Sign in to follow this  
PointGuard

Tom “Whatever It Takes” Bradbury

Recommended Posts

  •  
  •  
Season 5, Games 23 & 24

 

Game #23, Jan. 30, 2018, Houston (9-12, 5-5): Although we beat the Cougars by 15 points in their gym, we’ve been working hard to not let our players take them lightly. SF Travann McCuthison is their top scorer (13.0 ppg) and SG Terrence Jones has a sweet shot from anywhere on the court, although he passes up shots and feeds the ball to others. We hold Houston scoreless for the first 8-3/4 minutes of the game, as we built a 13-0 lead. We hit just 41% of our shots in the half, but allowed Houston to connect on just 21% of their FG attempts. We also held a 10-1 turnover advantage. So our 37-17 lead at the break was what should have been expected. PF Angelo Craft topped our scoring with 9 points. We played our bench extensively in the 2nd half and still came away with a 72-52 beatdown of the Cougars. SG Austin Hunter scored 14, PG Jared Keady had 13, C Kelvin Ross also scored 13 (plus had 8 rebounds), and PF Angelo Craft finished with 9 points. (21-2, 10-1, 1st place)

Game #24, Feb. 2, 2018 @ South Florida (5-16, 1-10): We played poorly in the first half, including hitting just 33% of our shots plus 3 of our best players were in foul trouble. We left the court trailing 33-25 at the end of the first half. Our leading scorer was PF Angelo Craft with 6 points. Offensively we continued to struggle, but we defensively stopped the Bulls and finally took a 44-42 lead with 7:50 to play. We began hitting out shots then and increased our lead to 10 points in the next 2-1/2 minutes. We then pulled away for a decisive 70-50 win. PF Angelo Craft poured in 17 points and C Kelvin Ross and PG Jared Keady added 11 points each. SG Austin Hunter scored just 8 points, but dished out 5 assists, pulled down 10 rebounds, and had 2 steals. (22-2, 11-1, 1st place; Ranked #2 in the polls; RPI: 2)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
  •  
  •  
Season 5, Games 25 & 26

 

Game #25, Feb. 6, 2018, Cincinnati (5-16, 2-10): We barely edged the Bearcats 65-62 when we played then earlier this season in Cincinnati. We held a solid lead throughout most of the 1st half and went to the locker room with a 36-28 advantage. PG Jared Keady scored 9 points. We played uninspired ball, but came away with a 67-52 win. PG Jared Keady tossed in 18 points and SG Austin Hunter contributed 17. PF Angelo Craft scored 13. SF John Jones added 8. C Jules Grant scored only 4 points but had 3 assists, 9 rebounds, 4 steals and a block. (23-2, 12-1, 1st place)

Game #26, Feb. 9, 2018 @ Tulane (15-7, 9-4): Even though we beat the Green Wave by 12 points, that was a home game for us. Tulane has won 11 of 12 of their home games. They have good scoring across their entire starting team. We maintain a small lead throughout the entire first half. But each time it looks like we might pull away, Tulane strikes to keep our lead within reach. At the half we’re on top 43-36. PG Jared Keady (16 points) and SG Austin Hunter (12 points) are the leaders of our attack. We continued to lead throughout the 2nd half, but with a minute to go, Tulane hit a 3 that tied the game at 69-69. We failed to score then after the Green Wave missed a shot, they pulled down an offensive rebound and worked the ball around until they popped in a 12 foot jumper to put them ahead 71-69. We called a time out with 7 seconds to play to draw up a play. Our intended play fizzled but Keady got the ball in low to Kelvin Ross and he put up a contested 5 footer than found the bottom of the net and sent us to overtime. Trailing by 4 with a minute to go in the OT, Angelo Craft dropped in a 3 to cut Tulane’s lead to 80-79. We got called for a questionable foul with 27 seconds to go. The Green Wave hit both shots to put them up by 3. We had 2 shots but couldn’t put down either of them and that’s all she wrote as we went down to an 82-79 defeat in OT. Both PG Jared Keady and SG Austin Hunter scored 20 points, but C Kelvin Ross scored 15 plus pulled down 14 rebounds. (23-3, 12-2, 1st place; Ranke #3, RPI: 3)

Norton Award: SG Austin Hunter was named a semi-finalist for the Norton Award.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Season 5, Games 27 & 28

 

Game #27, Feb. 13, 2018, SMU (10-13, 5-9): The key to this game is holding down the Mustangs’ brilliant SF Dan Cummings who is averaging 16.3 ppg. We score the first 9 points while forcing the Mustangs to make 6 turnovers in the first 4 minutes of play. Our defense remains stellar as we limit SMU to just 5 points 12 minutes into the game and take a 23-5 lead. In the entire first half SMU turns the ball over 16 times, but we play sloppily toward the end of the half and let them reduce our lead to 32-20 at the break. We continue to do the job defensively in the 2nd half and annihilate the Mustangs 74-42. We command the boards 29-19 and have a 28-12 turnover advantage. PG Jared Keady scores 12 and dishes out 6 assists, PF Angelo Craft also scores 12, while SG Austin Hunter tosses in 11, and C Kelvin Ross and PG Troy Cox each add 10. SF John Jones holds SMU’s Dan Cummings to just 8 points. (24-3, 13-2, 1st place)

Game #28, Feb. 16, 2018 @ Temple (16-8, 11-4): We beat the 2nd place Owls by 16 earlier this year, but they have a 10-1 record at home. The game is tightly contested for the first 10 minutes but then Temple simply outplays us to build an 11 point lead. We rally late in the first half to cut their first half lead to 43-40. We can never overtake the Owls in the 2nd half and go down to a 77-65 defeat as we hit just 39% of our shots. With 2 games left in the regular season our conference lead is down to 1 game over Temple. PG Jared Keady is our leading scorer with 16 points while SF John Jones, C Jules Grant, and SG Georgiy Zolkin each score 10 points. (24-4, 13-3, 1st place, Ranked #3, RPI: 3)

