Rhoda Cox

[PointGuard]

watching loners who seem mentally unstable…

WHAT?!?!??!!??!?

You're now implicating your entire reading public????

[Wayne23]

Them reeders is trubble!

[Wayne23]

1/30: 46-38 at the half. 1 TO (+6). 10, 6, 2 for Stall. 8 each for Will and Rass. Good bench play.

82-78. They ended the game with an 11-2 run, and with a 3 at the buzzer. We were never in danger. 10 fewer fouls, 7 fewer TOs, 9 more RBs. 15, 8, 4 for Stall, 14, 4, 4 for Rass, 12, 3, 5, 2 for Shoe, 12, 6, 2 for Will. Demy and Payt had 9 each.

Stanford was upset at home by unranked Cal, so we’re tied for 1st, 2 up on Arizona and 4 or more on the rest, with 7 left to play.

A security guard came into my office just after I got there following the game to report that a rock had been thrown through my windshield. He said there was a note attached to it. Unfortunately, he brought the rock in to the office. The Feds are NOT going to be happy that he touched it. Our security staff have all been given training on how to handle this kind of thing; not sure how this guy missed that.

1/31: The note said, “The next one cracks your skull, lesbo.”

Nice.

At #8 Arizona, 17-5, 8-3, next. Tough game.

2/2: 43-39 at halftime. 11 lead changes, 8 ties. +7 RBs, but -4 TOs (8). 19 and 5 for Stall, who has been unstoppable.

80-76, but as with our last game, that was because they hit a 3 at the buzzer; we were never in danger. BIG win! +11 RBs, -8 TOs; we had 17, which is WAY more than usual. Shin, Stall and Will combined for 11 of them, so it wasn’t our guards.
27, 11 for Stall, 21, 10 for Shin.

The next one is the battle for 1st place in the PAC 12, and probably for a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. #2 Stanford, 20-1, 11-1, is here. They won by 22 there.

2/5: 20-1. 11-1, #3, RPI #1.

2/6: 36-40 at the end of a very back and forth half. We got the sexist ref and it shows; 17 on us, 9 on them. -4 RBs, +4 TOs. We need to shoot better. Only Payt is doing anything inside, but then Stall and Will played 7 min. and 8 due to fouls.

79-65. GREAT second half! 9 more fouls (more on that in a minute), -1 RB, +6 TOs, but we held them under 20% shooting in the 2nd while we shot exactly 50%. 16, 9, 2, 2, 4 for Max Payt, who was the difference. 17 each for Shoe and Shin, 12, 4, 7, with 3 blocks for Rass, 8, 4, 5 for Demy, and some great minutes inside for Brown and Jax. Stall played 14 minutes and Will 19.

With 36 seconds left, the bigot called yet another foul on us. I went after him with all I had. He T’d me up, at which point I called him, I think it was a “mother f***ing sexist, a$$h*le piece of rancid goat sh*t, whose mother screwed syphilitic mangy mongrel dogs.”

Unsurprisingly he tossed me. I continued until the other two refs, both of whom are good guys, finally got between us. I was millimeters away from taking a poke at him. Oh, all of that was for show. I really was not out of control. The plan is to present a formal complaint, filed with the help of and the representation of a nationally known attorney. I’m going after this guy’s job.

2/6: The lawsuit and presentation to the NCAA were sent to (1) the district court for my part of Oregon, and the NCAA, first thing this morning. We made sure that the NCAA knew about the lawsuit in the introductory paragraph.

2/7: The NCAA suspended me. Within 10 minutes my attorney filed a motion with the court to set the suspension in abeyance pending the lawsuit. An Oregon state Supreme Court Justice upheld my attorney’s motion. The press is going wild.

Many are supporting me, saying that the ref in question has clearly been targeting me. Fun times ahead.

At 14-9, 6-7 UCLA next.

2/9: 36-36 at the break. 5 more fouls called on us. +5 RBs, -2 TOs. We’re shooting 53.6%, they’re shooting 44%. 15, 4, 2, 2 for Will. Our outside D needs to be stronger.

78-63, but we scored the last 9 so it was closer than that. +14 RBs, -3 TOs, fouls were even. We shot almost the exact % in the 2nd as the first but held them to 30%. 20, 8, 4, 6 for Will, 15, 4 for Shin, 13, 6, 3, 3 for Shoe, 13 for Rass.

3 of our last 4 are at home.

2/11: I couldn’t be more p*ss*d. Last Christmas we bought a pair of pups for the twins. They love them. We let them out to run last night, as we always do. We have a lot of land and it’s fenced. They didn’t come back when we called. It’s happened before. Usually they come scratching and whining at the door sometime during the night.

When they hadn’t returned this morning I decided to go for a walk. I found them… dead and hanging from a tree. There was a note attached to their dead bodies. “You next, or your kids? You guess.”

I knew better than to touch anything. I called Agent Ewusy’s private number and there were agents swarming all over the place within minutes.

