The Professor

[Wayne23]

We start at 7-5 Arizona State. They are not the team they were last year but they are strong inside and the 1-3- is not a D we see often.

Dec. 29: 60-48. Down 11 at the half. We adjusted and won the 2nd half 39-16. 23 TOs nearly did us in, but +21 RB made up for it. Al Budd continues to play well at SF, 9, 14.

9-3, 0-1 California is here. D is less than great.

Jan. 2: 57-59. Not quite sure how this happened. 11 TOs, 45 RBs. Held them to 33.3% shooting, went to the line five times more than they did. Well, Al Budd and Lee Barr shot 10-13. The rest of the team shot 10-42. That may be part of it. Nothing wrong with the defense but you need to score more than 57. We haven’t been ourselves lately. Hope we can regain our focus soon.

Dust up between little used sub Al Tann and PG Clay Herr. I spoke with both of them.

9-4, 1-1 Colorado is here. Good inside, decent with the ball. This is a good team. We need a win.

Jan. 5: 72-60. We were more like ourselves tonight, scored in the 70s, played good D, 13 TOs, 44 RBs. 21, 5, 3 for Rand, 14, 9, 8 for Herr. Colorado was definitely good inside. We played them even in there though and won it outside.

Jan. 8: surprised to still be #1.

At 10-5, 2-1 Oregon, one of 6 teams tied, one behind Arizona. Four bad losses. Starting PG, first big off the bench hurt. They may play, but how well? D is a little weak. But they win at home.

Jan. 9: 66-47. 13, 19, 4 for Jay, 20, 7 for Hawk, 16, 2, 5 for Rand, 9, 6 for Budd. 11 TOs, 41 RBs.

Harrison’s version of my song is released. Excited to see what happens with it. I sign a contract to do an album. I’ll start recording right after the Final Four ends. I gave this a lot of thought before agreeing but as time passes I want to do it more and more. I will accompany myself on guitar for some songs, piano for others. The songs are written. Still fiddling with a few of them.

[Wayne23]

5-10, 2-2 Oregon State comes to town. This is a team we should beat.

Jan. 12: 61-40. Excellent D and just enough offense. Lee Barr came from the bench with 13, 1, 3, and the front court really delivered. +7 TO, +13 RB.
6-10, 1-4 USC is here. Another team we should beat.

Jan. 16: 67-49. In control all the way. 17, 13 for Jay, 16, 7, 5, 1 TO for Herr.

We’re alone in 2nd place, one behind Arizona. But two very tough road games back to back coming up next. I’d be happy with a split.

At #10, 14-5, 3-3 UCLA. 3-4 in their last 7 games. Strong inside but their guards are vulnerable. We need to make them cough it up. This is a big game.

Jan. 19: 71-63. We did what we needed to do tonight. 16, 2, 5 for Rand before he fouled out, 14, 6, 3 for Barr in his place, 11, 6, 2 for Herr, 9, 12 for Hawk. Their backup SG killed us but they only played him 16 minutes for some reason. He was on fire and should have played more.

Jan. 22: The Harrison single of my song, “Lovin’ Lovin’ You” was at #8 in its first week and is #2 this week. I’m getting a lot of ink as the songwriter.

We’re at 18-2, 6-1, #1, #1.

At #6, 17-2, 7-0 first place Arizona. They are very strong inside and decent with the ball. The strength inside is on O, their bigs don’t defend that well. We’ll try to work it inside, and try even harder not to let them do what they want to do. This will be a real challenge.

Jan. 23: 65-72. We fell behind and then WAY behind early, as many as 22. We had a great second half but we couldn’t catch up. 17 TOs, didn’t help. RBs were even. Bench play was the difference, 30, 13, 8 for them, 8, 7, 5 for us. Our starters played better than theirs. The injury to Jobe hurt us more in this way than any other, it shortened our bench. But, he’s out for the year, that’s the way it is.