Injury: PF Adrian Bains strained his hamstring and likely will miss the last 2 games of our regular season, but should hopefully be ready to contribute i the conference tourney.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Season 5, Games 29 & 30

 

Game #29, Feb. 20, 2018, Tulsa (12-13, 9-7): We have a hard time getting untracked and fall behind by 5 points, but then scored 15 unanswered points to take a double digit lead midway through the first half. At the half we lead 38-27. Our lead ballooned to 20 with 13-1/2 minutes left in the game. We stomp Tulsa 71-46 in our second straight strong defensive game. PF Angelo Craft scored 15 points, PG Jared Keady knocked down 14 points, and SF John Jones finished with 12 points. Centers Kelvin Ross and Jules Grant both had 9 points. (25-4, 14-3, 1st place)

 

Game #30, Feb. 23, 2018 @ Central Florida (11-15, 8-9): C Kelvin Ross twisted an ankle early in the game and sat out the rest of the game. We achieve a double digit lead after 8 minutes of play and then roll to a 54-28 halftime lead. We hit 61% of our shots and had a 12-3 turnover advantage. PF Angelo Craft scored 13 points in the half. Central Florida roared back in the 2nd half and cut our lead to 63-60 with 8-1/2 minutes to play. But we scored the next 7 points to give ourselves some breathing room with 5 minutes to go. We come away with a 72-63 win in our final road game. PF Angelo Craft led our scoring with 15 points. PG Jared Keady and SG Austin Hunter both scored 13 and SG Georgiy Zolkin came off the bench to add 9 points. (26-4, 15-3, 1st place; Ranked #3 in the polls; RPI: 3)

 

Norton Award: SG Austin Hunter was named a finalist for the Norton Award.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Re: Tom “Whatever It Takes” Bradbury

 

Here's the final standings for the American Athletic Conference for the 2018-2019 season:

 

33c7m34tmxlcb1m6g.jpg

 

As you can see, there were really 3 groupings: the top 4, the middle 4, and the bottom 2. Our big advantage was that we were able to win more frequently on the road than any of the other teams.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

AAC Tourney

 
American Athletic Association Tournament—Play in Games

Central Florida—61, South Florida—43 (POG: SG Josh Zimmerman, Central Florida-16 pts)

Cincinnati—67, SMU—60 (POG: SG Kevin Martin, Cincinnati-20 pts)


 
American Athletic Association Tournament—Round 1

Temple—74, Central Florida—51 (POG: SF Freddie Williams, Temple-17 pts)

Tulane—74, Tulsa—48 (POG: C Frank Rivera, Tulane-23 pts)

Houston—71, Connecticut—60 (POG: C Jeff Hinton, Houston-12 pts, 8 reb)

Game #31, Mar. 10, 2018, Cincinnati (8-20, 4-14): Although we held a small lead throughout most of the first half, the Bearcats hung with us. We held a slim 36-33 edge at the break. PG Jared Keady led our scoring with 11 points. After 6 minutes of the 2nd half we had opened a 10 point lead and then with 9 minutes left in the game we jumped out on top by 20 points. We didn’t let the Bearcats come back and came away with an 84-66 win by outshooting Cincinnati 51% to 40% and controlling the boards 34-22. PG Jared Keady tossed in 20 points. SG Austin Hunter scored 13 while dishing out 5 assists and pulling down 8 boards. C Jules Grant finished with 12 points, 1 assist, 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 block. PF Angelo Craft and PG Troy Cox both scored 8 points. (27-4)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

American Athletic Association Tournament—Round 2

 

Tulane—81, Temple—53 (POG: PG Mac Olson, Tulane-22 pts and 8 assists)

Game #32, Mar. 11, 2018, Houston (14-16, 9-9): We pull away early and finish the first half with a 40-29 lead. PG Jared Keady again has a big first half, hitting for 13 points. We open a 20 point lead with 15-1/2 minutes left in the game. 3 minutes later we were up by 30. We let the Cougars come back a little but were never threatened and topped Houston 80-63 to advance to the championship game. We totally dominated the boards 45-22. C Kelvin Ross had a big game with 18 points and 12 rebounds. PG Jared Keady also scored 18. SF John Jones had 12 points and 9 boards. While SG Austin Hunter had an uncharacteristically low scoring night with 3 points, he dished out 8 assists and pulled down 7 rebounds. (28-4)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites


American Athletic Association Tournament—Championship

 


Game #33, Mar. 12, 2018, Tulane (20-9, 12-6): We fell behind 6-0. Before 5 minutes had expired we trailed 14-6 and all 5 of our starters had been called for a foul. But with 11-1/2 minutes to go in the half, we took an 18-17 lead following 2 consecutive 3’s by Austin Hunter. The refs took the game out of the hands of the players as they continuously blew their whistles. We escaped with a 36-32 halftime lead. Austin Hunter led our scoring with 10 points. We continued to lead throughout the 2nd half and with 6-1/2 minutes to go took a double digit lead. We then held off the Green Wave to win 75-68 and become conference champions. SG Austin Hunter was top scorer with 19 points. C Kelvin Ross put in 15 points, and PG Jared Keady added 12. (29-4, Ranked #3 in the polls, RPI: 3)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
 
  •  
  •  
  •  
NCAA Tournament

 

 

NCAA Selection Show:

#1 seeds: Indiana, Oregon, Memphis, UCLA

Connecticut is in a play-in game with Providence for a #12 seed

Tulane also has a play-in game against Tennessee for a #12 seed

Temple is a #9 seed in the Pittsburgh Regional and will play #8 seed Utah

Memphis is a #1 seed in the Austin Regional and will play #16 seed Jacksonville State

NCAA Tournament Play-in Games:

Connecticut—78, Providence—74 (POG: SG Bobbie Harris, 27 pts)

Tennessee—75, Tulane—71

NCAA Tournament Round 1:

Temple—80, Utah—63 (POG: SG Anthony Smith, 23 pts)

San Francisco—80, Connecticut—71 (SG Bobby Harris, 28 pts)

Game #34, #16 seed Jacksonville State (19-11): We hold the lead throughout the first half and go to the break with a 36-22 lead. We expanded our lead to 20 after 4-1/2 minutes of play in the 2nd half. We roll to a 77-58 victory. PF Angelo Craft led our scoring with 18 points. Jared Keady dropped in 13 points, and Austin hunter and John Jones both added 12. (30-4)

NCAA Tournament Round 2:

Indiana—75, Temple—69 (SF Freddie Williams scored 22 points for Temple, but C Craig Davis scored 23 and pulled down 15 rebounds for Indiana).