Agent Ewusy later told me that whoever did this covered their tracks pretty well. The Feds didn’t find much that was useful.

“We’re dealing with a twisted individual here. When they attack animals they’re generally capable of anything.”

He suggested we alarm the fence, which we made arrangements to have done immediately.

We told the kids the dogs were gone but spared them the details.

Daisy brought home 9 week old twin kittens, both black, later in the day, and the kids took to them immediately. The new pets will not be leaving the house- ever.

2/13: Washington ST, 11-12, 5-9, is here.

49-32 at the half. +7 TOs (3). 20 for Stall, 10 for Rass.

84-61. +9 TOs. We shot 54.8%. 31, 9, 4 for Stall, 12, 4, 8 for Rass, 14, 6 for Shin.

9-17, 4-11 Washington is here next.

2/16: 40-18. Not pretty.

85-44. And we emptied the bench early. +16 RBs, +10 TOs (6). 19, 8, 2 for Shin.

2/19: 24-1, 15-1, #3, RPI #1. 1 ahead of Stanford, 4 or more ahead of the rest.

At 11-14, 5-11 Oregon next.

2/20: 42-27 at the half. +6 TOs, +4 RBs. 9, 2, 5, 2 for Shoe.

78-67 but it wasn’t nearly that close. We were up 24 when we cleared the bench. +8 TOs, +5 RBs. 18, 5 for Stall, 12, 13 for Will, 15, 2, 5, 2, 2 for Shoe.

We end the regular season with 15-12, 7-10 Utah here.

2/23: 38-28 at halftime. Stats are very even except that we’re shooting 48.4%, they’re shooting 33.3%, so our D is doing it for us.

89-61. +10 TOs, and we shot 50.8% for the game. 18, 4, 6, 4, 2 for Stall.

We end the regular season at 26-1, 17-1, #3, RPI #1. We’re alone in 1st in the PAC 12.

+16.4 PPG, +5.6 RBs, +6.8 TOs, +5.6 assists, +3.9 steals. #1 in PPG, #2 in TOs and assists, #5 in RBs.

Daisy: Our new fence alarm has gone off twice. The police come immediately as the alarm goes off at the station. In neither case were they able to find anything.

[Wayne23]

3/10: We start the PAC 12 tourney vs. #9 seed Wash. ST, 13-15, 6-12. We beat them by 8 there, and 23 at our place.

47-28 at the half.

85-66 at the end. +15 TOs.Bad officiating is the only reason it was as close as it was. I’m not talking about that publicly while the lawsuit is pending. 18, 11, 3, 2 for Stall, 19 for Shin, 15, 11, 4, 2 for Will.

#12 seed Washington, the worst team in the conference at 12-19, 5-13, recorded their second straight upset. We’ll meet them in the semifinal round.

3/11: 42-33 at the half. +5 TOs. We shot 54.2%, they shot 42.9%. 9, 5 for Stall.

79-62. +10 TOs, +7 RBs. 15, 8 for Stall, 16, 6 for Will.

Upsets all OVER this tournament. #6 seed UCLA, 18-13, 7-11 upset #2 in the nation Stanford, so we play them for the title. We beat them by 13 and then 15 in the regular season.

3/12: 34-23 at the half. We’re shooting better and the scoring is spread among 9 guys.

72-53 and the title. We never trailed. Balanced scoring among 10 players.

The bigot ref was not assigned to any of our games, and I have it in strict confidence that he won’t be. It also seems that he will be eased out after the season ends.

We expect a #1 seed in the tourney, probably #2 overall, but possibly #1. #1 ranked North Carolina has 4 losses, and #2 Stanford has 3. With our RPI at #1, and our ranking at #2 we make a strong case for #1 overall.

#1 in the Midwest, #2 overall. We play 16-14 Stetson 1st.

3/16: 39-27 at the break. L+6 RBs, +6 TOs (we committed 1). 12, 6 for Shin, 9, 8 for Will, 10, 5 for Stall.

72-58. It was never in doubt but Stetson played well. +13 TOs. 24, 12 for Shin, 15, 11 for Will.

Next is #9 seed LSU, 20-10.

3/18: 47-33 at halftime. +7 TOs, shooting 54.5%. Big time foul trouble for our inside starters. Marc Brown stepped up with 10 and 6. Jax and Payt also helped.

89-73. No challenge. +8 TOs. 17, 8, 2, 2 for Marc Brown, 19 for Shin, 8, 8, 4, 3 for Payt, 12 for Demy. We are DEEP!

#5 seed, #18 ranked Oklahoma ST in the Sweet Sixteen.

3/23: 40-39 at the break. We blew a14 point lead and I am p*ssed.

68-82. What a sh*t way to end a great season. 28 point turn around in the last 26 minutes. We just stopped playing. No explanation, no excuse.

3/24: It was a very quiet flight home. The realization has set in that the season is over, and for 4 of our guys college basketball is over. It’s not a happy realization.
Will I be back? Not if I get an offer from an elite program.

