postseason is still very much in reach, but we've got to have a strong rest of the season. Unfortunately, the consistency on this team just isn't there, so it'll be interesting to see how things play out.

Overall Record: 10-10
Conference Record: 3-3
Home Record: 3-7
Road Record: 6-1
Neutral Record: 1-2
Rank: NR
RPI: 210

This is a complete reversal of how most teams are. Usually most teams are better at home, but we've proven to be road warriors thus far this season.

Recruiting News

Nothing new to report as far as signings go, but at least Korbl Willner is showing more of an interest in us. Unfortunately, we're still 4th on his list.

Player Stats

Here's a look at the player stats through January:

Player Pos GP GS Min Pts Orb Reb Ast Stl Blk To Fls +/-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amos Lusk SG 20 20 30.2 13.8 1.5 4.6 2.9 1.4 0.1 1.8 2.2 1.5
John Breland SF 20 20 28.3 13.4 1.2 5.5 1.9 0.6 1.3 2.0 3.1 3.7
Troy Tomblin C 20 20 25.0 11.7 1.2 5.4 1.4 0.8 0.3 1.3 3.0 0.7
Antione Cantwell SF 20 20 29.6 11.3 2.9 5.3 4.1 0.7 0.3 2.0 3.3 0.7
Mario Albertini PG 20 0 24.8 8.0 0.5 2.3 3.4 1.6 0.1 1.5 2.3 0.1
Monte Donofrio PF 20 20 30.8 6.2 2.6 8.8 1.2 0.9 0.4 1.1 2.7 1.7
Michael Higgins SG 20 0 10.5 3.9 0.5 1.1 1.2 0.5 0.0 0.9 0.7 -3.4
Justin Bouldin SF 20 0 9.5 3.0 0.5 1.5 0.8 0.5 0.2 0.8 1.2 -0.6
Eldridge Boyd C 20 0 9.1 2.3 0.6 2.7 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.7 1.2 -2.5
Stan Martin SF 5 0 3.4 1.2 0.4 0.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4 0.2 -0.8
Gerald Sena SG 13 0 2.0 1.1 0.1 0.4 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.2 0.0 -0.2
Brenton Tweedy C 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Scottie Harris C 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Jerry Robertson SG 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0


Higgins and Boyd are absolutely killing us. Got to get more out of them.

[collegesportsfanms]

February-March 6, 2021

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/16/20 at Illinois 20-11 20 L 79-70 0-1
11/20/20 UL-Lafayette 20-9 92 W 81-72 1-1
11/22/20 vs. East Tennessee State 10-20 328 W 69-57 2-1
11/24/20 vs. Green Bay 10-22 243 L 69-67 2-2
11/25/20 vs. #9 Notre Dame 24-6 12 L 85-63 2-3
11/30/20 at Arizona State 11-17 126 W 93-84 3-3
12/09/20 Tennessee-Martin 14-18 210 L 79-67 3-4
12/14/20 at Tennessee State 17-14 226 W 63-62 4-4
12/19/20 Western Kentucky 14-17 260 L 77-69 4-5
12/22/20 Mississippi Valley State 12-17 270 W 97-65 5-5
12/25/20 Wisconsin 20-10 27 L 72-66 5-6
12/29/20 at Oakland 13-15 171 W 93-77 6-6
01/02/21 West Virginia 20-10 19 L 76-57 6-7
01/07/21 Kansas State 18-11 22 W 82-77 7-7
01/13/21 Southern Mississippi 12-17 237 L 73-65 7-8 (0-1)
01/16/21 at UTEP 12-18 198 W 81-63 8-8 (1-1)
01/20/21 Tulsa 17-11 71 L 99-81 8-9 (1-2)
01/23/21 East Carolina 12-18 154 L 68-63 8-10 (1-3)
01/27/21 at East Carolina 12-18 154 W 92-83 9-10 (2-3)
01/30/21 at Marshall 12-16 180 W 68-60 10-10 (3-3)
02/03/21 at Central Florida 13-17 145 W 86-77 11-10 (4-3)
02/06/21 UAB 18-10 135 W 75-73 12-10 (5-3)
02/10/21 at Tulsa 17-11 71 W 95-83 13-10 (6-3)
02/13/21 Tulane 18-11 64 L 67-55 13-11 (6-4)
02/17/21 at Southern Mississippi 12-17 237 W 87-83 14-11 (7-4)
02/20/21 Southern Methodist 12-17 238 W 80-74 15-11 (8-4)
02/24/21 Marshall 12-16 180 L 75-72 15-12 (8-5)
02/27/21 at Rice 18-11 74 L 81-73 15-13 (8-6)
03/03/21 at Houston 18-11 111 W 89-79 16-13 (9-6)
03/06/21 UTEP 12-18 198 W 77-76 17-13 (10-6)

I could not be happier with the way we finished the regular season. Obviously I'm disappointed at some of our losses, especially the Marshall loss on February 24th, but this team is really gelling and playing together, and I strongly believe a win or 2 in the C-USA Tourney will get us to the postseason, despite our less than impressive RPI.

Overall Record: 17-13
Conference Record: 10-6
Home Record: 6-9
Road Record: 10-2
Neutral Record: 1-2
Rank: 3 points in mid-major poll.
RPI: 118

Again, the RPI is the only thing that scares me about making a postseason tournament. We've got to have at least 1, maybe even 2 wins in the C-USA Tourney just to have a chance, in my opinion. Speaking of which, we'll be the 3rd seed and get a bye to the Quarterfinals, where we'll take on the winner of (11) SMU/(6) Tulane. That game, I'm not too worried about.

Recruiting News

Both guys we were looking at declined our offer, so now it's on to a couple new guys.

Player Stats

Here are the final regular season stats:

Player Pos GP GS Min Pts Orb Reb Ast Stl Blk To Fls +/-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amos Lusk SG 30 30 30.6 13.9 1.5 4.6 3.0 1.6 0.1 1.9 2.2 1.0
John Breland SF 30 30 29.3 13.4 1.4 5.9 1.7 0.7 1.0 1.8 3.1 1.9
Troy Tomblin C 30 30 26.6 12.8 1.3 5.8 1.7 0.6 0.3 1.4 2.9 2.2
Antione Cantwell SF 30 30 30.0 11.9 2.7 5.0 3.9 0.8 0.3 2.0 3.3 1.4
Mario Albertini PG 30 0 24.2 7.8 0.5 2.2 3.2 1.3 0.1 1.3 2.2 0.3
Monte Donofrio PF 30 30 30.1 6.4 2.2 8.0 1.1 0.9 0.4 1.1 2.9 3.2
Michael Higgins SG 30 0 10.2 3.9 0.3 0.9 1.3 0.3 0.0 0.9 0.8 -1.4
Justin Bouldin SF 30 0 9.0 2.7 0.5 1.5 0.7 0.5 0.1 0.9 1.3 -0.8
Eldridge Boyd C 30 0 8.2 2.2 0.6 2.6 0.4 0.3 0.1 0.5 0.9 -1.6
Gerald Sena SG 20 0 2.1 1.1 0.2 0.7 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.2 0.2 -0.5
Stan Martin SF 8 0 3.3 0.8 0.3 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.3 -2.1
Jerry Robertson SG 2 0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 -2.0
Brenton Tweedy C 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Scottie Harris C 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

[collegesportsfanms]

Here's a look at the final Conference USA standings:

TEAM CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tulsa 11 5 .688 17 11 .607 64 67
UAB 11 5 .688 18 10 .643 138 77
Memphis 10 6 .625 17 13 .567 119 76
Houston 10 6 .625 18 11 .621 97 72
Central Florida 8 8 .500 13 17 .433 128 55
Tulane 8 8 .500 18 11 .621 80 56
East Carolina 8 8 .500 12 18 .400 140 48
Rice 7 9 .438 18 11 .621 72 46
Marshall 6 10 .375 12 16 .429 204 49
Southern Mississippi 6 10 .375 12 17 .414 228 47
Southern Methodist 6 10 .375 12 17 .414 262 39
UTEP 5 11 .313 12 18 .400 202 65

Here's a look at the First Round C-USA Tourney Results:

(5) Central Florida- 61, (12) UTEP- 53
(6) Tulane- 56, (11) SMU- 48
(7) ECU- 89, (10) Southern Miss- 68
(8) Rice- 81, (9) Marshall- 55

The Quarterfinals will be as follows:

(8) Rice vs. (1) Tulsa
(5) Central Florida vs. (4) Houston
(7) ECU vs. (2) UAB
(6) Tulane vs. (3) Memphis

[collegesportsfanms]

March 11, 2021

Conference USA Quarterfinals
(6) Tulane (19-11) vs. (3) Memphis (17-13)

This isn't going to be an easy game, as overall they had a better record than us, and they beat us 67-55 at home in our only regular season match-up. They don't really have a stacked lineup though, PG Floyd Leos is their best player, so this is a very winnable game, and we're hot right now. Let's see what happens.

This was a nip and tuck game throughout the 1st half, as we went into the locker room tied, but an 11-0 run to open the 2nd half gave us a lead we would not lose as we get a big, big win 78-63.