Game #35, #9 seed Butler (23-9): We hit two 3’s on our first two possessions and then after taking an 8-0 lead, we couldn’t buy a bucket, allowing Butler to tie us at 11-11. But then we scored 10 straight points. Butler made a couple runs but we came away with a 38-25 halftime lead, primarily due to an 11-4 turnover advantage. SF John Jones dropped in 13 points. Two minutes into the 2nd half we had a 20 point lead, but our big guys were in foul trouble. And that turned out to be our winning margin as we cruised to a 75-55 victory. We dominated the boards 37-25 and turned the ball over just 9 times compared to Butler’s 17 turnovers. SF John Jones scored 20 points, had 2 assists, pulled down 7 rebounds, and had 3 steals. SG Austin Hunter tossed in 15 points and PG Jared Keady added 12. (31-4)

NCAA Tournament Sweet 16:

Game #36, # 4 seed #23 ranked Duke (21-12): We beat Duke79-66 in the Coaches Classic at the beginning of the season but they won the ACC Tournament and have 4 players averaging in double figures. SG Austin Hunter picks ups 2 fouls in the first 3 minutes of the game. But we hit 52% of our shots in the first half to take a 42-37 lead to the locker room. We were led by our two PG’s with Jared Keady’s knocking down 12 points and Troy Cox drilling in every shot he took to score 9 points in 9 minutes of play. But 3 of our starters each had 2 fouls and a 4th starter picked up his 2nd foul 8 seconds into the 2nd half. The first part of the 2nd half was a horrible display of ugly basketball by both teams. Duke came on to take a 49-47 lead with 12-1/2 minutes to play. From there the lead flip flopped until the final 2 minutes when Duke moved ahead and led by 4 with 55 seconds remaining. We called a time out to set up a 3 for Austin Hunter. He had a contested shot but drilled the 3 to get us within a single point. Duke’s center drove the lane and was fouled with 23 seconds on the clock. He sunk both free throws. Another time out and this time we cleared out a 3 for Jared Keady who also hit his shot to tie the game with 12 seconds to go. We forced the ball into the corner where Duke had to put a desperation 3 that missed everything taking us to overtime knotted at 70-70. Halfway through the OT, we led 76-71 after Jared Keady hit a 3. We hit two more 3’s to pull ahead by 11 with a minute to go. And after a scare in the 2nd half, we drubbed the Blue Devils in OT for an 85-73 winSG Austin Hunter came up big in the 2nd half and OT to finish with 25 points along with 7 rebounds. PG Jared Keady scored 16 and dished out 5 assists, and PG Troy Cox added 9. (32-4)

NCAA Tournament Elite 8: 

Game #37, #10 seed Boston College (20-12): We outclassed BC in the first half and took a 47-33 lead to the intermission. C Jules Grant topped our scoring with 9 points. But Boston College cut our lead to 9 in the first 4 minutes of the 2nd half. We had to work but the Eagles worked harder and with 5-1/2 minutes to go our lead was down to 6 points. We held on to pull out an 82-72 victoryHigh point honors went to SG Austin Hunter with 16 points, but more impressively he had 9 assists, 7 rebounds, 5 steals, and 2 blocks. PF Angelo Craft score 14, and C Jules Grant, PG Jared Keady, and C Kelvin Ross each scored 11 points. (33-4)

NCAA Tournament Final 4:

Game #38, #1 seed #5 ranked UCLA (28-7): We beat UCLA 93-78 in the Coaches Classic at the beginning of the season. Their SF Greg Wall is averaging 17.6 ppg. The game was extremely close the first 10 minutes, but then UCLA opened as much as an 8 point lead and finished the half ahead of us by a 35-28 score. We hit just 32% of our shots and were 0 for 11 from beyond the arc. SF John Jones led our scoring with 9 points. We fell behind by 13 points early in the 2nd half and midway through the half trailed 62-52. But we then put on a run that cut UCLA’s lead to 2 with 7-1/2 minutes to go. We then tied the game at 69-69 with 6:10 remaining. We then fell apart and UCLA caught fire and we went down to an 86-75 defeat. Our shooting failed us as we hit just 36% of our shots while UCLA knocked down 48% of theirs. SF John Jones was our top scorer with 20 points and he also had 2 assists, 8 rebounds, 2 steals and a block. SG Austin Hunter scored 17. C Kelvin Ross had 14 points plus 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks. PF Angelo Craft added 12. But the star of the game was UCLA’s PG Ross Smiley who scored 31 points and saddled both of our PG’s (Jared Keady and Troy Cox) with 4 fouls apiece. For the 2nd straight year we lost in the semi-finals and for the 2nd straight year we lost to the national champs. (33-5)

NCAA Championship Game:

It was all Pac-12 with UCLA knocking off Oregon 69-54 to take the championship.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

End of Season Odds & Ends

 

Awards:

SG Austin Hunter—2nd Team All-American
SG Austin Hunter—AAC Player of the Year
C Jules Grant—AAC Defensive Player of the Year
SG Austin Hunter—AAC 1st Team All-Conference
PG Jared Keady—AAC 1st Team All-Conference
C Kelvin Ross—AAC 2nd Team All-Conference
Tom Brady—AAC Coach of the Year

Season Review: 

We achieved 3 of our 4 goals: winning 20+ games, winning the conference tournament, and improving school prestige. The only goal we failed to achieve was winning the national championship.

Our request for a budget increase was denied.

A number of top-flight schools approached Coach Brady to take over the reigns for their programs, but he opted to remain at Memphis since the bribes he’s given might come back to haunt him. 