4/4: #1 North Carolina beat #4 Kentucky, 64-56.

I spoke with three A. D.’s at elite schools. We’ll see.

Awards: Soph Fab Stall and senior Josh Shin made PAC 12 1st team. I was conference COY.

4/9: Iowa and Gonzaga wanted us pretty badly. Iowa is not a step up and I won’t work at a religious school. We’re here for another year.

Josh Shin, maybe our best player, is graduating, along with Ken Demy, Dan Burk, and Carl Jax, all of whom were starters for at least a season here. 4 starters and 4 good subs return, and we have some great looking new guys coming in.

4/23: We ask for another budget increase. Denied. Recruiting will take a small step backward.

We end up 31-2 but the end came too quickly to call the season a success. This is a team that had definite Final Four potential and talent.

My career record on the men’s side is now 133-34, .796. I think we will have the talent to make a serious run at the national title next year.

[Wayne23]

5/1: We get the West gold and the national and international basic.

6/5: Stunned and disappointed to learn that Max Payt has transferred out. He figured large in our plans.

There’s a PF/C from UCLA that we’re going after. Didn’t get him.

Ranked #20.

6/11: At 3:30 a.m. three men were arrested at the fence in the most secluded spot at the back of our property. A pair of security guards are there through the night. The heard a pickup truck, then voices. They slowly worked their way over to as close as they could get and surprised the three men, arresting them without incident. It seems they were carrying some sort of launching device, with explosives. Speculation is that they had planned to launch explosives at the house- while all of us were in it, asleep.

“We have plenty of very serious charges that will stick. They should go down for at least 10 years, and more likely 20-25.”

I thanked my favorite FBI agent, Bruce Ewusy, for doing his usual great job.

6/26: Four scholarships and we need big guys. Looking at only 8.

7/5: One of the guards posted at the Gill Coliseum walked into the arena where we play our games and was greeted with a very flooded floor. He called for backup and it was eventually discovered that a main water piped had been sawed through.

It happened in the middle of the night on a holiday. We had people there but it was a skeleton crew. The floor will need to be redone, and some damage in the locker rooms will need to be repaired.

Bruce Ewusy says it has to be another of our “friends.” A note was found. Yep, it had wonderful things to say about me.

8/7: Fab Stall is #16 on the Norton list.

8/12: “Rachel Pembroke, PBS Radio. We have with us tonight, Rhoda Chayne Cox, the head coach of the highly successful men’s basketball team at Oregon ST. You may know that Rhoda is the first woman to be the head coach of a Div. I men’s varsity team in a major sport. Welcome Rhoda. You’ve done very well, first at Harvard and now at Oregon ST.”

“Thank you, Rachel. We’ve worked hard.”

“133 wins, 34 losses in five seasons. But we’re not here to talk about basketball, except peripherally. We want to discuss the state of women in mid-20th century America. Again, you’ve been enormously successful, but you have faced regular threats of violence, and you, your family, your home, and the facility where you work have been the target of acts of extreme violence, once of which killed two people, and several others of which had the potential to do so.”

“First, I want to say that we feel that we have the overwhelming and the very enthusiastic support of the vast majority of the people in the Oregon ST community and in the area in general. I am more pleased about that than I can say.”

“I think that’s very likely true. But, two men were killed in a bombing at the Oregon ST athletic offices, your twin daughters’ twin puppies were killed, there have been bombings, attempted bombings, fires, just recently a flood caused by cutting a water pipe- a constant parade of acts of violence. This has to be troubling. Both you and your loved ones- and your co-workers and team members are under constant threat of violence.”

“We are VERY well protected. The FBI, the campus police, and the state and local police really are doing an outstanding job.”

“Let’s discuss the bigger picture. What does this say about our society? That a small, but not all THAT small group of violent bigoted- mostly men, feel so much hate, or threat, or whatever they feel, that they are willing to kill animals and people to protest something as simple as a woman being hired to coach men?”

“We live in a violent society, Rachel. I was born in 2000. It’s been that way here my entire life. It’s an unfortunate fact of life.”

“You were only 16 when the Presidential election of 2016 but I’m sure you remember the rise of the “White Knights” and all the horrors that went with that.”

“I do. I agree that while we were violent before that, that seemed to be the time when things got completely out of control.”

“And then when that Presidency ended prematurely in 2022, things got far worse.”

“I had just graduated from UConn. It was insane.”

“The revolution was put down, but at what a cost. While it was never called the “Second Civil War,” that’s really what it was, but there were no geographical lines. The heavily armed “Warriors for Freedom” had chapters in every state, and for
a while it really did look like they would win, and install a neo-fascist, extremist religious based regime.”

“That didn’t happen but we never did put them down completely, and they, or their brothers are the people going after me, and after every other woman who dares try something new, or dares to get too successful.”

“And the cost of protecting- well, so many people, so many institutions, is astronomical.”

“But people like me would be dead without it.”

“How do we get past this? How do we fix it?”