Memphis 78, Tulane 63

Tulane (19-12, 8-8):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Justin Johnson C 25 3-12 7-10 4 5 2 4 13
Stanton Mangum PF 30 5-7 1-4 3 9 1 4 11
Charles Clawson SF 23 0-1 2-2 0 3 1 5 2
Gerardo Clark SG 28 3-10 3-4 0 5 1 3 10
Floyd Leos PG 34 4-8 2-4 2 5 0 1 12
Wayne Whitehouse SG 24 3-7 0-1 0 6 4 1 8
John Dunning C 19 0-3 0-0 1 4 1 4 0
Charles Guinn PF 6 2-3 1-3 1 2 0 0 7
Charles Poland SF 9 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Michael Garcia PG 3 0-1 0-0 1 1 0 1 0

Turnovers: 14 (J.Johnson 2, C.Clawson 2, G.Clark 1,
F.Leos 3, W.Whitehouse 3, J.Dunning 3)
Blocked Shots: 2 (S.Mangum 1, W.Whitehouse 1)
Steals: 4 (C.Clawson 1, G.Clark 2, F.Leos 1)
3P FGs: 7-19 (C.Clawson 0-1, G.Clark 1-6, F.Leos 2-4,
W.Whitehouse 2-4, C.Guinn 2-2, C.Poland 0-1, M.Garcia
0-1)

Memphis (18-13, 10-6):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Troy Tomblin C 14 4-6 4-4 0 0 1 4 12
Monte Donofrio PF 36 1-4 2-4 2 14 1 2 4
John Breland C 34 9-14 3-10 1 6 1 5 22
Antione Cantwell SF 34 6-10 6-6 4 7 5 3 19
Amos Lusk PG 1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 2
Mario Albertini PG 33 1-3 3-5 0 2 5 4 6
Michael Higgins SG 20 1-6 3-6 0 2 0 1 6
Gerald Sena SG 11 0-2 0-0 1 3 0 1 0
Justin Bouldin SF 8 2-5 0-0 1 2 0 0 5
Eldridge Boyd C 9 1-4 0-0 1 3 1 1 2
Jerry Robertson SG 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 8 (T.Tomblin 1, M.Donofrio 2, J.Breland 1,
A.Cantwell 1, M.Albertini 1, M.Higgins 1, G.Sena 1)
Blocked Shots: 3 (J.Breland 3)
Steals: 7 (M.Donofrio 1, J.Breland 1, A.Cantwell 1,
M.Albertini 1, M.Higgins 2, E.Boyd 1)
3P FGs: 5-15 (J.Breland 1-3, A.Cantwell 1-4,
M.Albertini 1-2, M.Higgins 1-3, G.Sena 0-1, J.Bouldin
1-2)

Player of Game: SF Antione Cantwell (MMPHS)

Other Quarterfinal Results:

(1) Tulsa- 94, (8) Rice- 67
(4) Houston- 70, (5) Central Florida- 56
(7) ECU- 68, (2) UAB- 58

Semifinal Pairings:

(4) Houston vs. (1) Tulsa
(7) ECU vs. (3) Memphis

[collegesportsfanms]

March 12, 2021

Conference USA Semifinals
(7) ECU (14-18) vs. (3) Memphis (18-13)

We got some bad news earlier in the day as Amos Lusk ended up tearing a ligament in his thumb yesterday and he's out for the rest of the season. That means Mario Albertini will make his first start of the season in a pressure role. We got a bit lucky from a seeding standpoint as we get ECU instead of UAB, but they did split with us in the regular season, and we'll see how the guys react to the loss of Lusk.

Well it wasn't a great effort, as we were down early, but we rallied to lead by 2 at halftime. Neither team took care of the ball, but we forced 19 turnovers and only committed 17. That combined with the fact we made 7 more shots, and we advance to the C-USA Championship with a 70-60 win!

Memphis 70, East Carolina 60

Memphis (19-13, 10-6):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Troy Tomblin C 25 4-11 3-6 1 6 2 2 11
Monte Donofrio PF 35 3-5 0-0 3 14 1 3 6
John Breland SF 28 7-13 2-4 1 2 0 4 19
Antione Cantwell SG 22 4-9 0-0 2 4 1 4 9
Mario Albertini PG 32 2-5 1-2 0 1 5 3 6
Michael Higgins SG 17 3-4 4-4 0 0 4 4 10
Gerald Sena SF 12 0-1 0-0 0 2 3 2 0
Justin Bouldin SF 11 2-6 0-1 1 2 0 1 5
Eldridge Boyd C 10 2-4 0-0 3 6 0 0 4
Jerry Robertson SG 6 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0

Turnovers: 17 (M.Donofrio 4, J.Breland 3, A.Cantwell 4,
M.Albertini 3, M.Higgins 3)
Blocked Shots: 1 (M.Donofrio 1)
Steals: 8 (T.Tomblin 1, J.Breland 2, A.Cantwell 1,
M.Higgins 2, J.Bouldin 2)
3P FGs: 6-15 (J.Breland 3-5, A.Cantwell 1-3,
M.Albertini 1-3, J.Bouldin 1-4)

East Carolina (14-19, 8-8):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Z. Crutchfield C 31 3-6 0-1 2 8 0 2 6
Monte Tavares PF 31 2-6 4-5 0 6 1 3 8
Kenneth Voorhees SF 23 2-9 2-4 2 2 0 4 6
Bernard Deleon SG 33 2-9 4-5 5 8 5 1 8
Arlen Hague PG 35 6-14 1-2 1 3 3 1 16
Will Moya PF 11 1-2 1-2 2 6 1 0 3
Hans Reed PF 6 1-1 2-2 0 1 0 0 4
Larry Thorton SF 22 3-7 0-0 0 2 1 5 7
Joe Leiker SF 6 0-0 2-2 0 1 1 0 2
G. Satterwhite PG 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0

Turnovers: 19 (Z.Crutchfield 2, M.Tavares 1, K.Voorhees
5, B.Deleon 7, A.Hague 3, J.Leiker 1)
Blocked Shots: 1 (M.Tavares 1)
Steals: 8 (K.Voorhees 1, B.Deleon 1, A.Hague 2, W.Moya
1, H.Reed 1, L.Thorton 1, J.Leiker 1)
3P FGs: 4-24 (K.Voorhees 0-4, B.Deleon 0-5, A.Hague
3-11, L.Thorton 1-4)

Player of Game: SF John Breland (MMPHS)

Our opponent in the title game will be (1) Tulsa, who handled (4) Houston 85-67.

[collegesportsfanms]

March 13, 2021

Conference USA Championship
(3) Memphis (19-13) vs. (1) Tulsa (19-11)

This is a huge, huge game, as we should be extending our season regardless, but a win here would put us back in the NCAA Tournament. We split with them, each winning on the road (go figure). A lot of pressure in this one, they've got a couple guards that we'll be focusing on defensively, so far all the marbles, here we go!

Unfortunately, their athleticism on the boards was just too much to overcome. We hung with them throughout but they've got some big bodies, and they had 11 offensive rebounds. It was a gallant effort, and a heck of an improvement over last season, but we fell short 83-72, and now our fate is in the hands of all the selection committees.

Tulsa 83, Memphis 72

Memphis (19-14, 10-6):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Troy Tomblin C 20 4-5 1-3 0 3 0 3 9
Monte Donofrio PF 36 3-5 0-1 2 7 3 2 6
John Breland SF 18 5-12 1-3 0 3 0 4 12
Antione Cantwell SF 34 2-8 2-3 0 3 5 4 8
Mario Albertini PG 30 5-9 1-1 0 0 2 1 13
Michael Higgins SG 25 5-10 1-2 0 1 5 1 13
Gerald Sena SF 11 0-3 0-0 0 1 0 2 0
Justin Bouldin SF 6 2-5 0-0 0 2 1 0 5
Eldridge Boyd C 17 1-2 1-2 4 7 2 2 3
Jerry Robertson SG 2 1-1 1-2 0 1 0 0 3
Stan Martin PF 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0

Turnovers: 18 (M.Donofrio 2, J.Breland 2, A.Cantwell 6,
M.Albertini 2, M.Higgins 4, E.Boyd 1, S.Martin 1)
Blocked Shots: 3 (J.Breland 2, M.Higgins 1)
Steals: 2 (A.Cantwell 1, M.Albertini 1)
3P FGs: 8-23 (J.Breland 1-3, A.Cantwell 2-6,
M.Albertini 2-3, M.Higgins 2-6, G.Sena 0-2, J.Bouldin
1-3)

Tulsa (20-11, 11-5):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Ricky Braziel C 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Dewey Rasmussen C 25 3-6 5-6 1 6 0 1 11
D. Ghesquier SF 29 5-13 0-0 3 5 0 0 12
Lamar Coble SG 20 5-10 2-4 1 3 4 4 13
Jere Salter PG 35 4-8 5-6 2 4 12 2 14
Paul Porter SG 23 7-13 2-2 0 6 0 3 18
Eckbert Hornick PG 10 1-1 0-1 0 2 2 0 2
Abraham Hillard PF 36 6-10 1-3 4 11 1 4 13
B. Marroquin SF 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Charles Marino C 19 0-1 0-0 0 6 1 3 0
Chris Fiske SG 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Leonard Blair C 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 16 (D.Ghesquier 3, L.Coble 4, J.Salter 3,
P.Porter 4, E.Hornick 1, A.Hillard 1)
Blocked Shots: 4 (J.Salter 1, P.Porter 1, C.Marino 2)
Steals: 7 (D.Ghesquier 3, L.Coble 1, J.Salter 2,
P.Porter 1)
3P FGs: 6-23 (D.Rasmussen 0-1, D.Ghesquier 2-8, L.Coble
1-4, J.Salter 1-4, P.Porter 2-6)

Player of Game: PG Jere Salter (TLSA)

2021 Selection Sunday

We knew there was no chance of making the NCAA Tournament, and a very, very slim chance to make the NIT Tournament, so we held out hope for a call from the CBI or CIT. We got the call from the CBI, but I gotta tell ya, I've never been more ticked off in my life. I have no idea what kind of code FBCB has for postseason tournaments, but we drew the 15 seed, which irks me in itself. But our opponent? UA frikkin B. Yea, FBCB and the CBI have matched up 2 C-USA opponents in the First Round! I'm beyond ticked right now!!!!