All 3 assistant coaches will remain on-board for next season.

Incoming Recruits:

SG Roy Field, 6-4 HS Sr, Sarasota, FL, 3.6 GPA, 1290 SAT. 27.1 ppg, 6.0 apg, 10.8 rpg, 7.4 spg, 3.6 bpg. Excellent scorer with sweet shooting from both inside and out; Strong rebounder; Outstanding ball thief and very good shot blocker; Great passer; Good athleticism; Not a leader but doesn’t cause problems; Talented player who could work harder; Top 25 at Indy Elite Camp; MVP at Memphis Hoops Summit. Ranked #5 with an overall rating of A. We’ve stashed away $10,000 for him when he arrives at campus.

PG Morris Wolfe, 6-0 HS Sr, Maynardville, TN, 2.9 GPA, 1090 SAT. 25.2 ppg, 8.4 apg, 8.0 rpg, 5.7 spg, 3.5 bpg. Excellent scorer with a good shot from outside and inside; Excellent passer; Strong rebounder; Great defensively; Excellent at stealing the ball and a good shot blocker; Tremendous work ethic; Top 5 at Indy Elite Camp. Ranked #9 with overall rating of A. No bribe was offered.

PG Isaac Wright, 6-0 HS Sr, Burbank, CA, 3.0 GPA, 1070 SAT. 24.0 ppg, 7.8 apg, 10.6 rpg. 2.9 spg, 2.1 bpg. Excellent scorer with great outside range; Excellent passer; Strong rebounder; Very good defensively; Good athleticism; Hard working kid with a tremendous work ethic; Not a leader but doesn’t cause problems; Doesn’t have many problems with injuries; Top 10 player at the Indy Elite Camp. Ranked #16 with an overall rating of A. Another $10,000 has been held aside for him when he gets here.

SF Julian Blevins, 6-7 HS Sr, Whitwell, TN, 3.4 GPA, 1110 SAT. 16.9 ppg, 3.4 apg, 5.9 rpg, 1.6 spg, 2.0 bpg. Excellent scorer who can shoot well from both outside and inside; Strong athleticism; Weak rebounder; Hard working kid; Doesn’t have many problems with injuries; Decent, but not spectacular, showing at the Indy Elite Camp; Top 5 at the Memphis Hoop Summit. Ranked #69 with an overall rating of B. No bribe was offered.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

NOT for NCAA Eyes

 

Here's a report providing information about each of the recruits Coach Bradbury has given scholarships to with their season-by-season stats. It also shows bribes that were taken by various players, thus Coach Bradbury and his staff have encrypted this to avoid it getting into the hands of the NCAA.

 

Below the recruit information is a summary of the Memphis Tigers record and Coach Bradbury's record.

 

1cyhc5tv59l2oxy6g.jpg

Dynasty Threads: 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Season 6 Recruiting

 

Our incoming recruit class is rated as the 3rd best in the nation. Only Syracuse and Stanford were rated above us.

 

None of our returning players transferred. Yes!

 

We only have one scholarship to award this recruiting season. While we’re solid at all 5 positions, our depth up front is slightly less than at the perimeter. So we focus mostly on big guys. Recruiting throughout the summer goes extremely well. We quickly build strong interest in 7 of the top 10 recruits nationally and our success with those in the top 25 and top 50 is also solid. As we reach the time to offer our lone scholarship and do home visits, we have a dilemma. The number 1 and number 3 ranked recruits are pure studs, either of which we’d love to have on our team. But we also know that top 10 (and particularly top 5) recruits often declare for the draft after just spending a year in the college ranks. So do we want to go after one of the studs or do we want to go after a very strong big man who is ranked somewhere from 11 to 20 nationally and have a better chance of having him play for us for 4 years?

 

Looking at the recruits who rate highest on our radar:

 

#1 is a 6-7 PF who scores at will and totally dominates the boards. While we’re high on his list of top 10 schools, there are a couple schools ahead of us and prestige is of high importance to him, so we could be edged out by some of the more prestigious schools. We discuss offering a substantial bribe, but it’s hard to know if it will move us up or if he will be turned off by it.

#3 is a 6-8 C who is a very strong scorer but an even more imposing presence on the boards. But while he is very interested in our program, we’re not cracking his top 10. Again, what would be the effect of offering a bribe? That’s further complicated by the fact that his family is very well off, so money likely won’t have as much weight in influencing him...or will it?

#9 is a 6-8 PF who is a great scorer and while not in the class of the previous two recruits with respect to rebounding, still has top-notch rebounding skills. And we’re at the top of his list of schools in which he’s interested. Additionally his family is dirt-poor so if we were to offer a bribe it may cement the deal.

#11 is a 6-7 PF who is very similar talent-wise to the #9 recruit (above). But his interest level in Memphis, while good, isn’t totally solid yet. Again though, his family is at the bottom of the economic spectrum, so a bribe might significantly increase our standing.

#12 is a 6-8 C who is as good a scorer as #9 and #11 above and looks to be a bit better on the boards. His family is middle-class, so would a bribe positively or negatively affect his interest in us?

#13 is a 6-8 C who is slightly below the skill level of #9, #11, and #12. But he’s still a very good player. His family is lower-middle class so he might welcome a bribe.

#14 and #18 are both 6-6 PF’s and are pretty similar to #13 talent-wise. Both of their families are a little above middle class.

#19 and #20 are also 6-6 PF’s with pretty equal skills to #13, #14, and #18. But we’re almost at the top of their lists of top 10 schools and their families are just a little below middle class.

 

The #6 ranked recruit, a 6-8 PF, has excellent skills and he’s a great leader, but his grades are poor so we’ve ruled him out of consideration for now since he might not meet our minimum SAT scores.

 

While we probably can’t go wrong with any of these players, some will have a bigger impact on our program, either immediate or long-term, than others. The more we compare these guys, the more confused we get. What to do?