When we got home A. D. Rick Stottlemyre told me he thinks my music is affecting my concentration as coach and he is concerned about it. I told him I disagreed and that we’re having a great season. It turned into a somewhat heated discussion. Hm, trouble ahead?

[Wayne23]

The schedule actually favors us from here in. Both 1st place Arizona, and tied for 2nd Arizona State have much more challenging schedules than we do.

10-10, 4-4 Washington State is here. Better inside than out but they don’t play a lot of D.

Jan. 26: 77-41. This one was never in doubt.

Clay Herr strained a hamstring. He’s out about a week and will miss at least one game. We’ll start Barr but the bench will be really short.

Jan. 29: Rick Jay is #2 on the Norton list, Will Rand #13, Kent Hawk #25. All of our recruits hit the SAT score.

At 7-13, 3-6 Washington. Another team that’s strong inside but not good with the ball and not great on D. With Herr I’d call it an easy win. Without him, given the short bench, we’ll need to work for it.

Jan. 30: 65-63. We escaped! 9 TOs (+4), +8 RBs. Barr didn’t do much but he played good D and he didn’t hurt us on O. 18, 7, 3 for Rand, 12, 12, 3 for Jay, 11, 7 for Budd, 6, 4, 3 for Mack from the bench.

Herr will be back, close to 100%, for our next game.

Arizona lost so we’re now one back of them and one ahead of Arizona State. Everyone else is out of it with six to play.

#16, 16-7, 3-7 Utah is here. They loaded up on cupcakes in the pre-conf., but have not competed in conference. This is one we should win, even with Herr at less than 100%.

Feb. 2: 68-66. Another escape! Herr wasn’t effective, 7 TOs (as a team we had only 12 though). I would have been better off sticking with Barr. They had foul trouble up front and that made the difference, we were 24-37 from the line, they were 10-15.

I’m spending more and more time playing, singing and composing. I plan to resign my professorship at the end of the school year. I still really like stats but I like music more.

Dawn and I are having trouble finding time together. She is on the road much of the time and when she’s home I am often traveling with the team. We spend lots of time on the phone but it’s kind of frustrating for both of us.

15-8, 10-3 Arizona State is here. This is the battle for 2nd place. We won by 12 at their place. They’re tough inside. Last time we rebounded very well and played good D. We were awful with the ball.

Feb. 6: 55-38. We led most of the way. +6 TO, +13 RB. A good team effort, it seems all 7 who played contributed in one way or another. 15 TOs, but only 5 in the second half.

Arizona won by a single point or we’d be tied. 3 of our last 4 are on the road so it will be difficult for us to move up. We’re two up on 3rd place Arizona State now, so we probably will end up second.

[Wayne23]

At 16-7, 7-5 Cal. They won by 2 at our place so this won’t be easy.
They’ve won their last 4, 2 over ranked teams. D is shaky but they’re deep and keep fresh legs in the game. We did not play particularly well last time against them. We need to play much better tonight.

Feb. 9: 74-66. All 5 starters in double figures. 11 RBs for Jay, 8 for Hawk with 6 assists and 3 steals. +12 RBs. We looked good tonight.

It will be very difficult for us to finish anywhere except second, but a win in our next is vitak if we’re to have any chance at all at 1st place.

Feb. 12: We’re still #1, #1. Rick Jay is #2 on the Norton list and Will Rand is #13.

At 14-10, 6-7 Colorado. We won by 12 at our place. They’ve been very up and down. Balanced everything. They play lots of guys.

Feb. 13: 72-59. Last time it was 72-60. That’s kind of scary! We absolutely owned them inside. 19, 11, 2 for Jay, 10, 10, 1 for Hawk, 14, 6, 2 for Budd, 8, 5 for Mack. +13 RB.

Lee Barr hurt his wrist. He won’t be at 100% for about a week but can probably play some.

