NCAA '06 Dynasty: Cats are Wild...

[Young Drachma]

This is a NCAA06 March Madness dynasty. (PS2)

The plan is to do what I NEVER do. Go through each one of the regular season games, recap them and all the stuff that goes along with that, including what's going on around college basketball.

Because there is no export feature in MM2K6, I turned off players leaving early. It makes no sense to me, if I can't use them later. Plus, it spreads the talent around, meaning there are going to be schools (this is year 7 of this dynasty..though my first with this team) that are good which obviously aren't good now and probably won't ever be.

Here we go.

[Young Drachma]

After a surprise run to the Final Four before losing to Nevada in last year's NCAA tournament and having made six straight NCAA tournaments, the Weber State Wildcats will enter the new college basketball season a different one than they came in.

Literally.

The team's success last year was not the first year the team did well in recent years, but their 31-3 record finally convinced some that this team was for real.

Coinciding with their ascent to the big leagues of college basketball, the school was also purchased by oil magnate Jim Condotti and has been renamed Condotti-Vanguard University.

If that wasn't enough, the main campus has been moved to northeast Wyoming, to give that state is 2nd Division I-A institution.

"We want this institution to put its best face forward on the national scene and that includes in basketball."

Former coach Mike Shandler parlayed the team's success to an assistant coaching job with the Utah Jazz of the NBA.

Citing a desire to get a "big name", but one that would stay with them, the University hired former Rutgers coach Tristan Cole.

Cole, 41, is one of the hottest new coaches in college basketball. He led Rutgers to the Final Four in his third season and was 81-26 during his four year tenure at the school. A former assistant at Gonzaga, he says he's prepared for his new role.

"In some ways, leaving the Big East was tough. But I'm a western guy at heart and this school, with its new focus and committment to winning on the court and in the classroom, is where I need to be right now," he said.

The Condotti-Vanguard Wildcats are primed and ready to go for next season.

[Young Drachma]

ESPN.COM -- After the departure of former Rutgers coach Tristan Cole to Condotti-Vanguard (formerly Weber State), one has to wonder, "What's on this guy's mind?"

"He has some of the best players in the country renege on their committments to play for him and it soured him on the big time," said one insider.

In reality, only one player --
pulled out of a committment, but one doubts that was the only thing to pull him away from the Northeast. One major reason was his family still life out west on their ranch in Southern Wyoming, while he was coaching at Rutgers.

"He didn't want his young son and daughter growing up out there. He felt that they were better off in a place where they could run around, play outside and roam free."

The Condotti deal he signed was a two-year deal worth $775,000, that's hardly the sign of staying for the "long-haul" and yet, many think it was just a way for the two parties to test the waters.

"The [Condotti] job is a really great fit for him. Let's face it, that school might not win again for years. They've been good the past few years and they're starting to get better recruits, but you have to think that he could probably be there for as long as he wants," said a former coach at Utah.

Both of Condotti's verbal commits - Adam Becker, a 6'9" Power Forward out of Plymouth, Indiana and Shooting Guard, Manu Barron, 6'4" from Novato, Calif., are highly rated players who should make an impact, though those close to Cole said the two will probably be red-shirted.

Yet, moving into a new conference could be a big challenge for Cole's squad, who went undefeated in the Big Sky last year.

"Well needless to say, they're not going undefeated this year," said a reporter from the AP who covers sports in Utah.

[Young Drachma]

Cole, who prior to his time as an assistant at Gonzaga was head coach at Division III Grinnell College in Iowa, runs a modified offense based off a system they ran at Grinnell called "the system."

It's comprised of running shifts of mass substitutions like hockey. Cole said he always wanted to see what it would look like with better athletes. Naturally, he doesn't run the system as a pure system as he did in his Division 3 days, but Cole teams have become known for their athleticism, but also their shooting prowess.

"We have to tweak it some, but I'm excited about what we're going to do this season."

[Young Drachma]

The Big Sky conference has always been considered a "transfer" league for players who maybe don't get the time at other D-1 conference schools or JUCO players who were passed over in high school.

Tristan Cole plans to continue turning the team into a "top-tier destination."