Tulsa got the auto bid to the NCAA Tournament and will be the C-USA's lone representative. They drew the 12th seed in the NCAA Midwest Region and will take on 5th seeded DePaul.

Tulane got the 4th seed in the NIT Midwest Region and will host 5th seeded Idaho in the Second Round.

Rice got the 8th seed in the NIT Midwest Region and will host 9th seeded Citadel in a First Round game.

Houston got the 6th seed in the NIT South Region and will travel to 3rd seed San Diego in the Second Round.

And of course, there is us and UAB playing each other (go F yourself FBCB) in the CBI. What a joke.

[Young Drachma]

Yeah those lower tournaments can be a real crapshoot. I've seen that with teams I've run too, the intra-conference matchup is an oddball though.

[collegesportsfanms]

March 17, 2021

CBI First Round
(15) Memphis (19-14) @ (2) UAB (18-11)

So here we go with the total bs that is 2 conference teams playing in the First Round of the CBI. We played UAB once in the regular season, at our place and won by 2. Now we go to their place in a game that means so much more. UAB has about 5 guys that they really rely on, and not much after that. If we can get into their bench, we got a chance.

We certainly didn't get blown out in this one, but we also never led either. We just went 8 deep tonight, as Troy Tomblin had a double-double for us, but they made just a few more shots than we did, and we end our season with a 65-55 loss.

UAB 65, Memphis 55

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Memphis (19-15, 10-6):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Troy Tomblin C 25 6-15 4-6 5 12 1 2 16
Monte Donofrio PF 35 1-5 0-0 3 9 1 2 2
John Breland SF 33 3-10 4-7 1 5 0 2 10
Antione Cantwell SG 35 3-16 0-1 5 8 4 3 6
Mario Albertini PG 33 3-6 0-0 0 1 3 2 7
Michael Higgins SG 24 4-5 1-1 0 1 4 1 10
Gerald Sena SF 8 1-2 2-2 1 2 1 1 4
Eldridge Boyd C 7 0-0 0-0 0 3 1 0 0

Turnovers: 21 (T.Tomblin 2, M.Donofrio 1, J.Breland 1,
A.Cantwell 8, M.Albertini 4, M.Higgins 5)
Blocked Shots: 2 (J.Breland 1, M.Higgins 1)
Steals: 8 (T.Tomblin 1, M.Donofrio 1, J.Breland 2,
A.Cantwell 1, M.Albertini 1, M.Higgins 2)
3P FGs: 2-14 (T.Tomblin 0-1, J.Breland 0-1, A.Cantwell
0-6, M.Albertini 1-3, M.Higgins 1-2, G.Sena 0-1)

UAB (19-11, 11-5):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
David Barnett C 13 0-1 2-2 1 3 1 5 2
Tim Logsdon PF 27 2-5 2-2 2 7 0 2 6
Nelson Young SF 35 3-14 0-0 4 11 1 2 6
Arthur Doane SG 33 6-15 3-6 0 3 2 0 15
Chris Francis PG 35 7-15 4-5 2 3 4 0 19
Brian Thompson SG 11 4-6 0-0 2 4 0 1 10
John Springer PG 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Kerry Perry SG 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Tan She C 24 1-2 0-0 2 4 1 3 2
Dennis Eggleston PF 8 0-0 0-0 0 3 1 0 0
Brian Villatoro C 7 2-4 0-0 0 1 0 1 5

Turnovers: 15 (T.Logsdon 1, N.Young 4, A.Doane 7,
B.Thompson 1, T.She 1, B.Villatoro 1)
Blocked Shots: 1 (D.Barnett 1)
Steals: 10 (T.Logsdon 1, A.Doane 3, C.Francis 3,
B.Thompson 2, K.Perry 1)
3P FGs: 4-17 (T.Logsdon 0-1, N.Young 0-1, A.Doane 0-5,
C.Francis 1-4, B.Thompson 2-3, T.She 0-1, B.Villatoro
1-2)

Player of Game: PG Chris Francis (UAB)

[collegesportsfanms]

2021 Postseason Wrap-Up

The NCAA Final Four saw (2W) North Carolina beat (3S) Florida St. 91-81, and (2E) Florida beat (2MW) Xavier 88-70. In the national championship, Florida beat North Carolina 89-87.

The NIT Final Four saw (1S) Wichita St. beat (7W) Furman 81-62 and (1E) Texas Tech beat (2MW) New Mexico St. 106-89. The NIT Championship saw Texas Tech beat Wichita St. 95-87.

The CBI Championship Series saw (16) Vanderbilt (why were they a #16 seed? This game needs some major recoding when it comes to seeding postseason tournaments) beat (7) SE Missouri St. 2 games to 0. Vandy won the first game 93-74 and the second game 80-64.

The CIT Championship saw (15) Coppin St. beat (5) Samford 68-61.

Tulsa lost in the NCAA Midwest Region First Round to (5) DePaul 77-64.

Rice beat (9) Citadel 85-80 in the NIT Midwest Region First Round, then beat (1) Richmond in the Second Round before losing to conference foe (4) Tulane 81-77 in the NIT Round of 16.

Tulane beat (5) Idaho 84-61 in the NIT Second Round, then beat (8) Rice 81-77 in the Round of 16 before losing to (2) New Mexico St. 85-81 in the NIT Round of 8.

Houston beat (3) San Diego 70-65 in the NIT Second Round before losing to (2) Creighton 63-60 in the NIT Round of 16.

UAB, after beating us in the CBI First Round, then lost to (7) SE Missouri St. 86-85 in the Quarterfinals.

Another bad postseason for the C-USA.

[collegesportsfanms]

2021 Offseason

Awards

No surprise that we were shut out of the national awards. Here's a look at the C-USA season awards.

Player of the Year:

JR SG Greg Henriquez Rice 23.8 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 2.4 APG 1.7 SPG, 0.2 BPG

Freshman of the Year:
FR PG Alfredo Delgado Southern Methodist 11.4 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 2.5 APG 0.7 SPG, 0.1 BPG

Coach of the Year:
James Lamont Tulsa 20 - 12 (11 - 5)

All-league 1st Team:
C SR David Barnett UAB 11.8 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 1.6 APG, 0.5 SPG, 1.7 BPG
PF JR Joseph Thomson Central Florida 17.5 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 1.2 APG, 0.3 SPG, 0.7 BPG
SF SR Donatien Ghesquier Tulsa 11.5 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.2 SPG, 0.4 BPG
SG JR Greg Henriquez Rice 23.8 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 2.4 APG, 1.7 SPG, 0.2 BPG
PG SR Jere Salter Tulsa 16.6 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 6.2 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.2 BPG

All-league 2nd Team:
C JR Charles West Rice 5.8 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 1.3 APG, 1.1 SPG, 3.2 BPG
PF JR Monte Donofrio Memphis 6.2 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 1.1 APG, 0.9 SPG, 0.4 BPG
SF SR John Breland Memphis 13.7 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.8 SPG, 1.1 BPG
SG SR Lamar Coble Tulsa 20.6 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 3.1 APG, 0.8 SPG, 0.3 BPG
PG SR Steven Whitehead Rice 13.1 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 6.9 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.1 BPG

All-freshman Team:
C FR Justin Johnson Tulane 10.0 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 1.7 APG, 0.5 SPG, 1.1 BPG
PF FR Monte Tavares East Carolina 8.4 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 1.3 APG, 0.3 SPG, 0.7 BPG
SF FR Nelson Young UAB 9.7 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 1.7 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.1 BPG
SG FR Wilfredo Johnson Southern Mississippi 4.8 PPG, 1.1 RPG, 0.6 APG, 0.2 SPG, 0.2 BPG
PG FR Alfredo Delgado Southern Methodist 11.4 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 2.5 APG, 0.7 SPG, 0.1 BPG

Can't believe Albertini didn't make the C-USA Freshman Team. That just proves we've got some work to do.

Departing Players

SF John Breland- graduating
SG Michael Higgins- graduating

Losing Breland hurts as he was 2nd team all-conference the last 2 seasons. Higgins never really lived up to his potential.

Final Recruiting Class

FR PF Manuel Abel (***, #310 overall)

That's it. 1 lousy scholarship filled, out of the 3 we had open. Abel looks like a decent player, he was an all-state player in Tennessee, but still, we need to be doing better. Our class was only good for 225th in the nation, and next to last in the C-USA. The only saving grace is that nobody in the conference got better than a 3 star player this season.

No conference movement that matters to us, so we'll skip that. I've finally had it with Joshua Amos who insists on a raise. I can find a better coaching assistant, so I gave him the boot. New coaching assistant coming up for Memphis this season!

Not a huge surprise, another year goes by without job offers. No surprise, as when I started, the prestige at Memphis was 81, now it's 71. A lot of that probably had to do with coaching. Hopefully that will be fixed this season.

I have made another move, that I didn't really want to make but had no choice. I've fired our lead scout Kevin Shortridge. He's a great scout, but I need to save some money on my staff, so he has to go. I'll be getting a cheap lead scout, since to me, scouting doesn't matter a whole lot anyways.

Charles Hill is our new scouting director. He only cost me $50,000 and his scouting rating is 44.

Our new coaching assistant is Cole Murphree, he cost me $180,000 but he's got a 94 in offense and a 65 in defense, so he should really help us at least offensively.

