Rise of a Star

[Coach_McGurk]

In this Dynasty, I will follow the career of a created NCAA 2K3 player for four years, and then draft him into NBA 2K3. I will then follow his career in the NBA until he retires.


AP- Valporaiso. Indiana's Mr. Basketbal, Kris Stokes, has announced his intention to sign with Valporaiso University. He had been recruited by Indiana University, Illinois University, Notre Dame, and Valpo before finally signing the letter of intent this afternoon. "I had a lot of offers from some pretty big schools but in my heart of hearts, I wanted to stay close to home, true to my heritage. Hopefully I can help take the team back to the Sweet 16 like back in '98, or possibly farther," Stokes commented, during his press conference.

[Coach_McGurk]

Valporaiso starting line up

PG Stalin Ortiz
SG Greg Tonagle
SF Kris Stokes
PF Ratis Grafs
C Antii Nikkila


Game 1: Valpo @ Syracuse

An early first test for the Crusaders and they passed with flying colors. Stokes had 25 points at the half and finished with 35 points and 8 rebounds. Ratis Grafs finished with 24 points. Carmello Anthony was held to 9 points in the entire game. Blow-out city.

Valpo 111
Syracuse 75

Game 2: Indiana State @ Valpo

I simmed this game. Stokes finished with 21 points, 2 blocks and 4 assists.

Valpo 98
ISU 89

Game 3: Northern Illinois @ Valpo

Simmed. Stokes had a quiet game with 11 points and 3 assists.

Valpo 98
NIU 66

Game 4: Valpo @ (5)Cincinnati

Tough game. I hung with them for the first 15 minutes of the game but after that they just started to pull away. Stokes was doing his part of the scoring, but Ratis Grafs was nowhere to be found. On the plus side, I did find a great back-up point guard in Jason Hawkins. He is really quick and can get to the basket and finish strong. I may end up starting him later. The score of this game is not as close as it looks. Valpo did go on a 10-0 run (including back to back 3's by Stokes) to close out the game but it was too little too late.

Valpo 70
(5)Cincy 75

Game 5: Valpo @ Loyola (Ill.)

Simmed. Stokes had a big night with 34 points.

(3-1)Valpo 98
LIL 71

Game 6: Valpo @ WS-Milwaukee

Stokes had an off night, but he hung in there defensively. His slack was picked up by the 7'0" center Antii Nikkila, who had an above average 16 point, 11 rebound performance. Stokes finished with 12 points (0-6 3PtFG) and 10 rebounds.

(4-1)Valpo 81
(4-1)UWMW 70

Game 7: Samford @VU

Simmed. We lost?! Stokes: 14 points, 4 rebounds.

(5-1)Valpo 69
Samford 80

Game 8: Belmont @ Valpo

Simmed. Won easy. Stokes 11 pts, 2 asts.
(6-1)Valpo 100
Belmont 74

Coming up I have four pretty tough games right in a row. Central Michigan, Purdue, Missouri, and (17)Notre Dame. I will play all 4.

[Coach_McGurk]

Game 9: Central Michigan @ Valpo

Very close game due in part to CMI's 7 foot center. I forgot his name. I held a 5 point lead at halftime but ended up blowing them out.

(5-2)Valpo 96
CMI 79

Stokes: 23 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds

Game 10: Valpo @ Purdue

Purdue started the game on a 7-0 run, and I was beginning to think it would be a long, long game. But I managed to claw my way back into the game. My SG tied the score at 45 at halftime on a lucky running 15 footer at the buzzer. With Purdue's starting center and power forward out of the line up, I went on a 16-2 run in the second half and never looked back.

(6-2)Valpo 94
Purdue 81

Stokes: 32 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists

Game 11: Valpo @ Missouri

Another close game, but I had control of the lead, as well as tempo throughout the entire game. My back court just absolutely killed them. I moved Stokes to SG for a while to and ran Perimeter offense throughout most of the second half. All of the wide open space gave me free reign to drive to the hoop whenever I wanted.

(7-2)Valpo 93
Mizzou 83

Stokes: 22 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals

(16) Notre Dame is up next. Should be a good one.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I like this idea...keep it up...

[Ephexx]

This is great, keep it up.

BTW, are you player locking on Stokes?

[Coach_McGurk]

Quote:

---

This is great, keep it up.

BTW, are you player locking on Stokes?

---

Tried it. Didn't really like it. So no.

Game 12: (16)Notre Dame @ Valpo

All I can say is: What a game!! With 7 minutes left in the first half I had a 37-19 lead. Even I couldn't believe it. ND's defense was pathetic. Then...they called time out and emerged as a completely different butt kicking team. With one and a half minutes left in the half they had pulled within 6, 53-47. Though I was still in the lead at the half (55-49), I figured it was not for long. And I was right. They tied it at 57 with 17 minutes left in the game and then went on a 16-2 run. I called time out to settle myself down, and started clawing my way back into the game. They always seemed to keep their lead at 8 and would never let it dip any lower than that, but with 1 minute left I pulled with in 2, 94-92. That is as close as I got, cause I couldn't intentionally foul them (I don't know why, maybe I was pressing the wrong button.) They ended up winning 98-94, keeping their undefeated season intact.