"Look, I know we're not going to recruit every 6-star recruit who comes out of Brooklyn or Los Angeles. But we can turn this place, as it has already become to a certain extent, to a prime destination for kids who want to get better and improve their game and perhaps take it to the next level in a team environment."

With the NBA barring all college players from declaring early -- taking a page from the WNBA book -- it means that the competitive field is far thicker than it used to be.

"With all the parity from the early 2000s, the best teams are stocking up, but it's also allowing schools that weren't able to compete before to get into the mix. Thats' where I see us going into the next season."

[Young Drachma]

By J.J. Francis
At first, when they told me to go to this new school in Wyoming. I looked at my Editor like he was crazy. I said, "where?"

But I hadn't heard about Utah state school Weber State being BOUGHT by oil magnate Jim Condotti and moving the school and most of its 16,000 students to a brand-spanking new campus in Wyoming.

Well, ok, so the students are coming in waves. But...still. Buying colleges? Who needs jets or planes, when you can buy up your own D-1 team.

Are you listening Mark Cuban?

When you step inside the new $5.1 million Vanguard Athletic Center on the campus of Condotti-Vanguard University, you immediately realize that this program isn't kidding around.

The new campus is on a pristine area on the basin of the Big Horn Mountains, about 15 miles from the "city" of Sheridan, Wyoming. The entire county has less than 25,000 people, but that doesn't matter to Jim Condotti or the people who are preparing to step foot onto his new campus.

"I wanted to do this, because I felt the Mountain West region needed a top-caliber university and well...the officials in Utah were running into some financial trouble. This works well for both the state and for thousands of young people who get to go to a great new school."

The former Weber State campus remains and will stay where it is. It will be the branch campus for the University and parts of the campus will be revamped into a residential community and commerce park, as well as a prep school for talented youth in math and science.

The new campus in Wyoming still has that new smell of a place that's not quite done yet. Local residents heard a college was coming to town two years ago when the construction began, but given its location about 15 miles out of town, no one thought anything of it until the big announcement.

"It's outstanding that our kids have another opportunity to stay at home after they graduate."

The gears started turning well before it was announced that oil magnate Jim Condotti had given an unprecedented $1 billion gift to transform the University and turn an average little teachers college into a gradually exclusive private university.

"It's a weird place to be these days," said Maggie Beth Loudon, a junior elementary education major from Logan, Utah. "You certainly notice the changes, because there are all types of people here," she said about the university's "Weber" campus.

The school was comprised of 11% out of state students, but this year's freshman class was almost 30% out of state students.

"This place will be unrecognizable to so many people in the future years, but maybe that's a good thing for those kids from small towns who are now getting access to even an even higher world-class education."

What affect this has on the athletic program is a big one.

"We're able to get kids here now who never took a second look at us before," said Head Coach Jim Skinner of the women's basketball squad.

Condotti also earmarked a separate $100 million gift to the athletics programs. To put that in perspective, prior to Condotti's gift, the former Weber State University endowment in 2010 was just over $61 million. Now, the athletic program itself had that to spend to construct new facilities, upgrade others and of course, recruit new coaching talent.

Men's basketball coach Tristan Cole, who is originally from Colorado, but most recently coached at Rutgers, says that the wholesale changes are superb.

"They were already on the move before this happened. And the thing is, the gift came several years ago. It's just no one knew what had happened, until Mr. Condotti told them they could announce the gift when they changed the name," he said.

Naturally, the chance to come to the state where his wife and children were was a huge draw for Cole, who sold his ranch and bought another one the day after he heard of the job opening.

"I just felt like this was the right thing to do. It had nothing to do with anything bad at Rutgers."

This must be true or else, Rutgers would not be making the rare road trek to the Mountain West, to step foot on the newly constructed Whitney Center, an community center and local athletic complex with a 9,100 seat gym, 5 tennis courts, swimming pool and more.

After being ranked in the Top 25 this pre-season, Cole said he wasn't "surprised, but is staying humble by saying they should have ranked us."

Will the upstarts from the Rocky Mountains be able to truly hang with the big boys of college basketball year in and year out?

That remains to be seen, despite six straight trips to the NCAAs.