14-12, 6-8 Oregon in our last home game. We will honor Hawk, Barr and Mack, and we’ll no doubt lose a couple who go pro early but we don’t know who they are yet. Won by 19 there. They don’t play much D.

Feb. 16: 67-51. It was close for way too long but eventually our superior talent showed. 16, 12 for Hawk, 17, 6, 4 for Budd, 11 each for Herr and Rand. 11 TOs, 40 Rbs.

It’s official, we will finish 2nd to Arizona.

Before we left for our last regular season game A.D. Stottlemyre came into my office and told me he was not at all happy with “the way you’re so distracted by outside interests.”

I answered that we’re still #1 in the country. He replied that he didn’t care about that. He didn’t like it, felt that with what I am being paid I should be entirely focused on coaching. When I pointed out that I never was, that before the music I was a full time professor here, he said that was different. Whatever. I’m guessing if I get to the Final Four he won’t be able to do anything but if I don’t he may go after my job. Not sure how I feel about that. I love coaching and I would miss it, but music is a bigger and bigger part of my life and an ever greater passion. We’ll see what happens.

At 9-17, 6-9 Oregon State. Beat them by 21 at our place. They’ve lost 4 of 5. Starting PG is slowed with a hammy. He’ll play though. They don’t play great D.

Feb. 20: 70-49. 24 for Rand, 13 each for Herr and Budd, 9 and 9 for Jay. 18 TOs though and only 28 RBs. It was an easy win but we were not sharp. Given that it was almost a sure win and the game was meaningless I guess it’s understandable. Not that I won’t use it at practice to focus the team.

We finish 1 back of Arizona, 4 or more ahead of everyone else. 26-3. About 2 ½ weeks until our next game.

Still writing, practicing my instruments. Dawn and I have gotten together 2 or 3 times and just jammed. Love doing that with her. I also get to do it with some other SF area musicians, sometimes on a stage somewhere, sometimes just at somebody’s home. It’s always fun.

March 5: We knew we’d lose some guys. We did: Al Tann, a Junior who doesn’t play, and as expected, Rick Jay. Jay is simply too good not to go. I thought we might lose at least one more, possibly 2 or 3. Not so bad, really.

March 9 is play in day. We'll play 19-11 UCLA in the round of eight.

[PointGuard]

Hey Wayne, what you need to do for this dynasty is to get Antuan and Gary to integrate MusicWars Rebirth 2 and College Basketball 3.

[Wayne23]

OMG! A new game is born!!!

[Wayne23]

We won by 8 there. They’ve struggled against good teams and their starting SF is hurt. If he plays it won’t be much.

March 10: 76-63 and we led most of the way. 26, 3, 3 for Rand, 17, 3, 2 for Herr, only 2 TOs, 11, 10 for Jay. We didn’t get much from our bench. 11 TOs, 30 RBs.

All the favorites advanced so it’s #3 seed, 18-11, 10-6 Arizona State next. Beat them by 12 and 17. They’ve been up and down lately. We think we can turn them over. They’re deep though.

March 11: 67-45. We played well tonight except for Clay Herr. Herr was throwing the ball away regularly (7 TOs) so I went with Barr. He responded with 19, 1, 5 in 25 minutes. 10, 14, 2 for Jay, and the other starters all had 8-10 points. 19 TOs, 46 RBs. We need to do better with the ball in our next game, and for the rest of the way.

It’s Arizona for the title, as expected. They’re #4, 27-3, 15-1, beat us by 7 at their place. We had 17 TOs that night and didn’t rebound well enough. In order to win we need to do better in both areas, and we need our bench to give us more than they did last time, that was a huge factor. They’ve lost once since Dec. 15. The two teams are evenly matched so let’s see what happens.

March 12: 80-63. Clay Herr had 6 TOs but he also had 23, 5, 6. 18, 6, 4 for Rand, 18, 8 for Hawk, 9, 12, 2 for Budd, 7, 12 for Jay, 5, 5, 2 for Barr. We outplayed them for the full 40. 12 TOs, and an amazing 48 RBs. This is as good as we can play and if we continue to play this way I don’t think anyone can beat us. We should be the #1 overall seed.