“Smarter people than me can’t seem to figure that one out. Gun control still isn’t possible so we have hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of crazy people with guns. We’re not doing a very good job with mental health. Education doesn’t seem to be the answer. I don’t know.”

“We discuss those issues here often but maybe another word regarding the way it affects women.”

“Well, with the restriction of abortion and birth control, we’re getting more babies born- lots more- into situations of poverty and extreme poverty. That impacts women greatly, of course. College education is only for the rich now, unless you can get an academic or athletic scholarship- which women can only do in basketball now, and many more men than women are going to college.

“So women are left poor, uneducated, and too often saddled with kids they can’t provide for.”

“Will there ever be a turnaround?”

“I can’t see it, no. The mega-corporations who run the country like it the way it is. There’s a tiny, extremely wealthy and powerful ruling class, a small middle class which isn’t middle anymore, and most people live in poverty or extreme poverty. So most people, and nearly all women, are desperate to earn some money, and they’ll take any working conditions and any pay.”

“And yet a few, like you. Have managed to do better.”

“Only in entertainment- nowhere else. Sports, music, movies and TV, theater… Not a lot of people actually make a living in the entertainment business but yes, a few of us do.”

“Thank you, Rhoda Chayne Cox. We are living in dark, dark times, my friends. Let’s hope we can somehow change things at some point.”

8/21: We offer to 4 bigs. We feel we have an excellent shot at 2, but the other two may be long shots.

9/18: We got Gert Agar, PF/C from Sweden, #17, Keb Bass, #8, PF/C, and Jam Fell, #45, C/PF.

No in season tourney again. Frustrating. Challenging schedule.

9/25: C/PF Jay White, #52, committed.

10/2: First day of practice. We’re good, and we’re deep. Better than last year? Possibly.

10/23: Daisy: The twins are 5 years old today. They are still growing like weeds and they are extremely bright. Both read books designed for fifth grade and higher, they do multiplication and division, and they soak up knowledge like sponges via electronic means. They’re athletic. Tina is learning the piano, and Tanny the guitar. They are the joy of our lives.

11/6: 7 man rotation but at least 3 others could work their way in. At guard it’s returning junior Yo Rass and frosh Mark Nick, with returning junior Khal Mile backing up, and soph Keb Shoe and frosh Kirk Form standing by- both of them are excellent, and I would happily start them if need be.

Juco junior Moe Mosh starts at SF and looks terrific.

Returnees senior Les Will and junior Fab Stall start inside, with senior Marc Brown in support. Senior Gray Lake is standing by and I’d happily put him in for any situation. We have two frosh big men behind the top 10.

[Wayne23]

11/6: 7 man rotation but at least 3 others could work their way in. At guard it’s returning junior Yo Rass and frosh Mark Nick, with returning junior Khal Mile backing up, and soph Keb Shoe and frosh Kirk Form standing by- both of them are excellent, and I would happily start them if need be.

Juco junior Moe Mosh starts at SF and looks terrific.

Returnees senior Les Will and junior Fab Stall start inside, with senior Marc Brown in support. Senior Gray Lake is standing by and I’d happily put him in for any situation. We have two frosh big men behind the top 10.

11/13: We are #8 in the final preseason poll, and predicted to finish #2 in the PAC 12 to perennial power Stanford.

We start with Missouri at home.

11/15: 39-24 at the half. 3 TOs. Neither team shot the ball: 33.3% for us, 29.2% them. Sub guard Khal Mile had 12, 3. Les Will had 10, 6. Moe Mosh had 9, 4.

75-54. +11 RBs, +10 TOs. Mile finished with 18, 3, 4, 2, 2. 19, 5 for SF Moe Mosh. 13, 11, 2 for Will. 8, 8 for Stall.

1-0 Wisconsin is here next.

11/18: 54-44 at the break. 2 TOs. Lots of big guys in foul trouble but that deep bench stepped up. Gray Lake had 12, 3, Mel Yeats (#12 on the depth chart) had 6, 2, Brown had 5, 2.

102-65. Terrific 2nd half. +10 TOs, +9 RBs. 16, 12 for Will, 15, 6, 4, 3 for Mosh, 14, 5, 3 for Lake, 12, 2, 3 for Nick.

11/20: Everyone signed so we’re through with recruiting.

2-0, #13.

Texas, 1-1, is here next.

11/22: 35-31 at the break. 17 fouls against us, 8 against them. Good work from our bench.

82-59. Very good 2nd half again tonight. Fouls evened out, 22-19. +11 TOs. 17, 10 for Stall4 others in double figures. 27, 9, 7 from the bench.

At 2-0 Nevada next.

11/25: 44-40 at halftime. 13, 4 for Stall.

91-79. 8 more fouls, 7 more RBs. We shot 53.2%, they shot 39.2%. 21, 8, 3, 2, 2 for Stall. All 5 starters had 10 or more. 26, 10, 7 from the bench.

11/27: 4-0, #11.