[Young Drachma]

Naturally, you can expect that the Condotti-Vanguard Wildcats will have no problem in the thin Big Sky conference, but what about their out-of-conference schedule? (Pre-season rankings listed for teams that are ranked..)

23 Oct - Texas
27 Oct - @ #21 Utah
7 Nov - #7 Kentucky
10 Nov - #24 Arizona
21 Nov - #4 BYU (Maui Invitational)
22-23 Nov - Maui Invitational
9 Dec - @ #3 Florida (defending national champions..)
11 Dec - Gonzaga
12 Dec - UCLA
17 Dec - @ Michigan
22 Dec - Rutgers
24 Dec - @ #4 BYU

While this schedule isn't a clash of titans, it's formidible and should show how prepared Tristan Cole's team is up to the challenge and how close they are to a repeat Final Foul appearance as the season goes on.

The rivalry games against BYU will take place once at the Maui Invitational, meaning that CVU doesn't get its usual home game against the squad. Rumor has it, Coach Tristan Cole wanted to get Wyoming on the schedule, but that team turned down the offer, saying the Wildcats were probably too strong.

Smart move.

The games against Kentucky and Arizona will be major signpost games for the squad, as well the bruising December schedule which has them visiting the defending National Champions (Florida), a team that made the Elite Eight last year (Rutgers) and Big Ten contender Michigan, not to mention rival and Top-5 team BYU, though they might not be by the time the Wildcats show up to Provo on Christmas Eve.

[Young Drachma]

UNIVERSITY MOUNTAIN, WY -- Rather than christen the new Whitney Center with a creampuff opponent, Head Coach Tristan Cole of Condotti-Vanguard went after formidible talent in the Texas Longhorns.

The irony of this story, is that the Texas Longhorns -- you know, cattle -- that were brought to Wyoming in the late 1800s are the only reason Wyoming is a state, because it boosted the economy enough to make it relevant enough to not be parceled out between Colorado and Idaho.

Now that we've given thanks, the roster of Texas will be one that the Wildcats will not be interested in saying much to other than goodbye.

The Longhorns interior presence is formidible. 7-footer Greg Rodriguez (Sr.) is a defense rebounding monster, who also blocks shots and should give the Wildcats fits all night. He's aided by the equally adept Brian Garner (Sr.), a 6'8" power foward who doesn't like to take no for an answer inside the paint.

Junior Tom Shuler is a 6'7" power forward who plays the point for Texas, while true point guard Denny Savage (Fr.) plays the 2-guard spot.

If the Longhorns can get production out of their big guys, it will be a long night for the untested Wildcats.

The Wildcats feature three new starters, plus a new coach. (not to mention a new home AND a new name..phew, talk about changes..)

It will be interesting to see how they respond in the first game of the new season.

[Young Drachma]

DA WILDCATZ BLOG

TEXAS @ CONDOTTI-VANGUARD
I bet I'm the first guy to come up with a blog for the Wildcats, so I'm gonna post this here and see if anyone cares about this team. If not, that's cool. It's just awesome being a reporter!! Well, not a real reporter. But you know what I mean!

At halftime, the score was 32-28, Wildcats.


Derrick Mayer, the sophomore point guard for the Wildcats, entered the game after the first 3 minutes and proceeded to score 10 points, to lead all scorers along with Texas center Greg Rodriguez, who, as expected played well so far with 3 boards and 2 assists. Brian Garner of Texas had two key blocks early in the half.

Tim Allen, the Wildcats power forward, who is known mostly as a rebounder, had 8 points, to go with 2 boards in the first half.

Going into the 2nd half, Texas outrebounded Weber and has more blocks.

We'll see if the team can keep it up in the 2nd half.
-----

The 2nd half was an exciting battle between two truly matched teams. You could see the nerves from the Condotti-Vanguard squad early, but the team went 25 of 40 from the field and despite being outrebounded 17-10 by Texas, managed to hang out by a single point 59-58.

Greg Rodriguez had 16 points, 5 boards and 3 assists, while Condotti's Derek Meyer made a strong case for consideration for the starting job, leading all scorers with 18 points and dishing out 3 assists.