 

We decide that while a lot of the top recruits are very interested in our program, that it’s very difficult to beat out the big-time programs. So we decide to toss out a lot of bribes and see who bites and if that significantly moves us up their top 10 list to give us a chance of landing them after our home visits.

 

So in late August we make the following moves:

 

#1, PF Andrew Thomas—lower middle class family, he’s very interested in our program but we’re not in his top 10—offer a $20 campus apartment—he spurns our offer and interest in our program immediately drops to somewhat interested.

 

#3, C Donny Mims—family is very well-off, he’s very interested in our program but we’re not in his top 10—offer a $35K car—he finds that tempting and says it will factor into his decision. No immediate perceived change in his interest level though. But by the next week we’re #1 on his top 10 list!

 

#9, PF Jeremy Harris—family is very poor financially, we’re #5 in his top 10 list—offer $10K in cash—he finds that tempting and says it will factor into his decision. No immediate perceived change in his interest level though.

 

#11 PF Shyrone Bell—family is very poor financially, he’s very interested in our program but we’re not in his top 10--$10K cash offer, but he’s offended by the offer. His interest in our program immediately drops to somewhat interested.

 

#12 C Andy Hamilton—family is a little above middle class, he’s somewhat interested in our program but we’re not in his top 10—$10K cash offer--he finds that tempting and says it will factor into his decision. No immediate perceived change in his interest level though. His interest level in our program immediately improves to very interested.

 

#13 C Tanner Yeager—family is lower-middle-class, he’s somewhat interested in our program but we’re not in his top 10--$10K cash offer-- he finds that tempting and says it will factor into his decision. No immediate perceived change in his interest level though. His interest level in our program immediately improves to very interested.

 

#18 PF Bryan Kirkland—family is upper-middle-class, he’s somewhat interested in our program but we’re not in his top 10--$10K cash offer-- he finds that tempting and says it will factor into his decision. No immediate perceived change in his interest level though. His interest level in our program immediately improves to very interested.

 

#19 PF Maxey Nicholson—family is lower-middle-class, we’re #5 in his top 10 list—offer $10K cash-- he finds that tempting and says it will factor into his decision. No immediate perceived change in his interest level though. By the next week we’re #1 on his top 10 list!

 

[AARGGGHHHH!!!!! Even though we have a graduating senior (Jules Grant) who is on a scholarship, the recruiting screen now shows us with NO scholarships to offer and we can’t offer the one we scholarship that should become available after this season. ?????????? ]

 

[is this some strange quirk within DDSCB? Maybe.]

 

But....in order to work around this quirk for purposes of this dynasty report:

 

Did the NCAA come down on us? No. 

 

Steve Forester, the AD, says that he discovered that one of our players (who has since graduated) got hold of some old tests and used them to jack his GPA up to avoid ineligibility. He’s concerned that the NCAA might decide to begin an investigation to determine the extent of the problem and whether any coaches or others in the AD department were responsible. Since Steve is aware that bribes are being offered and accepted, he is also afraid that if the NCAA begins investigating this cheating incident, that they might stumble onto the bribes also. So in an attempt to forestall this, he is imposing a university penalty (loss of one scholarship this coming season) to show the NCAA that we’re penalizing ourselves for this incident, even though it was a player who did the cheating of his own accord.

 

So the hard work we did this season on recruiting goes down the toilet.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Norton Award

 

Two of our freshmen, PG Isaac Wright and PG Morris Wolfe, were nominated for the Norton Award. 

 

While it’s great to have two of our players nominated, since they’re both PG’s that means that it will be tough to give both enough minutes to have much of a chance to really compete for the award. Especially when we have a 3rd freshman, Roy Field, who is a top-notch SG. We’ll see how the three freshman do, but if they all play as well as expected, maybe we can split time at the 2 guard positions between the three of them. But that means that PG Troy Cox and SG Georgiy Zolkin, both returning sophomores who probably each felt to be the heir apparent for their respective positions, are likely to be miffed. Also I wouldn’t be surprised if Roy Field isn’t disappointed not to have been a Norton Award nominee.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Cheating Revisited

 

The ex-player who was accused of using stolen tests came in and testified to the administration that he did in fact get old tests for a course. But the professor for that course had totally restructured the curriculum and had handed the old tests out to the entire class saying that while the material covered in the tests would no longer be a part of the new curriculum, the questions on those tests covered issues that were worth the students being aware of. A subsequent discussion with the professor in question revealed that to be the case. 

 

Since no cheating was involved, Athletic Director Steve Forester went to the university’s administration and then to the American Athletic Conference and NCAA. All agreed that his decision to take away the scholarship could and should be vacated. 

 

Voila! We now have a scholarship to offer and it’s back to the drawing boards after losing 2 weeks of activity on the recruiting front.

 

[i finally realized why there was no scholarship to offer earlier. I had two recruits on my international list but wasn’t doing much with them and seldom looked at that list. But I must have mistakenly clicked on “offer scholarship” to one of them. Since I was only looking at the National recruit list and not the International recruit list, I didn’t notice that a scholarship had been offered. When the international recruit decided to go to another school, the scholarship rightfully became available again. So no game error, but operator error.]

 

With the scholarship back in place, we immediately make home visits to four players: #2 ranked SG Joe Asbury; #3 ranked C Donny Mims; #9 ranked PF Jeremy Harris; and #11 ranked C Andy Hamilton. We offer the scholarship to C Donny Mims.

 

Two days later we find out that our scholarship offer has been accepted by:

 

C Donny Mims, 6-8 Sr, New Milford, CT, 3.1 GPA. 23.5 ppg, 3.9 apg, 20.4 rpg, 2.2 spg, 3.1 bpg. Excellent scorer with a particularly devastating inside game, Outstanding rebounder, Great shot blocker who also gets his share of steals; Talented passer. Weak areas are ball handling and free throw shooting. While not a leader, he doesn’t cause problems. Was MVP at the Big Apple Showcase. 3rd highest ranked recruit in the nation. Overall rating: A. We stash away $35,000 for the car we offered and that he will get before he arrives on campus.