#25 Memphis, 3-1, is here next.

11/29: 42-31 at the half. 13, 5 for Stall.

77-58. +15 RBs. Stall had 19, 9.

I was attacked while walking out of a convenience store after the game. I stopped for a coffee- it’s my addiction. The attacker slammed into me- a sort of a body block. It knocked me to the ground and sent my coffee flying. I was dazed, not really hurt. But by the time I got back to my feet he was gone. I called the Feds but I really never saw the person (I assume it was a guy) or the car. It was 1:15 a.m., and the place was empty. The guy behind the counter had gone to fill the milk cooler as soon as I left the store so he didn’t see anything either.

I have some bumps and bruises, and a really sore shoulder, but that’s it.

41-22 at the break. We shot 53.8%, and we held them to 27.6%. 13, 4, 2, 2, 2 for Stall.

74-60. We coasted in the 2nd half and they heard about it afterward, and they’ll hear lots more about it at practice. 22, 8, 4, 4, 2 for Sta, 15, 6, 3 for Mosh, 12, 8 for Will, but we didn’t play the kind of D I expect.

3-3 Oklahoma is here next.

12/6: 36-15 at the half. Hard to believe a score like this vs. an elite program like Oklahoma! +8 TOs. Balanced scoring; no one had more than 7.

55-46, but we were up 21 when we cleared the bench. +8 TOs, great D. Offense was sluggish. We need to do a better job of moving without the ball.

12/8: Four flat tires when I came out to the parking lot. This lot is patrolled regularly. How TF does this happen! Called the Feds again.

Two game road trip. First is 3-4 Auburn.

12/13: 51-49. All stats are close. Lots of fouls called on both sides. It may come down to who’s still in the game at the end.

95-84. We went to a three guard offense, due to fouls, and it worked. Khal Mile played 32 from the bench, many of them at SF, and he led us with 15, 4, 6, 2. Mel Yeats, #11 or 12 on the depth chart had 14. Our terrific depth counteracted our foul issues. The bench played 108 of the 200 minutes.

At a very tough Georgia Tech team next. They’re #18, 6-1.

We’re 8-0, #11, RPI #8. This game will tell us a lot.

12/20: 28-44 at the half. We were with them for about 6-7 minutes and then they dropped the hammer. I was disappointed that we didn’t fight harder.

60-74. We played much better in the 2nd but never really got close enough to scare them. It was an off night. Best response? Back to work and work harder. I didn’t expect to go undefeated, which is what I said at the post game press conference.

12/25: We end the pre-conference season at 8-1. #12, RPI #8.

We had a quiet holiday, thankfully.

[Wayne23]

Our first PAC 12 game is with 4-5 Colorado, here.

12/27: 47-20 at the half. Now that’s how to come back from a loss! +11 RBs, +6 TOs. Team effort.

82-49. +14 TOs, +11 RBs. 16, 8 for Will. Great team effort.

#1 Stanford, 12-1, is next. We did poorly vs. #18 on the road. Let’s see about #1 at home.

12/30: 27-39 at the half. They’re TOUGH. They’re shooting 50%, we’re shooting 29.7% and that is all about quickness.

We’re trying some things for the 2nd half but it won’t be easy.

58-66. We got it to 2 but in the end they were bigger and faster. 10 more fouls called on us. -5 RBs, +7 TOs. We gave it all we had.

No beating up on my guys after this one. They played hard. Our guards were overmatched. Our big guys held their own.

At #17 UCLA next, then it gets easier. We WANT this game.

12/31: NOT a good New Year’s Eve. Three firebombs were launched at our home. Two missed, but one took out our beautiful living room, and only the fact that we have the most effective fire extinguishers- lots of them- on hand, saved us from serious injuries or death. The attack happened at 6:45 p.m. Thankfully it didn’t happen when we were all asleep. I have no doubt some of us would have died- maybe all of us.

The FBI and the police were here all night. Damage was relatively minor but this was an attempt to kill all of us. The stakes grow ever higher.

We are now paying for additional security at our home. All of this is getting very expensive.

1/1/2041: I don’t cry often. The “tough b*tch” persona has served me well. At 4:00 this afternoon I cried. At that time people began to gather outside our front gate. Eventually, I am told, about 3,500 of them gathered- in support of our family. They held signs, sang songs, chanted slogans. Eventually the press arrived, including most of the national press. We asked Agent Ewusy if we could open the gates. He refused to allow it. He DID allow us to go down to the gates and to interact with the people. Then he allowed us to go outside and mingle with them. At 6:00 we had pizza for 3,500 delivered. I don’t give a d*mn what it cost but it emptied out every pizza place in the greater Corvallis area. Finally, at
8:00 we had to put the kids to bed. This was one of the best days of my life!

1/2: A local constable (part time campus policeman), George Smedley, has begun to organize “Protection for Coach Cox and her Family.” He spoke to me and said he understood how expensive all of this was getting to be. He is asking all certified police within driving distance to volunteer to help us by taking a shift whenever they can. He is telling them they will need to be vetted by the FBI (Agent Ewusy agreed to this).