Rodriguez played really well, as did that Shuler kid. Those two guys are awesome!.

Our team looked good though. I'm really excited to see them go up against Kentucky in about two weeks. They weren't as aggressive on the boards as I would've liked to see and some of the seniors simply didn't have it. You can tell the difference between our younger guys and our older ones for the most part. Tim Allen was a good recruit pickup, he's gonna be good as he gets older. I can already tell.

The Wildcats were 9 of 17 from 3-point land and Meyer was 4 of 4 from 3-point land.

Anywayz, they looked good and it was almost a heartbreaker if Texas had made that 3 pointer. But our guys were relentless on defense and so, it should be a fun year!

[Young Drachma]

I wrote one of these up before, but managed to delete where I wrote it before posting it.

So, here's the cliff notes version of the 2011-2012 Condotti-Vanguard (nee Weber State) Wildcats. (R indicates a returning player from last season's squad)

C Jason Brown JR 7'2" (R)
He's a great rebounder and shot blocker.

PF Tim Allen FR 6'9"
Good shooter and the best rebounder on the team, bar none. He's a huge addition to this team.

SF Charles Amos SR 6'8" (R)
Good 3-point shooter and has the size to get inside.

SG David Palmer SG 6'2" (R)
Good 3-point shooter and is an asset off the bench.

PG Derrick Meyer SO 6'3"
This juco transfer was one of the first kids we targeted during recruiting, because we knew he could do a lot for us and in practice and in the game against Texas, he proved me right.

C Jared Albert FR 7'1"
He's a big boy (248 lbs.) and having that size on the court changes the complexion of the game. Good inside shooter and defensive rebounder.

PG Remus Leung SR 6'1" (R)
He's a deep threat and absolutely relentless on defense. That's really his calling card is being among the best defensive point guards in the country.

SG James Woodson SO 6'4" (R)
Average player who factors in as a reliever for starters. Good at a few things, but not great at anything.

SG Levar Henderson SR 6'6" (R)
Almost got cut, despite being a 3-year starter. No longer a starter, but proved his worth off the bench as a veteran leader, defensive stopper and three-point shooter.

RED SHIRTS
Adam Becker 6'8: PF
Manu Barron 6'4" SG

[Young Drachma]

89-71 Condotti-Vanguard

On the road against Utah, we expected that the game would be a challenge, but winnable given that we're just more talented than they are.

Derrick Meyer had a double-double (20 points, 10 assists) on 8 of 15 shooting and 3 steals, while Charlie Amos showed what he was made of, scoring 22 points including 3 3-pointers.

Tim Allen had 7 boards in the win, sending the Wildcats to 2-0 on the season.

[Young Drachma]

AP POLL
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1. Florida 3-1
2. Nevada 3-1
3. Condotti-Vanguard 2-0
4. Kentucky 3-0
5. Alabama 5-0
6. Missouri 4-1
7. George Washington 2-0
8. Syracuse 2-0
9. Arkansas 2-0
10. Georgia 2-1

[Young Drachma]

Needless to say, this is going to be a pace setter for our season. I like to schedule as many tough teams as I can and with a good school, it's easier to do that. But I'd prefer they play those hard games and even lose them, because it's better for them to face the sorts of teams they will in the tourney.

We're not able to schedule them during the conference schedule or else, we would.

Anyway, Kentucky. Let's do the scouting report:

The Wildcats of Kentucky (Wildcats v. Wildcats tonight kids..) have a stud point guard in Sam Watkins, he's 6'3" and is averaging 15.3 points a game in their 3 games so far, with 5.7 APG.

Their tandem of senior forwards are Sam Marshall, who is averaging 11.7 PPG and 8.0 RPG and SF Torraye Mangan, who is a reliable shooter with 11.7 as well. Their center sophomore Alex Nichols is averaging 8 points and 8 boards per game and 3 blocks.

These guys are formidible, no two ways about it. We'll have to bring our A-game and given our last game was 10 days ago, I'm a little concerned that they might come out flat. We're just gonna have to see how it all plays out.

