We were able to win our conference tonight and will probably be a number one seed in our National Tournament that begins in less than two weeks. Our record right now is 24-4 (won 15 in a row) and we have a National Player of the Year candidate in Tony Washam. He has already had numerous amounts of NBA scouts come to our game to watch him. We finished the regular season ranked fourth nationally but considering that we beat a top five team tonight, I think we will go into our tournament seeded as the second best team in the country. Things are going very well for our team and I just thought that I'd keep you guys updated on what's going on w/ us. If things go as well as I'd hope we will be contending for the national championship. I may not be on the site as much in a couple of weeks but it doesn't mean that I'm not following the Supes. Give the Bearcats some love--starting March 9th.
We're in the NAIA division. It's the equivalent of Division II but in our case we have more money for scholarships. Daniel Santiago graduated from our school and I believe is the only player currently in the NBA from the NAIA. Scottie Pippen is probably the biggest name from the NAIA. The quality of competition in the NAIA is a lot better than people would expect. There are constant Division I transfers who decide to play at these schools and tons of NAIA alumni playing in the minor leagues. We played against a transfer last night from Cincinnati, Robert Whaley, who could play at any school in the country. Tony Washam on our team would be one of the top players in the country if he were to come out of high school right now. The national tournament should be very competitive and fun and I hope that we are able to have success. Should be very interesting.
We're all rooting for ya mate. My favourite player is Felix Indaye, although Ian McCollough also tickles my fancy.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> My favourite player is Felix Indaye, although Ian McCollough also tickles my fancy.</div> I'm a Marcus Fisher man, myself.
Nothing slips past you guys. Thanks for the kind words. If we are going to go to the tournament we might as well win in it. We have four seniors that play heavy minutes so the way I look at it is that we need to win this year b/c it may be a while before we can get back to this point. Thanks for the support fellas. Who would have thought that a message board would generate so much camoderie? It's like we have our own secret huddle following major events.
Where is the love for Kenny Roberts? Serious question though, how many of these guys go on to play in the minors, Europe, Asia etc.?
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Where is the love for Kenny Roberts?</div>Oh, I got nothing but love for Kenny. Didn't you see him drop 23 on Geneva? Good Luck Shiek and the boys.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting RiverspoonJones:</div><div class="quote_post">Where is the love for Kenny Roberts? Serious question though, how many of these guys go on to play in the minors, Europe, Asia etc.?</div> Right now our school has five graduates currently playing professional basketball -- highlighted by Santiago who is the only one playing in the league. Washam and Roberts will definitely have an opportunity to make good money after this year. I don't think that either one are league material but they should both be First Team All NAIA. Those two guys could play at almost any school in the country and they have definitely carried us the past two seasons. We are going into the tournament in Branson, MO ranked third overall and play Johnson and Wales (CO) on Wednesday at noon. Keep an eye out for us.
We're officially done. An early 2nd round upset in the National Tournament to Indiana Tech in overtime has ended the careers of our seniors. It was very disappointing b/c we were many peoples favorite to win the entire tournament, but, as we all found out, nothing is guaranteed. I hope that the one thing that everyone who is involved in our program takes from this loss is that under no circumstances should you take anything for granted. It takes more than just talent to be a winner.
Sorry to hear that, Shiek. What was the difference in the game? Did you guys not play well, or did Ind. Tech. play the game of their lives?
We wore down a bit and I think that the reality of our seniors careers ending played a large part in the nerves of the players down the stretch. We ended the season of Indiana Tech last season and they came in determined to end ours this season. I'm not surprised that we lost only b/c we really didn't have too much adversity throughout the season. We had won 16 games in a row up until that point so our group came in believing that we were invincible. The team that beat us had 10 seniors and they just seemed to be a lot more hungrier than we were. The revolving door of college basketball is turning again and it is going to be interesting how our returning players will respond next year. Hopefully the Sonics don't bow out as early as our group did.
That has got to be tough, Shiek. Especially considering the number of seniors you had on your team. Hopefully you'll be able to bounce back next year. How is your recruiting class?
Three guys in our regular rotation are coming back and two of them received all conference honors last season. I'd be lying to you if I said that I expect next year's team to have the same success as this past year's team but after watching the other teams in our national tournament, you can win in the tournament if you can consistently execute an effective game plan at both ends. We are going to be hitting the recruiting trail hard this season trying to find some players that can replace the 60 points a game that we lost w/ our seniors. The team that we ended up beating in our conference championship won the national championship and Robert Whaley ended up getting national player of the year. Do not be surprised to see him on many NBA GM's radar screen this offseason. He is as good as any big man I've seen this year not named Bogut, Warrick, May, or Williams.