We are overwhelmed at this kind gesture. Agent Ewusy says it will take a little time but it will be a top priority and he hopes volunteers can be in place within 2-3 weeks.

1/3: 29-34 at the half. We’re fighting hard. We have large leads in every stat category except shooting pct. They’re shooting 57.9%, we’re shooting 25%. And we’re missing open shots, so it’s fixable.

66-67. We had the ball with 7 seconds to go and had an outside shot blocked with under a second to play. A VERY tough loss. Lead changed 3 times with one tie in the last 72 seconds.

3 fewer fouls, 4 fewer TOs, 6 more RBs, and we narrowed the shooting pct. 21, 5, 2 for Stall, 13, 5 for Will, 11, 8, 3, 4 for Mash. We held their best scorer to 3 in the 2nd half. We did everything but win. Unfortunately…

1/6: In just a few days George Smedley has had 289 licensed law enforcement officers volunteer to take at least one shift a week guarding us. I am beyond shocked. When Goerge told me he was hoping for 500 or more I couldn’t believe such a thing would be possible, but he’s more than halfway there in 4 days. Agent Ewusy says the FBI is vetting them as quickly as possible.

3 losses in 4 games but the next 9 are all games we have a shot at.

Washington ST, 6-6, 1-2, is here next.

1/7: 34-22 at the break. 10, 8 for Will. Closer than I’d like it.

64-48 but it wasn’t that close. We were up 22 when I pulled my starters and put in the last 5 on the bench. +8 RBs. 17, 10 for Will.

We needed a win. Now we need a few more!

5-8, 1-3 Washington here next.

1/10: 26-31 at the half. NOT HAPPY!!! We shot 7-30, and we didn’t work to get open.

My locker room speech went as follows: “1. You sucked. 2. Move without the ball, or I’ll put someone in who will. 3. I expect a win.” Then I walked out.

64-56 We took an early 2nd half lead but they hung in for a long time. +6 RBs, +5 TOs. We shot better in the 2nd half, “… because you finally decided to f***ing move without the f***ing ball!” 17, 11 for Will.

At #24, Oregon, 11-4, 3-2 next. This would be a great win for us.

1/12: George Smedley, on the advice of Agent Bruce Ewusy, capped “Protection for Coach Cox and her Family” at 644 volunteers. 227 are already vetted and ready to go. Agent Ewusy is making every effort to get the rest ready within a week or so. Big job!

1/13: 23-28 at the half. “23 points? What is it with you guys and the first half. Go out and f***ing play basketball in the 2nd. You know what to do. We work on it in practice every day. Show me some of what you’re supposed to have that I don’t have because I’m not so sure you have them either!”

55-56. Another heartbreaking loss. They hit a half court shot at the buzzer. 7 more fouls called on us, 6 more in the 2nd half. + 11 TOs but -7 RBs. Their starting guards had 36. All of our guards had 20. The bottom line is that we didn’t shoot it very well. That was because our guys did not work hard enough to get open. This has been a recurring problem. This has been a disappointing season so far.

There are 12 left to play. We need to win 10 of them and we should win those 10. The other two are tough road games against very good teams. My guys need to wake up.

6-9, 3-3 Utah is here next.

1/15: 11-4, 3-3, #17, RPI #14. In a 5 way tie for 4th in conf.

1/17: 29-36 at the half. Shooting and fouls were the issue. I tried a different approach and just changed some things up.

78-69. Back and forth and then with about 6-7 minutes left we went on an 11-3 run and held on for the rest of the way.

I started Khal Mile for Yo Rass. It worked, on balance, but both played well. 22, 3, 4 for Mosh, 15, 5, 5 for Nick.

At 7-9, 3-4 USC next.

1/20: 33-26 at the break. Seems like forever since we’ve been ahead at halftime. +8 RBs. Still shooting horribly, 28.6%, but they shot 28%. 8, 7, 2 for Mosh.

68-64. That was as close as they got in the last 6-7 minutes. We shot better in the 2nd, but under 40%. 12, 12, 2 for Mosh. Khal Mile is doing well as a starter, and Yo Rass is playing better form the bench than he did starting.

1/22: 13-4, 5-3, #15, RPI #10. In a 3 way tie for 3rd, one back of 1st.

At 6-11, 2-6 Colorado next.

1/24: 33-21 at the half. We shot 46.7%, best in some time. 10, 3 for Stall.

82-56. +16 RBs, 54.8% shooting. 19, 8, 3, 2 for Stall, 17, 9 for Will, 16, 2, 4, 2 for Nick.

1/25: Volunteers are on duty. 641 of the 644 were vetted. They will work in teams of 2, 3, and 4, depending upon the situation and the duty. Some will actually accompany us on the road but most will guard the house, travel with each of us as bodyguards- that’s me, Daisy, mom, Mali, Sandy, and each of the twins, although they are still usually together. Security at Oregon ST will be handled by school security staff but one of our volunteers will escort us to and from school.