I intend to watch this game, because I want to see how they stack up. With most games I'll simulate, I won't do that, I'll just simulate them and be done. But I want to see how they play from a fan's perspective and so..this will be my chance to do that. I'll post an update at halftime.

[Young Drachma]

We led 47-43 at the half.

We're currently outrebounding them 17-13 and neither team is turning the ball over much at all. We're 3 of 10 from 3-point land, but that's largely because of who we're playing and the fact that I'm not controlling them..because I always shoot a lot of them.

We're hitting the Offensive rebounds hard, with 10 in the 1st half, so if we can keep that up, I think that'll be how we'll manage to pull this one out.

Derrick Meyer is coming up big so far. He had 22 points in the first half with 5 assists while Sam Watkins of Kentucky has only 4 points, but 8 assists in the 1st half. Needless to say, our guy is doing his thing.

Jason Brown had 8 points in the first half and Tim Allen had 3 points and 3 boards.

It should be a fun 2nd half.

[NoSkillz]

Good start! Good luck with the dynasty!

[Young Drachma]

The name of the game is depth. Not just depth, but pure talent. At the end of the day, after seeing us up against Kentucky and just plain outshoot them, I think that this team has a lot of potential. Not that I didn't that before, but...seeing them really do their thing when it mattered, gives me a lot of confidence.

We beat Kentucky 112-99.

Jason Brown made me happy I put him in as the starter to start the season. He had 30 points, 9 boards and 3 blocks as our player of the game. Lockhart had 31 points, 4 boards and 2 assists for Kentucky. He wasn't on my radar and it's good, because it means I got the other guys out of the game the way we wanted to.

Tim Allen is making a case - in my opinion - for Freshman of the Year already. He had 12 points, 8 boards, 3 assists and 4 blocks. As a power forward, I don't what else we could ask of him to do that he doesn't.

Derrick Meyer finished with 33 points and 9 assists and Levar Dumas was another diaper dandy that got it done, putting up 20 points, with 4 boards and 5 assists.

We got a lot of 2nd chance shots in this game, which frankly won't happen as the season goes on -- at least, I'd think -- against a team with a better interior presence. Kentucky doesn't block shots (just avg. 6 blocks per game going into this one).

Both teams had 34 rebounds, but we had 10 blocks to their 3, which is a key stat I think. They had 14 turnovers and we had 10 and shot 55.4% from the field (they shot 54.9%). We were 6 of 13 from 3-pt land, which makes me happy that we did well with that, even when I'm not at the controls.

I'd like to see us work harder on the defensive boards. This is probably the most defensively minded team I've had and so, it's nice because we can set that precedent early and continue to bring in kids who have that mindset, it'll help us out..especially since we're fairly lights-out shootingwise.

We have Arizona later this week, so we'll see how much this one carries over for us.

[Young Drachma]

November 10, 2011

I'm simming this game. They're #25 in the nation, we're #3, but that doesn't mean much. Still, I think a well-balanced attack will take them out.

And ultimately, I was right.

We win 82-67, picking up a road victory.

Tim Allen had 14 points and 8 boards, while Charlie Amos had 14 points and 5 assists. Derrick Meyer, is in the Top 20 scorers in the nation so far this season and if he was playing someplace where the offense was build around him, he'd no doubt be in the Top 5. He had 11 points, 9 of them from 3 point land.

We're off until Nov. 21st, when we play rival BYU in Maui. It's one of two games we play them this season, they're the only non-conference team we do that with, because they are indeed a rival. Even if we did move out of the state.

[Young Drachma]

Nov. 13, 2011.

We've always been big, no matter where I am, about signing our players early. This is no different at CVU and so, we targeted a few players that we hoped we could reel in to make a statement, as well as shore up our affairs for next season and beyond.

HERE ARE OUR MAIN TARGETS
Chris Woods, 6'9" PF, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Offense: A-, Defense: A-, Athleticism: A-
He's scoring 31 points a game, with 15 boards, 6 assists, 5 blocks and 3 steals in HS. His size isn't necessarily what we'd want in the power forward spot, but we'd move him to a guard spot. He's being recruited by Memphis, Syracuse and Alabama among others.

