"Eye of the Tiger" - The Coaching Legacy of Jason Whitt (CH2k8)

[waytofailself]

Great job man -- I was about to post what you had already said: awesome that you'll have so many players coming back. Things are only going to get better and soon you'll be punching your own ticket to the NCAAs.

Grats on the successful season. Hopefully you have happy trails on the recruiting end of things.

[VandyRedskins21]

Dang sucks to end the year like that hope you had a good recruiting season. Just out of curiousity, do you not like going to Trent much? I remember when I had a Radford legacy, I went to him a lot and he usually got me a solid 12 points or so.

[jasontoddwhitt]

Quote: Originally Posted by waytofailself

Great job man -- I was about to post what you had already said: awesome that you'll have so many players coming back. Things are only going to get better and soon you'll be punching your own ticket to the NCAAs. Grats on the successful season. Hopefully you have happy trails on the recruiting end of things.

It's a really balanced roster. Two scholarship seniors who were buried on the bench. Then next year, it'll be three scholarship seniors, two of which are in the starting lineup. Could be heading for happy trails on the recruiting trail, as long as Ohio State doesn't swoop in with a scholarship offer.

Quote: Originally Posted by VandyRedskins21

Dang sucks to end the year like that hope you had a good recruiting season. Just out of curiousity, do you not like going to Trent much? I remember when I had a Radford legacy, I went to him a lot and he usually got me a solid 12 points or so.

On my roster set that I downloaded eons ago...Trent is only rated a 52, compared to Gynes as a 60 and McFarlin as a 57. And since they were both freshman (and strangely had higher awareness ratings), I decided to go with the youth movement. Trenth was hit and miss off the bench. Some games, he would come off the bench and battle in the trenches...others he would blend into the floor. Of course, Gynes and McFarlin did the same thing. In retrospect, I maybe should have given him more of a chance to compete.

[jasontoddwhitt]

Radford Stats and Tournament Selection

Radford Highlanders Stats - 2007-08
Player	GP	MIN	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TPG	FPG
Jamar Jenkins	28	704	13.1	3.2	2.0	0.6	0.3	0.7	0.9
Kenny Thomas	25	605	12.5	3.0	1.1	0.4	0.2	0.8	0.9
Chris McEachin	28	445	6.8	1.9	1.6	0.4	0.0	0.4	0.7
Martell McDuffy	28	529	6.5	1.4	2.1	0.6	0.0	0.5	0.8
Alex Gynes	28	704	5.4	4.3	1.4	1.4	0.5	0.2	1.1
Amir Johnson	28	743	5.2	1.7	5.1	0.9	0.0	1.8	2.1
Nick McFarlin	28	681	3.6	5.9	0.9	0.7	0.6	0.1	1.0
Eric Hall	27	293	2.5	1.3	0.6	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.4
Colby Trent	28	390	2.3	3.8	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.2	0.6
Tyler Kleckner	28	305	2.2	2.7	0.3	0.5	0.3	0.1	0.2
Phillip Martin	3	21	1.0	1.0	1.3	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.3
Joey Lynch-Flohr	27	187	1.0	1.2	0.3	0.3	0.0	0.1	0.2
Duane Ricks	5	20	0.8	1.4	0.2	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.0

NCAA Hoops Rankings - AP Top 25 - Updated: Mar 16, 2008
RK	TEAM (VOTES)	RECORD
1	Kansas	35-3
2	North Carolina	30-7
3	Memphis	33-7
4	Texas A&M	28-7
5	Texas	25-11
6	Michigan State	25-10
7	Connecticut	27-11
8	Austin Peay	29-6
9	Oregon	24-10
10	Alabama	26-10
11	George Mason	24-6
12	Clemson	23-9
13	Tennessee	22-12
14	Miami (FL)	24-9
15	Villanova	24-11
16	Louisville	24-13
17	Mississippi State	22-12
18	Washington State	22-11
19	Duke	21-14
20	Auburn	22-10
21	Ohio State	22-10
22	Syracuse	22-12
23	Vanderbilt	26-12
24	Kentucky	21-14
25	Houston	26-9