 

Where did the other players to whom we offered bribes eventually go?

 

#1 PF Andrew Thomas: Georgia Tech

#9 PF Jeremy Harris: Arizona

#11 C Andy Hamilton: Illinois

#13 C Tanner Yeager: UCLA

#15 PF Shryone Bell: Indiana

#17 PF Bryan Kirkland: Kentucky

#23 PF Maxey Nicholson: Arkansas

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Season 6 Lineup

 

Starters:

 

PG: Morris Wolfe, 6-0 Freshman

SG: Isaac Wright, 6-0 Freshman

SF: John Jones, 6-7 Sophomore

PF: Angelo Craft, 6-8 Junior

C: Jules Grant, 6-11 Senior

 

Primary reserves:

 

SG: Roy Field, 6-4 Freshman (also expect 6-0 Sophomore Georgiy Zolkin to get minutes at SG)

C: Kelvin Ross, 6-10 Sophomore

SF: Julian Blevins, 6-7 Freshman

PG: Troy Cox, 6-0 Sophomore (but Isaac Wright will also be playing PG)

PF: Ufuk Oztorun, 6-6 Junior

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Season 6, Games 1 & 2

 

Game #1 vs VCU Rams (0-0): We took the lead early and increased it throughout the first half to take a 43-24 even though 3 of our starters were in early foul trouble. Our shooting cooled in the 2nd half, but we crushed the Rams 81-50 by holding their shooting to 33%, dominating the boards 42-24, and holding an 18-9 turnover advantage. SG/PG Isaac Wright led our scoring with 18 points with PG Morris Wolfe knocking down 13 points and SF Julian Blevins adding 11. PF Angelo Craft scored 8 and grabbed 10 rebounds. (1-0)

 

Game #2 vs Charlotte 49ers (0-1): We simply could not get untracked in the first half and our shooting (32%) stunk. Charlotte took advantage of this to sport a 38-33 halftime lead. While our shooting didn’t improve much in the 2nd half, we tightened our defense to take a small lead midway through the 2nd half. But the game was incredibly close. We hit t a 3 just before the buzzer sounded and squeaked by with a 68-63 victory. SF John Jones topped our scoring with 16 points while C Kelvin Ross added 10. (2-0, ranked 6th in the polls with the 74th best RPI). 

 

UCONN blitzed their way through the Preseason NIT to win the championship and is ranked 4th in the polls. It looks like they’re going to give us some serious competition, particularly due to their talented perimeter players.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Season 6, Game 3

 

Game #3 vs DePaul Blue Demons (0-1): We held a small lead throughout most of the first half, but were playing soft and thus were unable to shake the Blue Demons. At the half, we held a slim 40-36 edge. The halftime chewing out seemed to work as we scored the first 13 points of the 2nd half. After just 5 minutes of play in the 2nd half, our lead had ballooned to 20. We cruised from there to a solid 86-65 win. Our biggest advantage was our 47-31 domination of the boards. PF Angelo Craft scored 25 and grabbed 11 rebounds. PG Morris Wolfe plunked in 19 points while dishing out 5 assists and hauling down 7 rebounds. SG/PG Isaac Wright added 10. Troy Rosen, DePaul’s center, scored 24 and gobbled up 12 rebounds. (3-0; Ranked 10th in the polls; RPI: 39)

 

AwardsPF Angelo Craft was named the AAC’s Player of the Week and PG Morris Wolfe was the AAC’s Freshman Player of the Week.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Season 6, Games 4 & 5

 

Game #4 vs Ohio State Buckeyes (1-2): We caught fire during the middle stages of the first half and pulled away to lead 44-29 at the end of the half. We expanded our lead to 20 points just 3 minutes into the 2nd half. Late in the 2nd half, Ohio State hit a bunch of 3’s to narrow our final winning margin to 84-77SG/PG Isaac Wright popped in 20 points, fed 4 assists, pulled down 5 rebounds, and had 3 steals and a block. C Kelvin Ross scored 15, SG Roy Field had 12 points, and PG Morris Wolfe scored 11 while dishing out 8 assists. For Ohio State, SG Onochie Yegeni scored 26 points, hitting 8 of 15 threes. (4-0)

 

Game #5 vs #25 Providence Friars (4-2): Kelvin Ross has taken over as our starting center. We scored the first 11 points. We held the Friars to 23% shooting in the first half. We came away with a 41-27 advantage at the half. We opened a 23 point lead in the 2nd half, but let the Friars fire in some buckets in the final minutes as we finished with an 87-77 victory. SF John Jones led our scoring with 15, but PG Morris Wolfe scored 14 with 7 assists, and C Kelvin Ross and SG/PG Isaac Wright both added 13. SG Jim Bush dropped in 19 points plus pulled down 9 rebounds for Providence. (5-0; Ranked 6th, RPI: 11)

 

AwardSG/PG Isaac Wright was named the AAC’s Freshman Player of the Week.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Season 6, Game 6

 

 

Game #6 @ #17 Louisville Cardinals (3-2): The Cardinals’ offensive strength resides in their two senior interior men (Damon Clark and Andy Williams) who have had very solid careers and who are both averaging in double figures this season. Playing a talented regional foe on their home court will be our biggest test thus far in the new season. C Kelvin Ross had 2 fouls assessed against him in the first 2 minutes of the game. Jules Grant came in to replace him and picked up 2 fouls in the next 2 minutes. With 9 minutes remaining in the half, five of our interior players each had 2 fouls against them. But we used quickness to force the Cardinals to turn the ball over including 7 steals and turned that into 17 fast break points while hitting 54% of our shots. When the half ended, we were up 43-31. As in our previous games, we built a 20+ point lead only to see our opponents make a final run in the waning minutes. We held on to whip the Cardinals 88-80. We held a 21-11 turnover advantage and we hit 53% of our FG attempts. Offensively we were led by SG Roy Field with 14 points, PG Morris Wolfe with 12 points and 7 assists, SG/PG Isaac Wright with 12 points and 8 assists, and SF/PF Julian Blevins with 10 points. PF Andy Williams scored 20 points with C Damon Clark adding 17 for Louisville. (6-0; Ranked 8th in the polls; RPI: 3)

 

UCONN is 8-1 and is ranked 6th in the polls with the 6th best RPI in the country.