We've passed on the transfers this time around.

[collegesportsfanms]

We're going with a 15 man initial call list this time, as we've only got about a $6,000 monthly budget for recruiting, so things are going to be much more local and regional for a while. We've got 4 scholarships to use, and I definitely want to use 2 of them on a SF and a SG. As for the other 2, the best I can get. I'm also not going to reach, as you can see I've got it pretty much split evenly between 3 star recruits and 4/5 star recruits. I'd much rather sign 4 3 star recruits if I have to. Here's a look at the call list:

Name Pos Ht Wt Rating Interest State
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Myles Coats C 6-7 242 *** Very High Arkansas
Daniel Boyette PG 6-2 186 *** High Tennessee
Frankie Hage SF 6-8 248 *** High Arkansas
Thomas Mariano PG 5-11 178 *** High Arkansas
Daniel Smith PF 6-6 246 *** High Arkansas
Spencer Sanchez C 6-10 240 *** High Arkansas
Armand Alexander PF 6-7 246 **** Average North Carolina
Kenneth Thomas PG 6-2 183 **** Average Alabama
Kelly Farley SF 6-6 229 *** Average Tennessee
Michael Faris SG 6-2 192 ***** Low Tennessee
Romeo Brinkman C 6-10 241 ***** Low Tennessee
Bobby Valentine SG 6-3 192 **** Low Tennessee
Jack Uribe SF 6-6 240 **** Low Tennessee
Hector Linder SG 6-1 180 **** Low Tennessee
Bennett Duffey C 6-8 222 ***** Very Low Tennessee

[collegesportsfanms]

2021 Offseason Recruiting

August 2021

We're holding off on offering scholarships right now, but definitely have our eye on a couple 3 star players that have very high interest in us.

September 2021

I've offered a scholarship to Frankie Hage, who has green potential. Unfortunately with only a $6,000 recruiting budget, I'm finding that I can do much in a month.

October 2021

Still banking on Hage and 5 star Michael Faris, but I have a feeling it will be back to square one.

November 2021 (early signing period)

As expected, all our offers were declined. Back to square one. I suck at recruiting. We won't be redshirting anybody either.

[collegesportsfanms]

Here's a look at the roster and schedule. Normally I would do a screenshot so that you could see the color ratings, but I'll just tell you this. Our starting 5 is mostly blue/green players, the entire bench is yellow or worse. Yeah, training didn't go very well at all.

Player # Pos Yr Ht Wt Sch Acd Status Hometown
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Troy Tomblin 43 C Jr 6-8 243 Yes 34 OK Royal Palm Beach, FL
Monte Donofrio 30 PF Sr 6-6 253 Yes 44 OK Donaldson, AR
Antione Cantwell 0 SF Sr 6-2 209 Yes 29 OK Memphis, TN
Amos Lusk 23 SG Jr* 6-0 175 Yes 44 OK Madisonville, KY
Mario Albertini 44 PG So 5-10 164 Yes 60 OK Verona, Italy
Gerald Sena 40 SG Sr 6-3 206 No 74 OK Bethalto, IL
Justin Bouldin 2 SF So 6-3 203 Yes 16 OK Parkin, AR
Brenton Tweedy 10 C Jr* 6-10 266 Yes 59 OK Vincennes, IN
Eldridge Boyd 42 C So 7-0 286 Yes 61 OK Mount Vernon, IL
Manuel Abel 25 PF Fr 6-8 229 Yes 32 OK Memphis, TN
William Auten 13 PG Fr 6-4 186 No 45 OK Woodbury, TN
Stan Martin 4 SF Jr 6-5 208 Yes 32 OK Broken Hill, Australia
Scottie Harris 21 C Jr* 6-8 216 Yes 44 OK Arab, AL
Jerry Robertson 31 SG Jr 6-3 212 No 21 Suspended Westmoreland, TN


Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/14/21 vs. Northwestern 0-0 193
11/22/21 at Nevada 0-0 177
11/26/21 Elon 0-0 80
11/30/21 at Kansas 0-0 127
12/04/21 USC Upstate 0-0 345
12/07/21 at Tennessee Tech 0-0 266
12/11/21 UC Davis 0-0 332
12/16/21 at Baylor 0-0 20
12/21/21 at Northern Iowa 0-0 192
12/27/21 North Carolina Central 0-0 338
12/31/21 #23 West Virginia 0-0 310
01/05/22 South Dakota 0-0 330
01/12/22 at Rice 0-0 219
01/15/22 at East Carolina 0-0 74
01/19/22 at Central Florida 0-0 43
01/22/22 at UTEP 0-0 296
01/26/22 Central Florida 0-0 43
01/29/22 at UAB 0-0 282
02/02/22 UTEP 0-0 296
02/05/22 Rice 0-0 219
02/09/22 Marshall 0-0 150
02/12/22 East Carolina 0-0 74
02/16/22 UAB 0-0 282
02/19/22 at Southern Mississippi 0-0 246
02/23/22 at Tulsa 0-0 281
02/26/22 at Tulane 0-0 280
03/02/22 Houston 0-0 109
03/05/22 Southern Methodist 0-0 245

Somehow we are starting the season ranked 20th in the nation and #1 in the mid-major poll. I see that lasting maybe a week or 2.

Jerry Robertson is on academic suspension, no big deal, he won't play much anyways.

[collegesportsfanms]

November 2021

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/14/21 vs. Northwestern 2-4 155 W 82-61 1-0
11/16/21 vs. Towson 3-3 138 W 82-73 2-0
11/18/21 vs. #9 Mississippi State 5-0 32 L 85-73 2-1
11/22/21 at Nevada 3-3 261 L 83-73 2-2
11/26/21 Elon 0-3 160 W 74-55 3-2
11/30/21 at Kansas 3-1 147 L 80-72 3-3


Overall Record: 3-3
Home Record: 1-0
Road Record: 0-2
Neutral Record: 2-1
Rank: NR in Coaches Poll, RV in Mid-Major Poll.
RPI: 149

Season started well, with a 2nd place finish in Puerto Rico, then went south from there, but still a major better RPI than what we had this time last season. A lot of work to do though. I loaded up on creampuffs in the non-conference schedule, at least they should be creampuffs. This should give the guys some confidence, assuming we win them. Our toughest games in December should be at Baylor and against West Virginia.

Recruiting News

At this point I'm just getting some guys back on the call list and evaluating. We'll see what happens, but I fear I'm going to be eating some scholarships yet again.

[collegesportsfanms]

December 2021

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/14/21 vs. Northwestern 5-8 123 W 82-61 1-0
11/16/21 vs. Towson 8-5 212 W 82-73 2-0
11/18/21 vs. #9 Mississippi State 11-1 15 L 85-73 2-1
11/22/21 at Nevada 6-6 127 L 83-73 2-2
11/26/21 Elon 0-10 185 W 74-55 3-2
11/30/21 at Kansas 9-3 87 L 80-72 3-3
12/04/21 USC Upstate 9-4 22 W 79-49 4-3
12/07/21 at Tennessee Tech 5-8 280 W 76-61 5-3
12/11/21 UC Davis 5-8 115 W 99-86 6-3
12/16/21 at Baylor 9-4 52 L 77-39 6-4
12/21/21 at Northern Iowa 7-4 198 W 76-62 7-4
12/27/21 North Carolina Central 7-6 24 W 76-67 8-4
12/31/21 #19 West Virginia 10-2 18 L 83-60 8-5


Overall Record: 8-5
Home Record: 4-1
Road Record: 2-3
Neutral Record: 2-1
Rank: NR in coaches poll, #16 in mid-major poll.
RPI: 23

I love that 23 for an RPI, looks solid. With the recent loss to West Virginia, we'll probably drop a few spots in the mid-major poll, but at least we are getting looks. As expected, Baylor and West Virginia hammered us, and we handled everybody else. We've got 1 more what should be a fairly easy non-conference game, then we head into conference play. Conference USA is the 9th ranked conference right now, so I expect a grind.

Recruiting News

We were able to get PG Thomas Mariano from Arkansas to commit. That's a nice pickup as we stole him from Arknsas. He's the #251 recruit in the nation. Again though, with that $6,000 a month budget, we just can't do much on the recruiting end. I've sent my assistant to evaluate a few more players though.

Team Statistics

Here's a look at the player averages through December 2021.

Player Pos GP GS Min Pts Orb Reb Ast Stl Blk To Fls +/-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amos Lusk SG 13 13 29.5 17.0 1.8 5.5 3.5 0.7 0.1 2.5 3.0 2.3
Antione Cantwell SF 13 13 27.5 15.3 2.8 5.3 3.6 0.9 0.1 1.8 2.8 5.0
Troy Tomblin C 13 13 21.3 12.7 1.2 4.8 0.6 0.2 0.3 0.9 3.2 4.6
Mario Albertini PG 13 13 30.3 9.2 0.8 2.5 4.2 1.1 0.2 2.2 2.8 3.3
Gerald Sena SF 13 0 11.8 4.4 0.9 2.3 0.8 0.5 0.0 0.3 1.8 -0.5
Monte Donofrio PF 13 13 27.5 4.0 1.5 7.2 1.5 0.5 0.2 1.6 3.1 3.4
Justin Bouldin SF 13 0 12.2 3.8 0.7 2.2 0.9 0.8 0.2 1.6 1.7 -0.2
Brenton Tweedy C 13 0 18.3 2.5 1.8 5.8 0.5 0.4 1.5 0.7 1.7 -1.5
Stan Martin SF 9 0 5.7 2.1 0.3 0.9 0.2 0.3 0.0 0.3 0.1 -2.8
Eldridge Boyd C 13 0 7.8 2.1 0.5 1.5 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.6 0.9 -1.8
Manuel Abel PF 13 0 4.2 0.8 0.3 1.2 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.3 0.4 0.5
William Auten PG 12 0 5.0 0.8 0.5 0.8 0.7 0.2 0.0 0.2 0.3 0.1
Scottie Harris C 6 0 1.3 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5
Jerry Robertson SG 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0


As you can see, Lusk, Cantwell, and Tomblin are our big 3 at the moment. Oh yeah, Jerry Robertson is off academic suspension. Big deal.