2008 NCAA Tournament Field

East Regional

#1 Kansas
#16 Southern/Howard

#8 NC State
#9 UCLA

#5 Louisville
#12 St. Mary's

#4 Mississippi State
#13 IPFW

#6 Duke
#11 Belmont

#3 Oregon
#14 Yale

#7 Cal St.-Northridge
#10 Stanford

#2 Connecticut
#15 Sam Houston State

West Regional

#1 Texas A&M
#16 Lehigh

#8 Nebraska
#9 Gonzaga

#5 Ohio State
#12 Akron

#4 Vanderbilt
#13 Wright State

#6 Villanova
#11 Penn State

#3 George Mason
#14 Bradley

#7 Western Michigan
#10 Arkansas

#2 Alabama
#15 High Point

South Regional

#1 North Carolina
#16 Binghamton

#8 Rider
#9 TCU

#5 Auburn
#12 Siena

#4 Michigan State
#13 Montana

#6 Washington State
#11 UAB

#3 Austin Peay
#14 UNC Greensboro

#7 Kentucky
#10 Davidson

#2 Tennessee
#15 St. Joseph's

Midwest Regional

#1 Memphis
#16 VCU

#8 Western Kentucky
#9 Arizona

#5 Houston
#12 Central Connecticut

#4 Clemson
#13 New Mexico

#6 Syracuse
#11 UC Santa Barbara

#3 Miami (FL)
#14 Fresno State

#7 Marquette
#10 Valparaiso

#2 Texas
#15 Gardner-Webb

[jasontoddwhitt]

Opening Round Result
Howard 74, Southern 60

First Round Results
#1 Kansas 84, Howard 63
#8 NC State 57, #9 UCLA 72
#5 Louisville 94, #12 St. Mary's 60
#4 Mississippi St. 72, #13 IPFW 63
#6 Duke 85, #11 Belmont 59
#3 Oregon 80, #14 Yale 53
#7 CS Northridge 69, #10 Stanford 88
#2 Connecticut 119, #15 Sam Houston St. 74

#1 Texas A&M 75, #16 Lehigh 59
#8 Nebraska 69, #9 Gonzaga 76
#5 Ohio St. 72, #12 Akron 66
#4 Vanderbilt 98, #13 Wright St. 67
#6 Villanova 73, #11 Penn St. 60
#3 George Mason 58, #14 Bradley 63
#7 W. Michigan 80, #10 Arkansas 75
#2 Alabama 85, #15 High Point 60

#1 North Carolina 87, #16 Binghamton 43
#8 Rider 75, #9 TCU 79
#5 Auburn 94, #12 Siena 71
#4 Michigan St. 84, #13 Montana 63
#6 Washington St. 58, #11 UAB 83
#3 Austin Peay 78, #14 UNC Greensboro 62
#7 Kentucky 88, #10 Davidson 86
#2 Tennessee 68, #15 St. Joseph's 73

#1 Memphis 94, #16 VCU 70
#8 W. Kentucky 91, #9 Arizona 64
#5 Houston 76, #12 C. Connecticut 72
#4 Clemson 82, #13 New Mexico 64
#6 Syracuse 78, #11 UC Santa Barbara 64
#3 Miami (FL) 105, #14 Fresno St. 90
#7 Marquette 98, #10 Valparaiso 93
#2 Texas 100, #15 Gardner-Webb 58

The upset of the tournament was obviously in the South region as Saint Joseph's upset Tennessee. If you picked chalk in the Midwest Regional, congrats, you were a winner. Lots of exciting action in the first round. The Round of 32 will hopefully bring more excitement.

[jasontoddwhitt]

Second Round Results

#1 Kansas 87, #9 UCLA 61
#4 Mississippi St. 64, #5 Louisville 86
#3 Oregon 82, #6 Duke 92
#2 Connecticut 89, #10 Stanford 63

#1 Texas A&M 56, #9 Gonzaga 54
#4 Vanderbilt 76, #5 Ohio St. 73
#6 Villanova 88, #14 Bradley 75
#2 Alabama 81, #7 W. Michigan 44

#1 North Carolina 89, #9 TCU 55
#4 Michigan St. 78, #5 Auburn 75
#3 Austin Peay 51, #11 UAB 80
#7 Kentucky 76, #15 St. Joseph's 77

#1 Memphis 84, #8 W. Kentucky 75
#4 Clemson 73, #5 Houston 70
#3 Miami (FL) 74, #6 Syracuse 62
#2 Texas 86, #7 Marquette 76

St. Joseph's magical run continues as a 21-point performance from Pat Calathes surged them ahead of the Kentucky Wildcats. A couple other double-digit seeds made it into the Sweet 16, but a lot of the major title contenders also made it as well, including all four #1 seeds. The second weekend of the tournament should prove to be exciting.