 

AwardSG/PG Isaac Wright was named the AAC’s Freshman Player of the Week.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
 
Season 6, Games 7, 8 & 9

 

Game #7 vs Tennessee Volunteers (5-1): Tennessee has played 5 of their 6 games on the road, but their strength of schedule hasn’t been rigorous. We hit our first 7 FG attempts to take a 17-7 lead just 5 minutes into the game. We cooled off after that and the Vols closed to within 6 at the half, 34-28. We came out in the 2nd half with renewed energy and opened a 19 point lead with 14 minutes to play. We come away with an easy 80-59 win. SG Isaac Wright scored 14 points to go along with 2 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals. C Kelvin Ross also popped in 14 points plus he had an assist, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and 3 blocks. PG Morris Wolfe hit for 11 points and dished out 6 assists while PF Angelo Craft added 10 points while hauling down 9 boards. (7-0)

Game #8 vs Western Carolina Catamounts (4-2), Las Vegas Winter Jam, 1st round: C Kelvin Ross scored our first 5 points, but then picked up his 2nd foul less than 4 minutes into the game. We systematically destroyed the Catamounts in the first half, continually upping our lead and finishing the first stanza with a 43-17 bulge. We forced Western Carolina to commit 18 turnovers (to our 4) in the half. With 12 minutes left in the game our lead was 31. With our subs on the floor, the lead narrowed but there never was any danger and we advanced to the 2nd round with a 65-49 win. 4 of our starters were in double figures: PF Angelo Craft led with 15 points (plus he devoured 10 rebounds), SG Isaac Wright had 13, SF John Jones scored 12, and PG Morris Wolfe added 10. (8-0)

InjurySG Georgiy Zolkin sprained his wrist and will miss the rest of the tournament.

Game #9 vs Kent State Golden Flashes (8-2), Las Vegas Winter Jam, 2nd round: C Kelvin Ross again starts quickly scoring 7 points in the first 3 minutes but as in the previous game is assessed his 2nd foul very early, this time just 3 minutes into the game. After just 7 minutes we lead 22-7. We score nearly at will, hitting 69% of our first half shots to take a commanding 54-37 lead at the break. With 12-1/2 minutes to play lead balloons to 30. We finish with a 99-70 romp over Kent State. Leading the way was C Kelvin Ross with 15 points and 9 rebounds. PG Morris Wolfe also scored 15 while handing out 8 assists. SG Isaac Wright scored 11 and C Jules Grant had 10. (9-0; Ranked 2nd in the polls; RPI: 2)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Season 6, Games 10 & 11

 

Game #10 vs DePaul Blue Demons (6-3), Las Vegas Winter Jam Championship: The Blue Demons visited and we whomped them 86-65 early this season, but now it’s on a neutral court. Their center, Troy Rosen, scored 24 and grabbed 12 rebounds in our earlier game. Tonight DePaul burned us early with 4 straight 3’s to take a 12-4 lead. Meanwhile we were shooting like we didn’t give a damned if we won the championship or not. But midway through the half we pulled it together and with 7 minutes to play in the half, we took our first lead at 25-24. We continued to shoot well until the buzzer sounded, but DePaul didn’t back down so we held the slimmest of leads 45-44 going into the 2nd half. We gradually began to pull away in the 2nd half and led 65-55 with 11 minutes to play. But the Blue Devils made a late run that cut our lead to 84-80 with 1:49 remaining. John Jones took a pass in the corner, drove the baseline and pulled up to hit a 15 footer while being fouled. He converted the foul shot to complete the 3 point play and give us a 7 point cushion with 1-1/2 minutes left. DePaul really gave us a battle, but we escaped with a94-84 victory to claim the Championship trophy. PG Troy Cox came off the bench to lead our scoring with 18 points, but PF Angelo Craft tossed in 17, and SG Roy Field added 13 points plus dished out 6 assists. (10-0)

 

Game #11 @ Kansas State Wildcats (5-3): After falling behind 6-0, SG Roy Field came in to spark a comeback that put us ahead 27-13. By the time halftime arrived we were on top 48-25. We breezed to an 87-59 shellacking of the WildcatsSG Roy Field scored 20 points while handing off 6 assists and grabbing 5 rebounds. PG Morris Wolfe contributed 14 points along with 7 assists and 5 rebounds. SF John Jones scored 12 and PF Angelo Craft added 11. (11-0; Ranked 2nd in the polls; RPI: 2)

 

UCONN continues to look like they are going to be extremely tough competition in the AAC. They’re 11-1 and ranked 4th in the polls with the 6th best RPI in the country.

 

AwardSG Roy Field was named the AAC Freshman Player of the Week.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
 
  •  
  •  
  •  
End of Pre-Conference Play

 

Scoring: PG Morris Wolfe-12.3 ppg, SG Isaac Wright-11.8 ppg, PF Angelo Craft-11.3 ppg.

Rebounding: PF Angelo Craft-5.9 rpg, C Kevin Ross-5.2 ppg

Assists: PG Morris Wolfe-5.5 apg

Team: 83.5 ppg; Opponents-66.6 ppg

Top 5 records in AAC: Memphis 11-0; UCONN 11-1; Temple 7-3; South Florida 6-3; Central Florida 6-3.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Season 6, Games 12-17

 

 

Game #12 vs Cincinnati Bearcats (3-6, 0-0): We fell behind 15-7 but then scored the next 16 points. By the end of the half we led 43-33. We expanded our lead throughout the 2nd half and finished with a relatively easy 76-59 win. SG Roy Field scored 17 plus had 3 steals and 3 blocks. PG Morris Wolfe dropped in 12 points and fed out 6 assists. PF Angelo Craft finished with 10 points and 8 rebounds. (12-0, 1-0, 1st place tie)

 

Game #13 @ SMU Mustangs (2-8, 0-1): We took an early lead and held onto it throughout the first half, but SMU pulled to within a single point at the break, 35-34. We held onto a small lead during the 2nd half. With a minute to go in the game, we were up by just 3 points. We pulled out a much too difficult win, 64-59. Offensively we were led by PG Morris Wolfe’s 17 points. SG Isaac Wright added 12. (13-0, 2-0, 1st place tie; Ranked 2nd in the polls; RPI: 2)

 

AwardPG Morris Wolfe, AAC Freshman Player of the Week.