[collegesportsfanms]

January 2022

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/14/21 vs. Northwestern 8-13 135 W 82-61 1-0
11/16/21 vs. Towson 13-9 107 W 82-73 2-0
11/18/21 vs. #19 Mississippi State 15-5 27 L 85-73 2-1
11/22/21 at Nevada 15-6 22 L 83-73 2-2
11/26/21 Elon 1-18 321 W 74-55 3-2
11/30/21 at Kansas 11-8 85 L 80-72 3-3
12/04/21 USC Upstate 11-10 169 W 79-49 4-3
12/07/21 at Tennessee Tech 11-11 228 W 76-61 5-3
12/11/21 UC Davis 8-12 174 W 99-86 6-3
12/16/21 at #23 Baylor 14-7 13 L 77-39 6-4
12/21/21 at Northern Iowa 13-7 126 W 76-62 7-4
12/27/21 North Carolina Central 14-9 47 W 76-67 8-4
12/31/21 #17 West Virginia 15-5 11 L 83-60 8-5
01/05/22 South Dakota 8-12 215 W 83-52 9-5
01/12/22 at Rice 13-7 66 L 61-49 9-6 (0-1)
01/15/22 at East Carolina 12-8 90 W 73-59 10-6 (1-1)
01/19/22 at Central Florida 7-13 136 W 77-51 11-6 (2-1)
01/22/22 at UTEP 8-10 238 W 83-74 12-6 (3-1)
01/26/22 Central Florida 7-13 136 L 86-78 12-7 (3-2)
01/29/22 at UAB 14-6 37 W 85-81 13-7 (4-2)


Overall Record: 13-7
Conference Record: 4-2
Home Record: 5-2
Road Record: 6-4
Rank: NR in coaches poll, #2 (12 FPV) in mid-major poll.

I feel like this team is just a key player or 2 away from being what they used to be. Some interesting results this week as we lose at home to Central Florida but win at UAB. I honestly was expecting a reverse there. We are definitely in postseason talk, but it's key to finish the regular season strong. 20 wins isn't out of the question, but it's going to be tough, because we still have a game against UAB, a game against Rice, and a game against Tulsa. Not to mention Marshall and Southern Miss are no slouches either.

Recruiting News

I've decided it's important to have another PF on the team next year, so I'll actively be recruiting the PF spot. My best hope at this point is probably a 2 star. If worse comes to worse I'll move a C to PF. I'm also going after SG Zach Gerkins. The big problem with him is his GPA is only 2.18, but still, I don't expect him to be a key player. He can be a roleplayer though.

Player Averages

I know I'm kind of fudging it with the screenshots, as doing it this way you can't see the player color ratings. I'll get back to actual screenshots next season, I just wanted to bust out a season quickly this weekend, with it being a holiday weekend. Anyhow, here's how the averages stack up through January.

Player Pos GP GS Min Pts Orb Reb Ast Stl Blk To Fls +/-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amos Lusk SG 20 20 29.7 16.9 1.5 4.7 3.4 0.9 0.1 2.3 2.8 4.0
Antione Cantwell SF 20 20 28.4 15.2 2.9 5.7 4.0 1.1 0.1 1.9 2.8 7.3
Troy Tomblin C 20 20 22.9 13.9 1.4 5.4 0.8 0.4 0.2 1.0 2.8 6.5
Mario Albertini PG 20 20 29.6 9.3 0.8 2.3 3.6 1.1 0.1 2.1 2.9 5.5
Gerald Sena SF 20 0 12.0 4.4 0.7 2.0 0.8 0.4 0.0 0.5 2.0 0.2
Monte Donofrio PF 20 20 28.3 3.9 1.5 6.9 1.5 0.7 0.5 1.2 3.2 4.0
Justin Bouldin SF 20 0 12.4 3.5 0.8 2.3 1.1 0.9 0.2 1.5 1.6 -0.8
Brenton Tweedy C 20 0 17.5 3.2 1.5 5.3 0.5 0.3 1.7 0.7 1.6 -0.5
Eldridge Boyd C 20 0 7.3 1.9 0.4 1.5 0.4 0.2 0.1 0.6 0.7 -0.9
Stan Martin SF 14 0 4.9 1.6 0.4 0.9 0.2 0.3 0.0 0.4 0.1 -1.9
Manuel Abel PF 17 0 3.9 0.8 0.2 1.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.3 0.8
William Auten PG 19 0 4.8 0.6 0.3 0.7 0.7 0.1 0.0 0.2 0.3 0.1
Scottie Harris C 6 0 1.3 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5
Jerry Robertson SG 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0


I actually like the production I'm getting out of Tweedy and Bouldin, as they may very well be stepping into bigger roles next season. Bouldin could be the starting SF next season with the fact that Cantwell is a senior. Also impressed with Albertini, but I'm still expecting more from him. This is still a starter based team, with not much off the bench.

[collegesportsfanms]

February-March 5, 2022

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/14/21 vs. Northwestern 14-16 85 W 82-61 1-0
11/16/21 vs. Towson 17-14 116 W 82-73 2-0
11/18/21 vs. #15 Mississippi State 22-8 24 L 85-73 2-1
11/22/21 at #16 Nevada 23-7 20 L 83-73 2-2
11/26/21 Elon 4-25 338 W 74-55 3-2
11/30/21 at Kansas 16-13 100 L 80-72 3-3
12/04/21 USC Upstate 17-14 193 W 79-49 4-3
12/07/21 at Tennessee Tech 15-17 236 W 76-61 5-3
12/11/21 UC Davis 12-17 202 W 99-86 6-3
12/16/21 at #14 Baylor 20-10 9 L 77-39 6-4
12/21/21 at Northern Iowa 19-11 101 W 76-62 7-4
12/27/21 North Carolina Central 17-12 64 W 76-67 8-4
12/31/21 West Virginia 20-10 21 L 83-60 8-5
01/05/22 South Dakota 14-15 214 W 83-52 9-5
01/12/22 at Rice 18-12 93 L 61-49 9-6 (0-1)
01/15/22 at East Carolina 17-13 98 W 73-59 10-6 (1-1)
01/19/22 at Central Florida 10-20 162 W 77-51 11-6 (2-1)
01/22/22 at UTEP 12-16 229 W 83-74 12-6 (3-1)
01/26/22 Central Florida 10-20 162 L 86-78 12-7 (3-2)
01/29/22 at UAB 19-11 62 W 85-81 13-7 (4-2)
02/02/22 UTEP 12-16 229 W 74-66 14-7 (5-2)
02/05/22 Rice 18-12 93 W 89-86 15-7 (6-2)
02/09/22 Marshall 19-10 77 W 84-44 16-7 (7-2)
02/12/22 East Carolina 17-13 98 L 70-62 16-8 (7-3)
02/16/22 UAB 19-11 62 L 76-68 16-9 (7-4)
02/19/22 at Southern Mississippi 21-9 29 L 73-52 16-10 (7-5)
02/23/22 at Tulsa 21-9 38 W 98-80 17-10 (8-5)
02/26/22 at Tulane 11-19 152 W 87-80 18-10 (9-5)
03/02/22 Houston 16-13 99 L 66-63 18-11 (9-6)
03/05/22 Southern Methodist 10-19 201 W 77-55 19-11 (10-6)


Overall Record: 19-11
Conference Record: 10-6
Home Record: 9-5
Road Record: 8-5
Neutral Record: 2-1
Rank: NR in coaches poll, #5 (3 FPV) in mid-major poll.

A couple setbacks in February and the first week of March, including a 3 game losing streak in February and a bad loss to Houston. So we don't get 20 wins in the regular season, but we're still in great position to go back to the NCAA Tournament. It'd be nice to win at least 1 in the conference tournament to get to 20 wins though.

Recruiting News

I'll say once again, I suck at recruiting!! Both of the guys I was looking at declined, but I've still got a bead on Zach Gerkins. We'll see what happens. I may have 3 scholarships open for potential transfers.