Mike Quintero, 6'0", PG, Wailuku, Hawaii
Offense: A-, Defense: B, Athleticism: B+
He's what we like in a point guard. Five steals per game, 9 Assists and 25.8 points at his HS. He's also a decent 3 point shooter. Won't start out of the box, but he'll red shirt if he signs with us and when Meyer is a senior, Mike can get some PT as the backup. Being recruited by Michigan State, Utah, Wake Forest, Cincinnati and Kentucky.

Dubaku Mackey, 6'6", SF, Lone Grove, Oklahoma
Offense: C+, Defense: B-, Athleticism: B+
Honestly, he's #4 of our targets and we only have 3 scholarships to give out. He could be a factor for us in some ways, plus I think his athleticism might allow him to develop in college. Scoring 19.7 PPG, 7.6 rebounds and 2.9 blocks, 3.2 steals. Seems like he could be a good player. Being recruited by Memphis, Texas, UCLA, Florida and Syracuse.

Doug Watkins, 6'8", SF, Tempe, Arizona
Offense: C, Defense: B+, Athleticism: B+
Scoring 17 PPG in HS, with 8.5 assists, showing his unselfishness, which we love. Is the sort of kid that could come off the bench in his first year and log minutes to help us out in a lot of ways, especially with his size. Also being recruited by Wake Forest, Duke, Arizona, UConn and Stanford.

[Young Drachma]

AP POLL (20 NOV 2011) (COACHES POLL RANK IN ()
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1. (1) Florida (6-3)
2. (2) Nevada (5-1)
3. (3) Condotti-Vanguard (4-0)
4. (4) Missouri (7-1)
5. (5) Wake Forest (5-0)
6. (6) Duke (6-1)
7. (8) George Washington (4-1)
8. (7) Memphis (5-0)
9. (9) Alabama (6-0)
10. (10) Georgia Tech (6-0)
11. (11) Syracuse (3-1)
12. (13) Iowa State (6-3)
13. (12) BYU (2-1)
14. (14) Texas (5-1)
15. (17) St. Louis (6-0)
16. (16) Arkansas (3-1)
17. (18)Oklahoma State (4-1)
18. (19) Kentucky (3-2)
19. (15) Wisconsin (6-2)
20. (24) Georgia (2-2)
21. (21) Rutgers (3-0)
22. (20) Gonzaga (5-1)
23. (25) Oklahoma (2-0)
24. (22) Louisville (2-0)
25. (23) Michigan State (3-2)

[Young Drachma]

ESPN.COM -- Say whatever you want about all the changes going on at Condotti-Vanguard, the school that everyone is talking about, just inked two top-caliber recruits, to go with an already stellar class from last year, coming off their run to the 2011 Final Four.

Now, Head Coach Tristan Cole has signed two coveted recruits that he says are "the missing link" for this team in the future.

Chris Woods, a 6'9" Power Forward out of Florida is not just a blue-chipper who is nominated for Mr. Florida Basketball, this kid is just a freakish talent that everyone is talking about. He said it was all about "building something," for him and that's why he headed to out west.

"Any school you go to, they talk about all their tradition and how they're gonna do this and do that. Here, these guys aren't talking. They're just doing it. Plus, I wanted to come someplace where I could be a legend someday. I want people to talk about me and being on this team and how we were something. I want folks to remember the Condotti-Vanguard name when I'm long gone.

For Hawaiian prep star Mike Quintero, it was much of the same. I see these guys play and they're like a family. It wasn't like a recruiting visit, they just seemed like friends of mine that I grew up with. That was cool. Plus, it's not a really big school and I like that too. I've never seen snow, so that's gonna be different."

Quintero says that his announcement was timed to the team's visit to his home, the Wildcats are in town for the EA Sports Maui Invitational this week and he said, "I wanted Christmas to come a little early for Coach [Tristan Cole.]

"Oh, he has no idea how happy I am. Santa doesn't have to come to my house, because we're all pretty elated." But on second though, he reconsidered. "My daughter is reading the newspaper now, so I better not say Santa Claus can't visit," he said, laughing.

He might not be wiped that smile off of his face for the next few years, if all goes well for Cole and his Wildcats.