We really feel so much safer, and we feel incredibly grateful.

We are now alone in 3rd, one back of #4 Stanford and #23 Oregon.

9-9, 5-4 California is here next.

1/27: 52-36 at halftime. Looks like the offense is back, 56.7%. 2 TOs. 19, 5 for Stall, 11, 1, 4 for Mile.

93-74. 5 TOs for the entire game. Fab Stall is on fire, 29, 7, 3, 2, 2. 17, 5, 6 for Mile. Good bench play from Rass and Brown.

1/29: 15-4, 7-3, #11, RPI #9. Tied for 2nd, 1 back of #4 Stanford. 5 or our last 8 are on the road though, including Stanford.

Everyone hit our SAT score.

Fab Stall is #21 on the Norton list. He should be higher.

[Wayne23]

At 10-9, 4-6 Arizona ST next.

1/31: 48-32 at halftime. The offensive barrage continues. We’ve worked hard at practice and it’s nice to see it paying off. 3 TOs, and we shot 57.6%. Balanced scoring and 10 guys scored.

89-66. Never challenged. +9 TOs (8). We shot 48.5% for the game. 18, 3, 4 for Mile. We have been much better with him starting. 6 players in double figures.

8-12, 4-7 Arizona is here. An off season for this perennial power, but we’re taking them seriously.

2/3: 33-32 at the half. We blew a 10 point lead. We knew these guys were tougher than their record. We made two adjustments, one of which was tightening up the D.

67-65. They hit a 3 at the buzzer so not quite as close as the score but we had to work hard for this one. We came back from down 12 with 13 to play in the 2nd. +8 RBs, +5 TOs. We took 15 more shots from the field and that was the diff.

Balanced scoring and good bench play.

2/5: 17-4, 9-3, #10, RPI #11. 6 to play, 3 against ranked teams. Toughest is next, at #3 Stanford, 21-3, 10-2. The other two ranked teams play us at home.

6 game win streak and 8 of 9, but this is a tough one.

I have to say that the volunteers really make us feel safe. No attempts at anything since they came on board. The lack of privacy is an annoyance but it’s worth it. And all of these men and women have been great to be around, not intrusive, but very friendly and always wanting to be helpful. George Smedley should get some kind of award for doing this.

2/7: 27-34 at the half. 11-2 in TOs. We’re #1 in the country in that category, but not tonight! We’re playing well, all in all, but they’re the better team. Keep trying, keep working.

62-78. 19 TOs. They had 7. We were simply over matched. Move on.

We’re still alone in 2nd. Next is #18 UCLA, 15-7, 8-5. They’re one of two teams 1 game behind us. But we’re at home.

2/10: 41-32 at the half. Most stats are even except we’re shooting 56%, they’re shooting 37.5%. We’re having a great outside shooting game so far.

70-50. Big win. 8 more fouls called on us. We had 7 fewer RBs, but +13 TOs saved us. We took 20 more shots and hit 12 of them. Only 8 played but all contributed.

Oregon and Stanford both lost. That puts us in 2nd, 1 back of 1st but very importantly 2 ahead of 3rd, with 4 to play. 3 on the road but none of those against top teams. A 4-0 finish is more than possible.

2/12: 18-5, 10-4, #10, RPI #14.

Off for 2 in the state of Washington. First is 10-13, 5-9 Wash. ST.

2/14: Never saw anything like this in my life. 61-11 at the half. We took 50 shots, they took 8. 2 of our players each scored more than their team, Mash with 14, and Will with 12. Mile matched them with 11. Just insane.

80-53. I played the last 5 on the bench for most of the 2nd half. We took 80 shots, they took 40. None of the stats made sense so I’ll spare you. All 12 players scored for us.

12-12, 8-7 Washington next. We really want this one but we only won by 8 at our place so we’ll need to work for it.

2/17: 32-38 at the half. We didn’t shoot it well, 39.4% to their 45.8%. The diff was at the line though. Only 3 more called on us but it resulted in 24 attempts to them, 15 for us. All of our inside players have 3 fouls- well, the ones we use the most. So it’s a challenge.

87-80. Back and forth but we led for most of the last 10 minutes. Another BIG win! 6 fewer fouls (9 in the 2nd), +19 RBs (+15 in the 2nd), +7 TOs. We shot 52% in the 2nd. Sub Marc Brown led us with 15, 9, 2. Fab Stall had 15, 6. Our play was tight and disciplined in the 2nd, and no one fouled out, which was huge. 2 of their guys did.

Mark Nick hurt a knee and he’s out for our last two regular season games. He’ll be back for the post season. Tough to lose a starter at this point.

2/19: 20-5, 12-4, #9, RPI #12. Still 2nd, 1 back of Stanford, but we’ve clinched 2nd as we are 3 up on 3rd place with 2 to go. That makes the injury to Nick less meaningful.