Player Averages

Here are the final regular season stats:

Player Pos GP GS Min Pts Orb Reb Ast Stl Blk To Fls +/-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mario Albertini PG 30 30 30.1 9.9 0.8 2.1 3.7 1.2 0.1 1.9 2.9 5.4
Amos Lusk SG 30 30 29.9 17.5 1.6 4.9 3.3 1.0 0.1 2.5 2.7 3.6
Monte Donofrio PF 30 30 29.7 5.0 1.8 7.4 1.7 0.6 0.7 1.3 3.1 3.7
Antione Cantwell SF 30 30 28.2 14.0 2.8 5.2 3.8 0.8 0.1 2.1 2.9 7.0
Troy Tomblin C 30 30 23.4 13.2 1.5 5.3 1.0 0.5 0.2 1.1 2.9 6.7
Brenton Tweedy C 30 0 17.4 3.0 1.4 5.3 0.6 0.3 1.7 0.6 1.6 0.0
Justin Bouldin SF 30 0 12.3 3.8 0.8 2.1 1.1 0.8 0.2 1.3 1.4 -0.2
Gerald Sena SF 30 0 12.3 4.5 0.8 2.1 1.0 0.4 0.0 0.4 1.8 0.8
Eldridge Boyd C 30 0 6.2 1.5 0.3 1.3 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.7 -0.7
Stan Martin SF 22 0 4.3 1.5 0.3 0.9 0.3 0.2 0.0 0.3 0.2 -0.7
William Auten PG 28 0 4.3 0.7 0.3 0.7 0.6 0.1 0.0 0.2 0.3 0.1
Manuel Abel PF 23 0 3.5 0.8 0.2 1.2 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.3 1.0
Scottie Harris C 9 0 1.2 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.9
Jerry Robertson SG 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

[collegesportsfanms]

Here's a look at the final Conference USA standings:

TEAM CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Southern Mississippi 11 5 .688 21 9 .700 29 44
Memphis 10 6 .625 19 11 .633 36 71
UAB 10 6 .625 19 11 .633 62 73
Tulsa 10 6 .625 21 9 .700 38 68
Houston 9 7 .563 16 13 .552 99 71
Marshall 9 7 .563 19 10 .655 77 46
East Carolina 8 8 .500 17 13 .567 98 49
Rice 8 8 .500 18 12 .600 93 47
UTEP 7 9 .438 12 16 .429 230 58
Central Florida 6 10 .375 10 20 .333 162 53
Southern Methodist 5 11 .313 10 19 .345 200 37
Tulane 3 13 .188 11 19 .367 152 56


We won a 3 way tiebreaker and got the #2 seed in the Conference USA Tournament.

Here are the First Round Results:

(12) Tulane- 77, (5) Houston- 58
(11) SMU- 82, (6) Marshall- 76
(10) Central Florida- 74, (7) ECU- 60
(8) Rice- 89, (9) UTEP- 85

Wow! This could be a crazy C-USA Tournament as Rice is the only higher seed to win a First Round game. Here's a look at how the Quarterfinals shape up:

(8) Rice vs. (1) Southern Miss
(12) Tulane vs. (4) Tulsa
(11) SMU vs. (3) UAB
(10) Central Florida vs. (2) Memphis

[collegesportsfanms]

March 10, 2022

Conference USA Quarterfinals
(10) Central Florida (11-20) vs. (2) Memphis (19-11)

This is a game that we should win easily, even though they did beat us at home in late January. They've got a couple good players, but nothing really scary. Just a matter of not getting over confident and playing our game.

And we do take care of business tonight, in convincing fashion. We led by 16 at halftime and shot 54.4% from the field. 4 guys were in double figures for us, including Amos Lusk who led us with 18. And how about Monte Donofrio, who had 6 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists. What a line. We get to the 20 win plateau for the first time in 3 seasons and advance to the C-USA semifinals with a 75-52 victory!

Memphis 75, Central Florida 52

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Central Florida (11-21, 6-10):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Joseph Thomson C 32 6-12 2-2 5 9 1 2 14
Johnathan Partida PF 29 2-8 1-2 1 2 2 2 5
Duane Cruz SF 21 2-5 0-1 0 1 0 1 4
Joshua Scruggs SG 30 2-5 2-4 2 5 2 2 6
Chris Walker PG 24 3-5 2-3 2 3 5 1 9
Tobias Waugh PG 16 1-3 0-2 1 1 2 3 2
Jordan Jones PF 15 1-6 0-0 0 3 1 2 2
Bret Munroe SF 16 3-5 2-2 0 1 2 1 10
Alfonzo Brown SG 10 0-1 0-0 1 1 0 2 0
Monty Davis PF 3 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0
Robin Parsons SF 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 15 (J.Thomson 6, J.Partida 2, D.Cruz 1,
C.Walker 1, T.Waugh 1, J.Jones 1, B.Munroe 1, A.Brown
2)
Blocked Shots: 6 (J.Thomson 2, D.Cruz 2, J.Scruggs 1,
J.Jones 1)
Steals: 5 (J.Thomson 1, J.Scruggs 1, C.Walker 1,
T.Waugh 1, B.Munroe 1)
3P FGs: 3-13 (J.Thomson 0-1, D.Cruz 0-1, J.Scruggs 0-2,
C.Walker 1-2, T.Waugh 0-2, B.Munroe 2-4, A.Brown 0-1)

Memphis (20-11, 10-6):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Troy Tomblin C 27 6-11 2-2 0 4 1 3 14
Monte Donofrio PF 32 2-6 2-4 5 11 7 2 6
Antione Cantwell SF 29 4-6 0-0 1 2 7 3 10
Amos Lusk SG 27 7-13 2-4 4 8 2 3 18
Mario Albertini PG 33 4-9 0-1 1 1 3 2 10
Gerald Sena SF 13 3-4 0-0 1 3 3 2 7
Justin Bouldin SF 11 1-2 0-0 0 2 0 2 2
Brenton Tweedy C 16 2-2 0-0 1 4 0 2 4
Eldridge Boyd C 3 0-1 0-0 1 1 0 0 0
Manuel Abel PF 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
William Auten PG 3 0-1 0-0 0 1 0 0 0
Stan Martin SF 4 2-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 4

Turnovers: 14 (T.Tomblin 1, M.Donofrio 4, A.Cantwell 2,
A.Lusk 3, M.Albertini 1, J.Bouldin 1, B.Tweedy 1,
W.Auten 1)
Blocked Shots: 3 (B.Tweedy 3)
Steals: 4 (T.Tomblin 2, G.Sena 2)
3P FGs: 7-13 (A.Cantwell 2-3, A.Lusk 2-4, M.Albertini
2-5, G.Sena 1-1)

Player of Game: SG Amos Lusk (MMPHS)

Other Conference Tournament Games:

(8) Rice- 85, (1) Southern Miss- 66
(4) Tulsa- 77, (12) Tulane- 68
(11) SMU- 71, (3) UAB- 59

Semifinal Pairings:

(8) Rice vs. (4) Tulsa
(11) SMU vs. (2) Memphis

With all the upsets in the quarterfinals, this is now our tournament to win.


March 11, 2022

Conference USA Semifinals
(11) SMU (12-19) vs. (2) Memphis (20-11)

We get a gift here by not having to play UAB, but is it really a gift? Or is SMU a Cinderella story in the makings? We only played them once this season, and pounded them by 22 at home. There is absolutely nothing on their roster that makes me think we won't beat these guys.

And beat them we did. Last time we played them was bad enough, but we humiliated them this time. We forced 18 turnovers in route to a 17 point halftime lead, put 5 guys in double figures, and got 14 players in the game. We move on to the C-USA Championship with an easy 93-67 victory!

Memphis 93, Southern Methodist 67

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Southern Methodist (12-20, 5-11):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Silas Corson C 16 1-2 0-0 3 4 0 4 2
Brent Percy PF 29 2-4 1-2 2 4 0 2 5
Mark Elliott SF 27 3-12 4-4 2 6 2 3 10
Alfredo Delgado SG 11 3-3 0-0 0 1 0 4 6
Antione Pine PG 28 2-7 0-0 2 3 5 2 4
Julius Collins PG 11 1-4 0-0 0 0 0 1 2
Joseph Bohannan SF 12 4-5 3-4 0 1 0 2 14
Earle Soloman SG 21 2-6 4-6 0 0 4 0 8
Weston Bishop SG 9 1-2 2-4 1 3 2 2 5
Gregory Perryman PF 13 2-2 1-2 0 4 0 3 6
Kirk Chen SF 1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Clint Villatoro PF 12 0-2 2-3 0 1 0 0 2
Del Gerald C 10 0-0 3-4 0 0 0 3 3

Turnovers: 18 (S.Corson 2, B.Percy 2, M.Elliott 5,
A.Delgado 1, J.Collins 2, J.Bohannan 1, W.Bishop 1,
G.Perryman 2, C.Villatoro 1, D.Gerald 1)
Blocked Shots: 2 (B.Percy 2)
Steals: 2 (S.Corson 1, M.Elliott 1)
3P FGs: 5-15 (M.Elliott 0-3, A.Pine 0-1, J.Collins 0-1,
J.Bohannan 3-3, E.Soloman 0-4, W.Bishop 1-1,
G.Perryman 1-1, K.Chen 0-1)

Memphis (21-11, 10-6):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Troy Tomblin C 22 2-7 1-2 0 2 1 2 5
Monte Donofrio PF 32 3-4 3-4 0 5 1 1 9
Antione Cantwell SF 27 4-10 6-7 3 6 5 2 15
Amos Lusk SG 18 7-9 2-4 4 7 3 4 17
Mario Albertini PG 24 6-10 0-0 1 2 3 4 16
Gerald Sena SF 14 3-4 2-2 0 0 2 3 10
Justin Bouldin SF 17 3-5 4-6 0 0 1 2 11
Brenton Tweedy C 18 2-3 1-2 4 11 2 2 5
Eldridge Boyd C 5 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 0 0
Manuel Abel PF 1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
William Auten PG 12 0-0 0-0 0 0 2 0 0
Stan Martin SF 5 0-2 3-4 0 0 0 3 3
Scottie Harris C 1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0
Jerry Robertson SG 2 0-2 2-2 0 0 1 0 2

Turnovers: 11 (T.Tomblin 1, M.Donofrio 1, A.Cantwell 1,
A.Lusk 2, J.Bouldin 2, M.Abel 1, S.Martin 3)
Blocked Shots: 3 (M.Donofrio 1, B.Tweedy 2)
Steals: 7 (T.Tomblin 1, M.Donofrio 1, A.Cantwell 1,
M.Albertini 3, G.Sena 1)
3P FGs: 9-16 (A.Cantwell 1-3, A.Lusk 1-1, M.Albertini
4-6, G.Sena 2-3, J.Bouldin 1-1, J.Robertson 0-2)

Player of Game: PG Mario Albertini (MMPHS)


Other Conference Tournament Games:

(8) Rice- 83, (4) Tulsa- 57

Could we get any better of a draw in this tournament? Luck has definitely been on our side, but we still have one more game to go before we can punch our ticket back to the big dance.