Selection time: #1 in the East, as expected. We’ll play the winner of a play in game, to be determined. Oklahoma is #2, Memphis #3, Michigan #4, Butler #5.

North Carolina is #1 in the Midwest, Arizona #2.

Florida is #1 in the South.

Indiana #1 West.

We’re 29-3, #1, #1. Won our last 11.

[Wayne23]

The focus has been very much on basketball but I manage a couple hours a day with my music.

March 13: UCLA won in the NIT.

March 14: Oregon won in the NIT.

March 15: UCLA won in the NIT, Colorado won in the CHI.

We play 18-13 Fairleigh Dickinson. They won their tourney after finishing 6th. This should be ugly.

March 16: 72-57. Closer than I thought. We were never in any danger but FD played with poise and never stopped working. +6, +8. 24, 12 for Hawk. Will Rand was awful so I put Barr in at SG. He had 15, 4, 7 in 26 minutes. Mack had 7, 5.

Arizona and Arizona State won in the NCAA, Oregon lost in the NIT.

March 17: California lost in the NCAA.

#8 seed, 19-11 Florida State is next. We beat them by only 4 in the Las Vegas Jam. 3-3 in their last 6, lost in the opening round of their tourney. D is weak. We simply didn’t play well against them last time. This is a team we should beat without all that much trouble.

March 18: 68-65. Whew! We led most of the way but it was never easy. These guys have our number! 13 TOs (-1), 43 RBs (+11), a huge advantage at the line, and they still stayed with us. Clay Herr had a good game again, 16, 6, 4, 3 TOs. 11, 13 for Budd, 11, 11 for Hawk, 11, 5 for Jay. I’ll take it, on to the Sweet Sixteen!

Arizona won, Arizona State lost in the NCAA.

March 20: UCLA won in the NIT and they’re in the round of four.

March 22: Colorado won in the CHI. They’re in the round of four.

#4 seed, #13 ranked, 23-10 Michigan. Finished 5th in the Big 10, lost in the round of 8, but 6-1 in their last 7. They can score points, especially outside. Inside D is weak- inside GAME is weak. That’s where we need to put the ball on O. On D, get in their faces.

March 23: 78-66. 18 TOs, and it was all 5 starters. +5 RB. 29, 7, 2 for Jay saved us. We did not look good. This level of play will send us home so we need to refocus, and fast!

Arizona won in the NCAA.

We play #2 seed, #2 ranked Oklahoma, 32-3. How do the #1 and #2 seeds (in both polls) play in the round of 8! They beat us by 7 in the title game at Las Vegas. We had 21 TOs, only 29 RBs, let them shoot 46.2%. We need to do better. Their SG had 32. That can’t happen either. They’ve won their last 10. We have our work cut out for us! Their starting PG broke his leg in their last game though, and that will certainly change the equation.

March 25: 57-55! We took an early 12 point lead but it evaporated in the second half when there were 9 lead changes and 7 ties. Both teams played really tough defense. We were -1 TO (13), -3 RB. We shot 34.5%, they shot 30.4%.

With 1:01 left they were down one with the ball. They hit a three at :47 to take a two point lead. We raced down the floor and got it to Jay for a layup with :39 left to tie the score. We practice scoring quickly in order to not let the other team have the ball without needing to take a shot before the clock runs out. They made a mistake and shot too soon, with :09 left. The shot missed, Hawk go the RB, passed to Herr, who passed to Al Budd, who hit a 12 footer with a hand in his face. And that was it! Final Four! 12, 11 for Jay, 13, 9, 2 for Hawk, 12, 3, 4 for Rand.

Lucky? Definitely a little lucky, but we never quit.

Arizona lost to North Carolina.