[Young Drachma]

Nov. 21st
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Chaminade (D-2) v. Pittsburgh 112-53
BYU v. Condotti-Vanguard
Arkansas v. Oklahoma 82-49
Indiana v. UConn 104-62

[Young Drachma]

BYU v. Condotti-Vanguard
----
We won 71-63.

Derrick Meyer led the team with 17 points and also had 6 boards and 6 assists. We had 17 defensive boards, while they only had 12, which ended up being the difference maker in this game, as the Wildcats move to 5-0 on the season.

Tomorrow, we face off against Pitt. They are 4-0, but unranked at the moment. They'll come out hungry to prove something. We shall see.

[Young Drachma]

Indiana v. Oklahoma 88-87
Pittsburgh v. Condotti-Vanguard

---
LOSERS BRACKET
BYU 73 v. Chaminade 63
Arkansas 78 v. UConn 73

[Young Drachma]

Down just 1 at halftime, it looked like they might keep it close. But in the end, the Wildcats proved to be too much for them and we nudged out a 78-62 victory and the right to play Indiana in the tournament final tomorrow.

Remus Leung who hadn't gotten much PT to this point, played 23 minutes and scored a team high 17 points, easily his season high, with 5 assists. Other notables were Tim Allen who had 13 points and 5 boards and Charlie Amos with 16 points, 2 assists and 4 boards. Frosh Jared Albert had 3 blocks in the victory.

[Young Drachma]

GAME PREVIEW FROM THE COACHES NOTEBOOK
Another night, another undefeated squad.

Cheryl Miller's boys are 5-0 and heading into a tough game against us. They feautre three seniors starters including Keith Whitaker, a 7-ft center who is avg. 16 PPG/9 RPG/2 BPG, Cody Croyle, 6'6" shooting forward, averagin 13 points, 4 boards and 3 assists per game. Luke Koranda, puts up 12 points a game and dishes 5 assists, as the point guard on this squad. Power Forward sophomore Tim Salazar scores 17 points a game and averages almost 9 rebounds a game.

They're a talented group, to say the least. But I think so long as we crash the boards and play tough defense that we can pull out a victory in this one. It's a big game for us, because we don't play again until Dec 9th, that's 16 days off and so, I want our last "memory" of sorts to be a win.

[Young Drachma]

Condotti-Vanguard 83, Indiana 70
----
Tim Allen had a double-double (14 pts, 13 boards) in the win. Derrick Meyer put up 21 points, with Remus Leung contributing again, scoring 13 points in 21 minutes.

The Wildcats were 10 of 26 from 3pt land, which made an otherwise close game, not very close at all. We outboarded them 34-33 and shot 48% from the field, while Indiana shot 46%.

Next up, #1 Florida in 16 days, on the road.

[Young Drachma]

Dec. 4, 2011
CVU INKS THIRD RECRUIT DURING EARLY SIGNING PERIOD, CAPS OFF PERIOD WITH TOP TARGETS


ESPN.COM --Tempe, Arizona's Doug Watkins never thought he'd be playing anywhere near his home, unless it was in California. But early this summer, Condotti-Vanguard entered his radar.

"It was sorta cool to hear all the stuff they were doing." So, he contacted the school about enrolling, "just as a student. I thought maybe if something happens and I got hurt -- not that I plan on it -- but you know, stuff happens. And it's a good school, so I wanted to find out what they had to offer."

That's when new Head Coach Tristan Cole happened upon a video of Watkins in a high school for a different recruit. "I saw how relentless he was on defense and how it seemed like, he made his teammates better. That's pretty good for any basketball player, let alone a high school kid."

So, it took one visit to University Mountain, home of the pristine new campus of Condotti-Vanguard University before Watkins knew, "I belonged there. No doubt about it."

Watkins' signing caps off an impressive signing period for Condotti-Vanguard which has benefitted as much from the largess of a benefactor as it has from a change of personnel and a whole new perspective -- not just on the court, but on the campus.

"This school is a totally different place. I mean, it's for all intent and purposes a completely new school. Our gym doesn't have banners from our [Weber State] days, that's all back in [Utah] on the west campus. We're just trying to carve out a whole new legacy here.