[collegesportsfanms]

March 12, 2022

Conference USA Championship
(8) Rice (21-12) vs. (2) Memphis (21-11)

Don't sleep on Rice, they are a good team that won some big games in non-conference, but faltered majorly in C-USA play. We split with them, each winning at home. This is the rubber match, on neutral ground. Their starters in the post are what makes the Owls go, both are green/green guys. We're not taking this game lightly, and we're not assuming that we're a lock for the NCAA Tournament. I'd like to win this game and leave no doubt.

This was not what you would expect from a championship game. We shot less than 26% in the first half but took a 6 point lead into the locker room. They came storming back in the second half, shooting 44.1% for the game. Only a basket from Amos Lusk kept our championship hopes alive. His basket sent the game to OT, where both teams traded baskets. It wasn't until a last second three pointer rimmed in and out that we could finally celebrate again. We are cutting down the nets as the Conference USA champions after a 69-67 overtime victory!!!!!!!

Memphis 69, Rice 67

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Memphis (22-11, 10-6):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Troy Tomblin C 23 3-7 5-8 0 3 1 4 11
Monte Donofrio PF 39 5-9 3-4 4 13 1 2 13
Antione Cantwell SF 33 2-10 6-8 2 2 3 2 11
Amos Lusk SG 39 5-16 3-8 3 8 4 3 13
Mario Albertini PG 36 3-7 5-9 1 4 3 2 12
Gerald Sena SG 14 2-4 0-0 2 2 1 1 5
Justin Bouldin SF 11 1-2 0-0 2 3 2 0 2
Brenton Tweedy C 14 0-0 0-0 0 2 0 3 0
Eldridge Boyd C 9 0-1 2-2 0 2 0 1 2
Manuel Abel C 4 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 1 0
William Auten PG 3 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 1 0
Scottie Harris C 1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0

Turnovers: 14 (T.Tomblin 3, M.Donofrio 4, A.Cantwell 1,
A.Lusk 3, M.Albertini 2, J.Bouldin 1)
Blocked Shots: 1 (B.Tweedy 1)
Steals: 6 (T.Tomblin 1, M.Donofrio 1, A.Lusk 1, G.Sena
1, J.Bouldin 2)
3P FGs: 3-12 (A.Cantwell 1-4, A.Lusk 0-1, M.Albertini
1-4, G.Sena 1-2, J.Bouldin 0-1)

Rice (21-13, 8-8):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Charles West C 24 3-6 2-3 1 5 2 4 8
Ernie Forsberg PF 33 3-13 1-2 4 7 1 2 7
Paco Prieto SF 15 0-2 0-0 0 2 2 5 0
Greg Henriquez SF 27 4-10 4-4 4 6 5 5 13
Jack Altman PG 36 4-7 0-0 1 3 0 4 9
Domenic Fogel PF 21 3-3 0-0 0 8 1 2 6
Eldon Jones SG 22 5-9 2-3 0 1 0 5 14
William Heard SG 12 1-1 1-2 0 1 0 0 4
Ronald Huber SF 12 1-4 0-1 0 2 0 0 2
Mark Thompson C 10 1-2 0-1 1 5 1 2 2
Harold Hoch PF 2 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0
Logan Killian PG 7 1-2 0-0 0 1 1 1 2
Jeffry Washington SF 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 20 (C.West 2, E.Forsberg 1, P.Prieto 1,
G.Henriquez 1, J.Altman 4, D.Fogel 2, E.Jones 4,
W.Heard 2, R.Huber 1, M.Thompson 1, L.Killian 1)
Blocked Shots: 4 (C.West 2, E.Jones 1, M.Thompson 1)
Steals: 6 (G.Henriquez 3, D.Fogel 1, E.Jones 1, W.Heard
1)
3P FGs: 5-17 (P.Prieto 0-1, G.Henriquez 1-4, J.Altman
1-4, E.Jones 2-5, W.Heard 1-1, M.Thompson 0-1,
L.Killian 0-1)

Player of Game: PF Monte Donofrio (MMPHS)


How big has Donofrio been as a yellow/yellow rated player? Without him, we don't win this tournament.

2022 Selection Sunday

It feels really good to be able to watch the other championship games on Selection Sunday, knowing we've already punched our ticket back to the big dance. I invited the guys over to my house as we watched undefeated North Carolina play their biggest rivals, the Duke Blue Devils, in the ACC Championship. For those wondering, Carolina stayed undefeated with a 72-70 victory. Now, to the selection show!

Disappointment all around as the selection show ended. Don't get me wrong, we are very happy to be going dancing, but with a 32 RPI, I expected better than a #11 seed. But that's what we got, the 11th seed in the NCAA East Region. We'll be taking on 6th seeded Syracuse.

Other C-USA teams extending their season:

Tulsa got the 10th seed in the NCAA Midwest Region and will open up against 7th seeded Providence. I would have loved us to have that game.

Southern Miss gets the 10th seed in the NCAA South Region and will open up against 7th seed Maryland.

The fact that Tulsa got a 10 seed amazes me. Their RPI was 11 spots lower than ours and we hammered them in the regular season. Ah well, sour grapes I suppose.

UAB gets the 3rd seed in the NIT South Region and will host 6th seed Northern Iowa in a Second Round game.

Rice gets the 2nd seed in the NIT East Region and gets a bye into the Second Round, where they will host the winner between 10th seeded Bryant and 7th seeded Appalachian State.

Marshall gets the 6th seed in the NIT East Region and will travel to 3rd seed Tennessee State in the Second Round.

ECU gets the 2nd seed in the CIT and will open up the First Round by hosting 15th seed Toledo.

And finally, Houston gets the 11th seed in the CIT and will travel to 6th seeded UL-Monroe.

So the C-USA gets 8 of 12 teams into postseason play. Good job!

[collegesportsfanms]

March 17, 2022

NCAA Tournament- East Region First Round
(11) Memphis (22-11) vs. (6) Syracuse (21-11)

We have identical records, well almost identical, but on paper Syracuse has a few more current blue and green players than we do. Their entire starting line-up is averaging double digits in scoring, which means if we can get them in foul trouble and get into their bench a little more, we've got a real shot to win this game.

Or.. we could just come out and play sparkling, tight defense in the second half, which is what we did. After going into the locker room leading by only 4, we came out and outscored the Orange 37-12 in the second half. Yep, that's right, we held them to 12 second half points on just 11.9% shooting. The result was an easy 77-48 victory as we move on!

Memphis 77, Syracuse 48

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Memphis (23-11, 10-6):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Troy Tomblin C 25 2-5 6-8 0 10 2 1 10
Monte Donofrio PF 27 2-2 1-1 2 6 2 2 5
Antione Cantwell SF 28 5-10 2-3 2 5 1 1 14
Amos Lusk SG 33 7-23 5-8 5 9 6 1 19
Mario Albertini PG 31 5-10 0-0 0 2 2 1 13
Gerald Sena SF 13 0-3 3-4 2 4 0 0 3
Justin Bouldin SF 11 1-2 4-4 0 1 0 2 6
Brenton Tweedy C 16 1-1 0-0 2 5 0 1 2
Eldridge Boyd C 10 1-1 3-4 1 4 0 0 5
Manuel Abel PF 2 0-0 0-0 1 2 0 0 0
William Auten PG 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Stan Martin SF 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 12 (T.Tomblin 3, A.Cantwell 3, A.Lusk 5,
G.Sena 1)
Blocked Shots: 5 (A.Cantwell 1, A.Lusk 1, M.Albertini
1, B.Tweedy 2)
Steals: 4 (A.Cantwell 1, A.Lusk 2, W.Auten 1)
3P FGs: 5-18 (A.Cantwell 2-2, A.Lusk 0-5, M.Albertini
3-7, G.Sena 0-3, J.Bouldin 0-1)

Syracuse (21-12, 13-5):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Carl Medeiros C 20 4-7 1-2 2 5 1 4 9
Darrell Andino PF 30 4-9 0-2 6 9 0 1 8
James Lahr SF 28 1-14 0-2 3 6 4 3 3
Henry Merino SG 26 4-12 0-0 2 3 0 1 10
Shawn Kelly PG 26 3-4 0-0 0 6 3 2 8
Eddie Tedeschi SF 17 1-6 0-0 0 4 2 0 3
Gayle Chambliss PG 14 2-6 0-0 1 1 2 5 5
Richard Dyer PG 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Alvin Aldridge SG 10 0-0 0-2 0 0 0 3 0
Wade Brock C 12 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 4 0
Frank Arredondo PF 17 1-5 0-0 1 4 0 2 2

Turnovers: 15 (C.Medeiros 3, J.Lahr 2, H.Merino 4,
S.Kelly 3, G.Chambliss 2, W.Brock 1)
Blocked Shots: 4 (D.Andino 2, J.Lahr 1, A.Aldridge 1)
Steals: 7 (D.Andino 3, H.Merino 2, S.Kelly 1,
E.Tedeschi 1)
3P FGs: 7-26 (J.Lahr 1-6, H.Merino 2-7, S.Kelly 2-3,
E.Tedeschi 1-6, G.Chambliss 1-4)

Player of Game: SG Amos Lusk (MMPHS)


March 19, 2022

NCAA Tournament- East Region Second Round
(14) Navy (20-13) vs. (11) Memphis (23-11)

This really feels like dejavu to me. Last time we were in the NCAA Tournament we were the 7th seed, won our first round game, and got to play the 15th seed after they upset the 2nd seed. This time around, we get 14th seed Navy who upset 3rd seed Nebraska 67-60. This is a crazy region, with 4 double digit seeds in the Second Round, so if we can get by this game, we've got a real shot to advance far. First, we must beat Navy. They are a scrappy team, with 2 guys averaging double figures. Defensively they are iffy at best, so if we take it right at em, I like our chances.