(9-2)Valpo 94
(9-0)Notre Dame 98

Stokes: 21 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists

Other notables:
Chris Thomas: 6 points, 13 assists
Matt Carroll: 16 points
Jordan Cornette and Torin Francis: 25 points, 12 rebounds (ouch)

Game 13: Western Illinois @ Valpo

Simmed. Won, but it was close. Stokes had 20 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists

Valpo 71
WIU 67

Game 14: Southern Utah @ Valpo

Simmed. Won easy. Stokes had 8 points and 11 rebounds.

I might play 1 or 2 of the remaining regular season games, as I have a pretty weak conference, but I will play every tournament game.

[Coach_McGurk]

I simmed the rest of the regular season and have those results. I won the conference tournament easily, but don't have those. Here are the results.

Game 15
Chicago State 70
Valpo 86
Stokes: 38 points , 3 rbs, 3 asts

Game 16
IUPUI 84
Valpo 101
Stokes: 21 pts, 3 rbs, 3 asts

Game 17
OUC 63
Valpo 95
Stokes 16 points, 6 rbs, 3 asts

Game 18
Oral Roberts 81
Valpo 92
Stokes: 15 points, 9 rbs, 10 asts >< that close to a triple double

Game 19
MOKC 59
Valpo 78
Stokes: 19 points, 7 rbs, 1 ast

Game 20
Charlotte 79
Valpo 86

Game 21
WILL 83
Valpo 92
Stokes: 28 pts, 4 rbs, 4 asts

Game 22
Chicago St. 72
Valpo 102
Stokes: 16 pts, 3 rbs, 1 ast

Game 23
SUT 66
Valpo 84
Stokes: 28 pts, 4 rbs, 4 asts

Game 24
OUC 63
Valpo 114
Stokes: 23 pts, 7 rbs, 4 asts

Game 25
IUPUI 63
Valpo 69
Stokes: 13 pts, 9 rbs, 3 asts

Game 26
MOKC 78
Valpo 84
33 pts, 7 rbs, 4 asts

Game 27
Oral Roberts 58
Valpo 90
Stokes: 34 pts, 6 rbs, 3 asts

Final Regular Season Stats for Stokes: 20.5 ppg, 3.4 apg, 5.5 rpg, .7 bpg, 1.7 spg, 29.4 mpg, 196/371 52.8% FG, 56/133 42.1% 3PFG, 106/157 67.5% FT, 554 TP, 149 TRB, 18 TBLK, 47 TSTL, 91 TAST, 90 TTO, 27 GP, 795 MIN

Ended the regular season with a bang. Final regular season record (24-3). I don't feel that bad about the loss to Notre Dame anymore cause two weeks later they were #1 in the country. Here is the final Top 25 Poll.

1. Duke
2. Notre Dame
3. Arizona
4. Indiana
5. Tulsa
6. Florida
7. Texas
8. Maryland
9. Texas Tech
10. California
11. Pepperdine
12. Georgia Tech
13. Ball State
14. Kansas
15. Hawaii
16. Boston College
17. Illinois
18. Wake Forest
19. Creighton
20. Alabama
21. UCLA
22. Kentucky
23. Virginia
24. Michigan State
25. Louisiana Tech

I am seeded 13th in the lower left bracket (I got shafted). My round 1 opponent is the number 12 team in the nation Georgia Tech

Round 1 results will be up soon.

[Coach_McGurk]

NCAA Tournament

Round 1
(13)Valparaiso 100
(4)Georgia Tech 81

Total and complete domination. They didn't have a chance after their starting center got injured 5 minutes into the first half. Thereafter I had an immediate and huge height advantage, especially when I moved Stokes to SG and had both of my centers in at the same time. Round 2 opponent is (5)Kentucky. They were ranked lower than Georgia Tech in the polls as well so hopefully I will continue to have the same success.

Full Round 1 Results

West
(1)Duke 98
(16)Portland St. 67

(8)Oregon 83
(9)Oklahoma 71

(5)Kansas 91
(12)Gonzaga 79

(4)Illinois 98
(13)McNeese St. 78

(6)UCLA 98
(11)Louisville 76

(3)Texas Tech 95
(14)Troy St. 67

(7)Georgia 83
(10) San Francisco 57

(2)Arizona 90
(15)Cent. Conn. St. 77

Midwest
(1)Notre Dame 75
(16)Vermont 57

(8)Louisiana Tech 67
(9)Seton Hall 50

(5)Ball St. 76
(12)Villanova 88

(4)Pepperdine 92
(13)Tennessee Tech 75

(6)Wake Forest 71
(11)Wisconsin 57

(3)Hawaii 88
(14)Western MI 75

(7)Virginia 86
(10)Penn 89

(2)Maryland 98
(15)Niagra 83

East
(1)Texas 95
(16)Alabama St. 86

(8)Ar-Little Rock 103
(9)Marquette 115

(5)Boston College 89
(12)Louisiana St. 62

(4)California 83
(13)Miami 73

(6)Utah 79
(11)Mississippi 93

(3)Alabama 77
(14)Davidson 72

(7)Michigan St 97
(10)Northwestern 47

(2)Tulsa 108
(15)WS-Milwaukee 92

South
(1)Indiana 105
(16)St. U of Virginia 55

(8)Georgetown 58
(9)Xavier 78

(5)Kentucky 105
(12)Southern Ill 79

(4)Georgia Tech 81
(13)Valparaiso 100

(6)Delaware 91
(11)Ohio St. 70

(3)Creighton 125
(14)St. Bonaventure 75

(7)Cincinnati 81
(10)Pitt 76

(2)Florida 105
(15)American 96