[jasontoddwhitt]

NCAA Tournament Summary
&
Season Awards

Sweet 16
#1 Kansas 83, #5 Louisville 60
#2 Connecticut 67, #6 Duke 53
#1 Texas A&M 80, #4 Vanderbilt 94
#2 Alabama 62, #6 Villanova 65

#1 North Carolina 78, #4 Michigan St. 88
#11 UAB 62, St. Joseph's 76
#1 Memphis 80, #4 Clemson 68
#2 Texas 96, #3 Miami (FL) 64

After all four #1 seeds made it to the second week, two fall the regional semifinals. The story of the tournament continues to be the St. Joseph's Hawks, as their magical run continues with a 14-point victory over a Darth Vaden-less UAB squad. Only Michigan State stands in the way of an improbable Final Four berth. Overall #1 seed Kansas continues to roll on to a National Title.

Elite Eight
#1 Kansas 89, #2 Connecticut 81
#4 Vanderbilt 86, #6 Villanova 100
#4 Michigan St. 64, #15 St. Joseph's 73
#1 Memphis 89, #2 Texas 81

St. Joseph's rushed out to a 14 point halftime lead over the Spartans and hung on in the second half to become the highest seed ever to reach the Final Four. Standing in their way to immortality is John Calipari's Memphis Tigers, who ripped the Longhorns apart in the second half behind a 22-point performance by super frosh Derrick Rose. Kansas and Villanova will be an intriguing matchup, as both teams play mostly four-guard lineups.

Final Four
#1 Kansas 66, #6 Villanova 52
#1 Memphis 79, #15 St. Joseph's 72

St. Joseph's magical run finally came to an end as Chris Douglas-Roberts poured in 29 points to lead the Tigers to the National Championship game. Can John Calipari win his first National Title? Standing in his way will be Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks, who stifled Scottie Reynolds and Villanova.

National Championship
#1 Memphis 91, #1 Kansas 78

Chris Douglas-Roberts poured in 30 points as the Memphis Tigers defeated the Kansas Jayhawks despite Derrick Rose being limited to 14 minutes due to foul trouble. Mario Chalmers led the Jayhawks with 18 points.

NCAA Season Awards

National Champion: Memphis
NIT Champion: Rhode Island
Player of the Year: Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina) - 25.3ppg, 9.6rpg, 0.3apg, 1.2spg, 0.1bpg
Mid-Major Player of the Year: Jason Thompson (Rider) - 20.1ppg, 10.7rpg, 1.4apg, 0.8spg, 1.8bpg
Coach of the Year: Bill Self (Kansas)
Defensive Player of the Year: Richard Hendrix (Alabama) - 17.9ppg, 10.2rpg, 0.4apg, 1.2spg, 1.9 bpg
Big Man of the Year: Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina)
Freshman of the Year: O.J. Mayo (USC) - 24.2ppg, 5.1rpg, 3.3apg, 1.7spg

First Team All-American
PG: D.J. Augustin (Texas) - 20.7ppg, 3.0rpg, 6.9apg, 2.3spg,
SG: O.J. Mayo (USC)
SF: Shan Foster (Vanderbilt) - 19.3ppg, 5.8rpg, 1.5apg, 1.5spg
PF: Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina)
C: Aleks Maric (Nebraska) - 20.8ppg, 8.8rpg, 0.3apg, 1.0spg, 2.0bpg

Second Team All-American
PG: Sean Singletary (Virginia) - 22.3ppg, 4.8rpg, 5.7apg, 2.2spg, 0.1bpg
SG: Robert Vaden (UAB) - 23.3ppg, 5.0rpg, 3.3apg, 1.3spg, 0.1bpg
SF: Joe Alexander (WVU) - 16.6ppg, 8.2rpg, 1.3apg, 0.6spg, 1.4bpg
PF: Michael Beasley (Kansas St.) - 22.6ppg, 10.3rpg, 2.4apg, 1.4spg, 1.7bpg
C: Luke Nevill (Utah) - 19.8ppg, 9.4rpg, 0.5apg, 0.7spg, 1.3bpg

Freshman All-American
PG: Derrick Rose (Memphis) - 16.2ppg, 4.1rpg, 5.3apg, 1.5spg, 0.1bpg
SG: O.J. Mayo (USC)
SF: Donte Greene (Syracuse) - 14.4ppg, 5.9rpg, 1.0apg, 0.9spg, 2.1bpg
PF: Michael Beasley (Kansas St.)
C: Kevin Love (UCLA) - 15.9ppg, 8.9rpg, 0.5apg, 0.8spg, 1.2bpg