It certainly wasn't the prettiest of second halves this time, but considering we led by 14 at halftime, we cruised a little bit in the last 20 minutes. Again, defense won it for us, as we forced 27 turnovers in route to a 65-52 win and another Sweet Sixteen appearance!!

Memphis 65, Navy 52

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Memphis (24-11, 10-6):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Troy Tomblin C 19 1-8 6-8 0 1 0 4 8
Monte Donofrio PF 36 5-7 5-7 1 6 0 3 15
Antione Cantwell SF 29 2-10 1-2 5 9 4 3 5
Amos Lusk SG 36 7-17 2-2 3 5 7 2 18
Mario Albertini PG 34 3-6 2-2 0 4 2 2 8
Gerald Sena SF 11 1-2 0-0 1 2 0 3 2
Justin Bouldin SF 7 1-3 0-0 0 3 0 0 2
Brenton Tweedy C 18 0-1 1-2 2 4 0 1 1
Eldridge Boyd C 5 2-2 0-1 0 0 0 0 4
Manuel Abel PF 1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 2
William Auten PG 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Stan Martin SF 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 15 (T.Tomblin 2, A.Cantwell 4, A.Lusk 4,
M.Albertini 1, G.Sena 2, J.Bouldin 1, E.Boyd 1)
Blocked Shots: 1 (M.Donofrio 1)
Steals: 8 (M.Donofrio 1, A.Lusk 2, M.Albertini 2,
G.Sena 1, J.Bouldin 1, E.Boyd 1)
3P FGs: 2-10 (A.Cantwell 0-4, A.Lusk 2-2, M.Albertini
0-2, G.Sena 0-1, J.Bouldin 0-1)

Navy (20-14, 9-5):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Jose Brito C 25 1-3 0-0 2 8 1 5 2
Abe Long PF 21 1-5 0-0 1 4 1 4 2
Ricky Schofield SF 28 4-9 0-0 1 6 2 2 10
Rosendo Clower SG 33 3-5 1-3 2 8 2 2 9
Jarvis Petrillo PG 26 4-12 3-4 1 3 0 3 11
Larry Swift SF 18 2-7 1-1 3 6 0 1 5
Virgil Templeton PF 22 1-1 0-0 2 2 1 3 2
Edward Haggerty PF 11 2-4 5-6 0 2 0 1 9
Harold Davison C 1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0
Andrew Burmeister PG 12 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 2
D. Fauvarcque SG 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Steven Broome PG 2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 27 (J.Brito 4, A.Long 2, R.Schofield 5,
R.Clower 7, J.Petrillo 4, L.Swift 3, V.Templeton 1,
A.Burmeister 1)
Blocked Shots: 2 (J.Brito 1, L.Swift 1)
Steals: 4 (R.Clower 2, J.Petrillo 2)
3P FGs: 4-15 (R.Schofield 2-6, R.Clower 2-4, J.Petrillo
0-2, L.Swift 0-2, A.Burmeister 0-1)

Player of Game: PF Monte Donofrio (MMPHS)

[collegesportsfanms]

March 25, 2022

NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen
(11) Memphis (24-11) vs. (7) Georgetown (22-12)

We've accomplished the athletic directors season goal of reaching the Sweet Sixteen, anything else we do is just a bonus. This is a very winnable game, as the Hoyas skimmed by their first 2 tournament games, and a look at their roster shows 4 players that we need to really key on. Other than that, it's pretty weak.

Unfortunately, the officiating was against us tonight. It started out really well, as we led by 4 at halftime. Then the second half sparked a change, and not a good one. Of our starting lineup, 3 fouled out in the 2nd half, and the other 2 were saddled with 4. This meant the bench saw more action than I would have liked. We were able to hit a buzzer beater to force overtime, but then ran out of gas. The Hoyas dominated the overtime period and ended our season as we lost 90-80. Still though, a fine season. Very fine.

Georgetown 90, Memphis 80

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Memphis (24-12, 10-6):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Troy Tomblin C 18 3-8 1-4 1 6 0 5 7
Monte Donofrio PF 27 1-1 6-6 0 5 1 5 8
Antione Cantwell SF 29 5-11 1-2 0 1 0 5 12
Amos Lusk SG 31 6-18 2-2 4 7 5 4 17
Mario Albertini PG 34 4-8 0-0 2 3 4 4 10
Gerald Sena SG 17 3-5 2-3 0 2 2 2 9
Justin Bouldin SF 20 1-4 0-0 1 2 3 0 2
Brenton Tweedy C 22 1-2 1-2 1 6 0 3 3
Eldridge Boyd C 14 3-3 0-0 0 4 0 0 6
Manuel Abel PF 9 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 2
William Auten PG 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Stan Martin SF 3 2-2 0-1 0 2 1 0 4
Scottie Harris C 1 0-0 0-0 1 2 0 0 0

Turnovers: 20 (T.Tomblin 2, M.Donofrio 1, A.Cantwell 4,
A.Lusk 4, M.Albertini 1, J.Bouldin 5, E.Boyd 1,
W.Auten 1, S.Martin 1)
Blocked Shots: 4 (T.Tomblin 1, J.Bouldin 1, B.Tweedy 1,
S.Martin 1)
Steals: 6 (A.Cantwell 2, M.Albertini 1, J.Bouldin 1,
B.Tweedy 1, E.Boyd 1)
3P FGs: 7-17 (A.Cantwell 1-2, A.Lusk 3-7, M.Albertini
2-4, G.Sena 1-3, J.Bouldin 0-1)

Georgetown (23-12, 11-7):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Jerrod Bee C 34 3-7 3-4 4 6 0 2 9
Mark Rash PF 24 2-3 5-6 1 6 1 3 9
Stewart McDowell SF 27 2-14 0-0 3 7 2 3 4
Paul Merritt SG 36 8-17 13-14 1 6 2 1 34
Jose Shaver PG 39 3-10 5-7 5 11 2 0 13
Nicholas Barbee SG 15 1-6 2-4 1 2 1 0 5
Isaiah Zepeda SF 18 3-6 2-2 2 3 0 1 9
Wilson Casper PF 20 2-4 0-0 0 4 2 5 4
Carrol Rae PF 8 1-1 0-0 0 1 0 0 3
Chung Sayers PG 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Antonio Leon PF 4 0-0 0-0 1 2 0 1 0

Turnovers: 15 (J.Bee 1, M.Rash 1, S.McDowell 4,
P.Merritt 4, J.Shaver 2, N.Barbee 2, I.Zepeda 1)
Blocked Shots: 5 (J.Bee 2, S.McDowell 1, P.Merritt 1,
I.Zepeda 1)
Steals: 9 (M.Rash 1, S.McDowell 1, P.Merritt 5,
J.Shaver 1, I.Zepeda 1)
3P FGs: 10-28 (S.McDowell 0-6, P.Merritt 5-11, J.Shaver
2-5, N.Barbee 1-3, I.Zepeda 1-2, C.Rae 1-1)

Player of Game: SG Paul Merritt (GTOWN)


The postseason wrap-up will be coming up later in a separate post.

[collegesportsfanms]

2022 Postseason Wrap-Up

In the NCAA Final Four (1S) North Carolina hammered (2W) Stanford 74-51, and (12E) Niagara (what??) beat (3MW) Baylor 88-82. In the national championship, North Carolina beat Niagara 80-60.

The NIT Final Four saw (7W) Florida beat (4S) Alabama 73-55 and (1MW) Butler beat (2E) Wichita State 69-47. The NIT Championship was a close one, as Butler beat Florida 68-66.

The CBI Championship Series saw (5) UNC Wilmington beat (6) Winston-Salem 2 games to 0. UNC Wilmington won game 1 71-55 and won game 2 73-63.

The CIT Championship saw (16) Tennessee-Martin beat (7) UC Riverside 66-42.

Tulsa beat (7) Providence 79-67 then lost to (2) UCLA 88-85 in the NCAA Midwest Region.

Southern Miss lost to (7) Maryland 88-79 in the NCAA South Region.

Rice lost to (10) Bryant 103-97 in OT in the NIT East Region Second Round.

UAB lost 67-44 to (6) Northern Iowa in the NIT South Region Second Round.

Marshall beat (3) Tennessee State 71-59 before losing to (10) Bryant 90-62 in the NIT East Region.

ECU lost 68-66 to (15) Toledo in the CIT First Round.

Houston beat (6) UL Monroe 80-54 then lost to (3) SE Louisiana 77-72 in the CIT.

[collegesportsfanms]

Terrible news guys, this project is done. I was working on it earlier when my computer locked up on me in the middle of saving, and when I got all rebooted, the file was gone. I'm a little ticked off at the moment, and hating computers again, but I say better this one than one of my FBCB Interactive Dynasties.

I'll be restarting this project in a couple days, first I want to focus on the Interactive Dynasties a little bit, crossing fingers this was just an isolated computer issue and not something serious.