 

Game #14 vs South Florida Bulls (7-4, 1-1): Although we started slowly, when we got going we turned on our afterburners which pushed us to a 49-25 bulge at the half. Our dominance continued in the 2nd half and we crushed the Bulls 86-55PG Morris Wolfe topped our scoring with 20 points. C Kelvin Ross scored 14 while pulling down 7 boards. SF Julian Blevins added 12. (14-0, 3-0, 1st place)

 

Game #15 @ Tulane Green Wave (4-8, 2-1): We jumped out on top and with 11 minutes to go in the first half, we were on top 20-6. We went to the locker room with a 38-23 lead. Tulane cut our lead to 6 points early in the 2nd half, but then we spurted away and finished with an 82-54 victory. PG Morris Wolfe again took high point honors with 16 points plus he dished out 6 assists. C Jules Grant had a double-double (14 points and 11 rebounds). PF Angelo Craft scored 11 to go along with 7 boards. (15-0, 4-0, 1st place, Ranked 1st in the polls; RPI: 1)

 

Award: PG Morris Wolfe, AAC Freshman Player of the Week.

 

Game #16 @ Temple Owls (10-4, 3-1): This is our first big test in the AAC. Earlier this season Temple beat then #1 Duke so they aren’t afraid to take on the big boys. We held a small lead throughout most of the 1st half and ended the first stanza with a 43-36 advantage. We sported a double digit lead soon after starting the 2nd half and held onto it to win 79-65. Our top scorers were: SG Roy Field-15, C Kelvin Ross-14, SG Isaac Wright-11, PG Morris Wolfe-11, and C Jules Grant-11. (16-0, 5-0, 1st place)

 

Game #17 vs #4 Connecticut Huskies (15-2, 4-1): PG Jabari Younger leads UCONN’s scoring with 15.8 ppg. We scored first and never trailed in the first half, finishing the half with a 44-33 lead. We held the Huskies off in the 2nd half to record a 79-62 victory. PG Morris Wolfe scored 18 points while SF John Jones and PF Angelo Craft both dropped in 12 points. We held Jabari Younger to just 3 points (all free throws). (17-0, 6-0, 1st place, Ranked #2 in the polls (the pollsters love UCLA); RPI: 2)

 

AwardPG Morris Wolfe, AAC Freshman Player of the Week.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Season 6, Games 18-23

 

Game #18 @ Houston Cougars (6-9, 4-2): The first 5 minutes were close but we then pulled away and by the midpoint of the 1st half we had built a double-digit lead. The half ended with us leading 37-23. We then coasted to a 73-60 victory. SG Isaac Jones topped our scoring with 16 points, PF Angelo Craft picked up 12 points, and SF John Jones added 10. (18-0, 7-0, 1st place)

Game #19 vs Central Florida Knights (12-4, 6-1): Central Florida trails us a just one game in the conference standings. SF Keiron Lewis is their top scorer averaging 14.9 ppg. We jumped out to a 13-2 lead parlayed that into a 48-29 halftime advantage. We don’t let the Knights get any closer and finish with a 89-63 thrashing of Central Florida. SG Roy Field hit for 17 points, SG Isaac Wright knocked in 14, PF Angelo Craft scored 13, C Kelvin Ross tossed in 11, and PG Morris Wolfe added 10. (19-0, 8-0, 1st place; Ranked 1st in the polls; RPI: 2)

Award: SG Isaac Wright, AAC Freshman Player of the Week.

Game #20 @ Tulsa Golden Hurricanes (2-15, 1-7): We gradually built our lead and by the end of the half were up 45-31. In the 2nd half we expanded our lead to 22 points before letting Tulsa close a bit before we won 86-73. We had 5 players scoring in double digits: SF John Jones led with 16, PG Morris Wolfe had 12, PF Angelo Craft had 11, and C Jules Grant and SG Roy Field both scored 10. (20-0, 9-0, 1st place)

Game #21 @ Cincinnati Bearcats (7-11, 4-5): After trailing 5-2, we scored 15 unanswered points. Cincinnati put up a good fight in the first half, but we pulled away at the end to take a 43-35 lead to the locker room. The Bearcats never folded but we were able to keep them from closing and won 88-74SG Isaac Wright drilled in 24 points. SG Roy Field scored 16. PG Morris Wolfe hit for 10. C Jules Grant hauled down 10 boards. (21-0, 10-0, 1st place; Ranked 1st in the polls; RPI: 2)
Award: SG Isaac Wright, AAC Freshman Player of the Week.

Game #22 vs SMU Mustangs (3-16, 1-9): We escaped the first half with a 35-27 lead but 4 our top 4 guards each got called for 2 fouls. We came out in the 2nd half and scored the first 11 points to put us up by 19 points. We went on to record an 81-56 victory. SG Georgiy Zolkin was our top scorer with 13 points. SF John Jones and SG Isaac Wright both added 12 points. (22-0, 11-0, 1st place)

Game #23 @ South Florida Bulls (11-9, 5-6): We couldn’t shake the Bulls in the first half. When the half ended we held a slim 41-36 lead. The second half was close and with 27 seconds we led 73-72. But we pulled out the win, 77-72. PG Morris Wolfe scored 13 and SG Roy Field hit for 11. (23-0, 12-0, 1st place; Ranked 1st in the polls; RPI: 2)

AwardPG Morris Wolfe, AAC Freshman Player of the Week.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create a GM profile or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create a GM profile

Sign up for a GM profile in our community. It's free & easy!

Create a GM profile

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.