End of Season Awards

Big South Champions: Winthrop
Big South Coach of the Year: Coach Win (Winthrop)
Big South Player of the Year: Arizona Reid (High Point) - 20.9ppg, 10.4rpg, 0.8apg, 1.2spg
Big South Freshman of the Year: Jamarco Warren (Charleston Southern) - 9.7ppg, 1.8rpg, 4.2apg, 1.0spg, 0.1bpg

First Team All-Big South
PG: K.J. Garland (UNC Asheville) - 12.5ppg, 4.7rpg, 7.5apg, 1.4spg, 0.2bpg
SG: Jack Leasure (Coastal Carolina) - 16.8ppg, 1.5rpg, 2.4apg, 1.2spg, 0.3bpg
SF: Arizona Reid (High Point)
PF: Joseph Harris (COastal Carolina) - 8.8ppg, 13.1rpg, 0.8apg, 1.1spg, 1.4bpg
C: Kenny George (UNC Asheville) - 12.7ppg, 8.8rpg, 0.6apg, 0.5spg, 2.3bpg

Second Team All-Big South
PG: Chris Gaynor (Winthrop) - 7.8ppg, 2.0rpg, 7.0apg, 1.8spg, 0.2bpg
SG: Michael Jenkins (Winthrop) - 13.7ppg, 2.5rpg, 2.4apg, 1.5spg, 0.1bpg
SF: Reggie Williams (VMI) - 18.9ppg, 7.5rpg, 2.0apg, 0.7spg
PF: Alex McLean (Liberty) - 9.8ppg, 8.7rpg, 0.6apg, 0.4spg, 0.2bpg
C: Andy Buechert (Winthrop) - 9.7ppg, 4.7rpg, 0.3apg, 0.2spg, 0.6bpg

Freshman All-Big South
PG: Jamarco Warren (Charleston Southern)
SG: Byron Faison (Winthrop) - 6.2ppg, 0.6rpg, 0.4apg, 0.6spg, 0.2bpg
SF: Omar Carter (Charleston Southern) - 6.2ppg, 6.3rpg, 0.7apg, 0.8spg
PF: Quinn Brownfield (VMI) - 5.6ppg, 7.9rpg, 0.8apg, 0.9spg, 0.2bpg
C: Stephen Sargent (VMI) - 5.0ppg, 6.9rpg, 0.5apg, 0.4spg, 1.5bpg

Coach Whitt: Kinda surprised that Chris McEachin did not get consideration for the Freshman All-Big South team, considering he put up better stats than Winthrop's Byron Faison. It's unfortunate we were shut out of the awards ceremony, but they can't keep us down forever. The good news is that of the ten members of the All-Conference teams, who were thorns in my side every time we played, 7 of them are graduating. So we have that going for us.

[jasontoddwhitt]

Top 25 Recruiting Classes - 2008
RK	TEAM	5	4	3	2	1	TOTAL
1	Arizona	3	0	1	0		4
2	Michigan State	1	2	0	0		3
3	Syracuse	1	1	1	0		3
4	Vanderbilt	0	3	2	0		5
5	LSU	0	3	0	0		3
6	Duke	2	0	0	0		2
7	Washington State	0	2	3	0		5
8	Oregon	0	4	0	1		5
9	Ohio State	1	1	1	1		4
10	Texas Tech	1	0	4	0		5
11	Nevada	2	0	1	2		5
12	Maryland	1	0	2	0		3
13	Charlotte	0	2	2	0		4
14	West Virginia	0	3	0	1		4
15	Kansas	1	1	0	0		2
16	Washington	1	1	1	0		3
17	Georgia Tech	0	1	3	0		4
18	Marquette	1	1	0	1		3
19	Virginia Tech	0	2	1	1		4
20	Georgia	0	1	4	0		5
21	Virginia	0	2	1	0		3
22	Ole Miss	0	0	4	0		4
23	Xavier	0	1	2	1		4
24	St. Peter's	0	1	3	0		4
25	Clemson	0	2	2	1		5

Big South Recruiting Classes - 2008
RK	TEAM	5	4	3	2	1	TOTAL
1	High Point	0	0	3	1		4
2	UNC Asheville	0	0	1	2		3
3	Winthrop	0	0	1	4		5
4	Radford	0	0	1	3		4
5	Coastal Carolina	0	0	1	3		4
6	Liberty	0	0	0	4		4
7	Charleston Southern	0	0	0	3		3
8	VMI	0	0	0	0		0