And one student-athlete at a time, it seems they just might be doing that.

[Young Drachma]

AP POLL
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1. Nevada (8-2)
2. Condotti-Vanguard (7-0)
3. Gonzaga (10-1)
4. George Washington (7-1)
5. Wake Forest (7-0)
6. Duke (8-1)
7. Florida (6-3)
8. Missouri (8-1)
9. Georgia Tech (8-1)
10. Memphis (7-0)
11. BYU (5-2)
12. Alabama (7-1)
13. Arkansas (5-3)
14. Syracuse (4-1)
15. Illinois (6-2)
16. Iowa State (7-3)
17. Texas A&M (9-1)
18. Oklahoma State (5-1)
19. Oklahoma (4-1)
20. Kentucky (5-2)
21. Texas (6-2)
22. Virginia Tech (9-0)
23. Louisville (4-0)
24. Mississippi State (8-0)
25. St. Louis (7-3)

[Young Drachma]

We're up against #7 Florida this week. Should be an interesting game. A preview is forthcoming.

[Young Drachma]

Florida (6-3) runs a 3-guard offense and they're a young team featuring only one senior.

Junior power forward Jim Thompson is their leading scorer, putting up 13.3 PPG/6.8 RPG. Frosh point guard Alex Connor averages 10.3 PPG and 4.7 APG, but their other two main guards (Jr.) Alex Butler and Michael Everett average about 3 assists per game themselves.

So they move the ball around a lot and are solid on the boards, though their 75 PPG team average puts them in the middle of the pack of the SEC, it'll be one of the tougher challenges we've faced so far this season. (though we average 82.4 PPG, which would put us 3rd in the SEC and our 20.6 APG would be tops in that conference so far)

We should pull out the victory if we stick to our gameplan.

[Young Drachma]

GAINSVILLE --
In what very well may have been a prelude to a future Final Four matchup, the Florida Gators put forth their best effort of the season in a 71-68 loss to the Condotti-Vanguard Wildcats.

For those who doubted the upstarts from CVUl, this game was a test. But the naysayers had plenty of ammunition. The Gators won the battle on the offensive boards 10-3 and went on a 16-0 run late in the 2nd half, to tie the game at 68-68 with less than 15 seconds in the game.

A three-pointer from freshman center Jared Albert from CVU -- yup, a center -- won the game for CVU, as a heave-ho from Florida with just a second left went astray.

"It wasn't designed for Jared," said Condotti-Vanguard coach Tristan Cole, who is in his first year Condotti-Vanguard after spending three years at Rutgers. "The play was supposed to be for one of our guards and well, there were about 2 seconds left, Jared saw the shot and said that it was a prayer," and well, he made the shot.

The Gators had nothing but praise for their opponents. "They play us tough and well, we thought we could steal one from them," said forward Jim Thompson.

Condotti-Vanguard was formerly Weber State University, which was based in Utah, but was purchased -- yes, you read that correctly purchased -- through an unprecedented $1 billion gift from an oil magnate named Jim Condotti -- hence the name.

CVU as the school is now called is based in Northeast Wyoming and this is the first year of the school under its new name. Last season, as Weber State, the school reached the Final Four -- an improbable run for a school that used to be known for its upset win in the 1990s as a 15th-seed in the NCAA tourney is now turning itself -- very rapidly -- into what Gonzaga once was, a Cinderella with national title potential.

[Young Drachma]

I'm getting back to this tonight. Not that anyone cares But...I do.

[Young Drachma]

#3 GONZAGA @ CONDOTTI-VANGUARD
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An early matchup between two possible Final Four teams will kick off this Sunday as the Wildcats host the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Gonzaga features Jr. Power Forward Stephen Fletcher who is putting 14.9 ppg and 9 boards per game. Team leading scorer is Shooting forward Jr. Will Barker who is scoring 16.4 PPG in 11 games this season. Don't expect much in the way of blocked shots from Gonzaga, as this team scores 82.4 PPG, slightly higher than Condotti's 81 PPG.

In the end, if Condotti can stifle the Zags with their stellar defense, this one should go down as a victory for Condotti, keeping them undefeated so far this season.