So we’ll play #6 North Carolina, and #15 Louisville will play #5 Indiana in the Final Four.

March 27: Colorado wins in the CHI. They will play Gonzaga for the title.

March 28: UCLA lost in the NIT.

March 29: Colorado won the CHI title, 71-69.

[Wayne23]

Well, we made it back to the Final Four. I’m guessing that means my job is safe but you never know.

I’m thinking mostly about hoops but I must admit, the fact that I go into the studio on April 10 to start recording a solo album? That’s definitely on my mind. I make small, final tweaks to some of the songs I wrote in my music time, which is still an hour or two a day. The producer has said twelve songs. I’m doing 8 originals, one Dylan song, one Blind Willie McTell song, and two by Johnny Mercer, just to add a different flavor. The producer didn’t like the final idea but when I sang the songs, accompanying myself on keyboard, he wound up loving both songs.

#6 ranked, #4 RPI, 28-5 North Carolina. They are a very good team but they’ve lost a couple to teams they should have beaten. They’re good at everything, but not great at anything. We think we’re the better team and if we can stay focused and prevent them from easily doing what they want to do we like our chances.

April 1: 82-65. NC jumped out to an early 10 point lead, 5 minutes in. At the first media time out we did two things, first, we tightened up the D on their outside shooters, and second we decided to go right at their inside players. The first took care of the easy baskets they were getting and the second got their bigs in foul trouble, allowing us to score easily inside.

From then on we took control. We built the lead to as many as 21, and cruised to a 17 point win. 23, 11 for Jay, 15, 7 for Budd, 14, 6, 2 for Mack from the bench. Herr and Rand did enough, outplaying their opponents. Barr had a big game from the bench. We really looked good tonight, 11 TOs, 40 RBs.

It’s #15 ranked Louisville, 25-10, for the title. One loss since Feb. 4. SF and PF are their players. Starting SG lost to grades. They turn it over regularly. If we can get turnovers and win, or at least hold our own with the inside game we should be fine.

April 3: 58-64. A huge disappointment. The shots simply would not drop, we shot 29.2%, 0-12 from three point range. We lost the game outside. Their starting PG and SG combined for 37 points, and the team shot 11-22 on threes.

Still, when we give up 64 we should win. The offense simply wasn’t there. We got nothing from the bench. +6 TOs, +4 RBs, we went to the line 38 times, they went 23, and still we lost. This was a very disappointing way to end the season and the careers of Rick Jay, Kent Hawk, Lee Barr, and Dan Mack.

A sleepless night. I am really frustrated by this loss. When the shots won’t drop there is simply nothing to be done. Go inside? We did. Jay was 4-12, Hawk was 2-8, Budd was 2-12. They were missing layups. True, Louisville was all over us, playing excellent D, but we missed a half dozen to a dozen shots that nobody ever misses. Make four of those and we win the game.

[Wayne23]

April 4: Awards: Rick Jay is national freshman of the year and 1sdt team All American. I get national coach of the year. In conference, Jay is player of the year and freshman of the year, first team along with Rand. Hawk and Herr make 2nd team. I get conf. coach of the year. Awards do not make up for losing the title game.

April 9: Not interested in any job offers.

April 15: A week in the studio and I have an album! I really enjoyed the process. Six of the songs were just me, singing and playing either guitar or keyboard. Two were duets with Dawn, with some studio musicians playing alongside my guitar or piano. Four were soloes with studio musicians playing alongside my guitar or piano. My agent and the producer both say the record label is going to promote the album nationally. We’ll see. It should come out some time in June. I will do some limited live concerts and some TV shows.

April 16: No staff vacancies.

April 23: I ask for a facilities upgrade for the third straight year. Rejected again.

My end of season numbers: 203-48, .809. Off.- 42, Def.- 61, Recruit- 99, Scout- 95, Player Development- 59, Reputation- 81. Team Prestige 91, Conf. Prestige- 78.