We host 16-9, 9-7 Oregon, tied for 3rd. They beat us by one there.

2/21: 28-32. Another poor first half effort. This team is taking more patience than any I’ve coached- men or women. +4 TOs. They shot 47.8%, we shot 25%. Mosh played 3 minutes, got 3 fouls. Stall got 3 in 7 minutes. Mark Brown got 3 in 5 minutes.

64-64. OT.

73-75. We took 18 more shots from the floor and made23 to their 22. Our guards went 7 for 26. Moe Mosh fouled out in 6 minutes. Rass did a good job at the point but we were awful, for the most part.

We’re going to finish 2nd no matter what, but you want to finish strong.

We close the regular season at 11-15, 8-9 Utah. We won by 9 mat our place.

Life continues to be wonderfully peaceful.

2/24: 29-27 at the half. We were weak; they were a tiny bit weaker. Never more than 6 separating the teams. Mosh had 10 and 6. We’re missing Nick. Getting very little outside.

70-69. They missed one of two with 3 seconds left. We managed to get the RB and it was over. Caught a break! 5 more fouls, 9 more RBs, . Outshot 40% to 44.1%. 21, 10 for Mosh. Yo Rass had an awful game. We went to Keb Shoe and he got it done. Mark Nick is back though.

2/26: We end the regular season at 21-6, 13-5, #9, RPI #16. 2nd in the PAC 12, 2 back of 1st, 2 up on 3rd. A rocky season in some ways but we’re hoping to make some post season noise. +10.8 PPG, +2.5 RBs (31 in the nation with 36.5), +5.3 TOs (#1 in the nation with 10.6).

[Wayne23]

3/9: #10 seed California, 12-16, 7-11 won in an upset over #7. We play them tomorrow. Won by 19 at our place.

3/10: 27-29 at the half. This is NOT the time to be playing this way! 5 more fouls, 6 more RBs, but 3 more TOs. Fab Stall has 14, 6, but no one else is doing much. I’m happy giving up 29, we just need to score!

72-64. Much better 2nd half, 45-35. +7 RBs, +6 TOs. 24, 8 for Stall.

#3 seed Oregon, 19-9, 11-7 in the semis. We lost there by 1, lost at our place in OT by 2, so we have something to prove. I honestly think we’re much better. Now we need to play like it.

3/11: 36-35 at the break. We led by as many as 8. Their Sg has killed us in the 1st half with 17, as he did in the first two games. We’re controlling the inside but we need to do better outside.

Finally, with about 8 minutes left we broke open a close game. After that we just poured it on- 89-63. +11 TOs. We took 12 more shots and made 8 of them. 5 in double figures led by Moe Mosh with 16, 9, 5, 2. Good bench minutes.

As expected it’s #1 seed, #4 ranked Stanford for the PAC 12 title. Their starting SF is out with a bad back. Our sub Gray Lake is also out. Advantage: us! They beat us by 8 and then 16 so we really need to play our best game for 40 minutes.

3/12: 39-46 at halftime. 6 more fouls. We let them shoot 60% for the half. Can’t do that in the 2nd.

70-85. They’re better than we are, plain and simple. 10 more fouls, 9 fewer RBs, 7 fewer TOs. They shot 60.4% for the game. Let’s see how high we’re seeded. I’m hoping for a #3.

#3 South. We start with Iona, 21-9. This is a wide open tournament. Only 2 teams with less than 4 losses, #2 FL, and #5 Bradley.

3/16: 50-36 at the half. 52.9% shooting to their 39.1%. 15 for Mark Nick, 9, 5, 4 for Yo Rass, 7, 3, 3 for Mile, 5 for Shoe. Finally some outside points.

89-77. We were never threatened. +9 TOs but -5 RBs. 15, 4, 8 for Mile. All 5 starters in doubles.

#11 seed New Hampshire, 24-7, upset #6 UMass so they’re next.

3/19: 50-42 at the half. Too close. We didn’t play solid D. Our inside starters both have 3 fouls.

93-76. Again, we were never challenged. +7 TOs, +6 RBs. 22, 6 for Will, 18, 5, 2, 4 for Nick, 15, 6 for Brown.

On to the Sweet Sixteen vs. #2 seed Bradley, 33-2. In the other three brackets there is one team higher than a 3 seed left, but ours has the top 4.

3/24: 39-28 at the half. +8 TOs. We shot 43.3%, they shot 27.3%. 13, 5 for Mosh. We felt in control and led by as many as 17.

83-60. A walk min the park! +11 TOs. 47.5% to 33.3%. 20, 7 for Mosh. We played everyone for 5 minutes or more.

On to the Elite Eight vs. #1 seed, #1 ranked, but #4 RPI Georgetown. They’re good, but I don’t know that they’re much better than we are. It’s a strange year. Both teams are at full strength.

3/26: 42-43 at the half. It’s a war. We gave up 9 threes. If we can stop the threes we can beat this team. We’re not in foul trouble so we can play tighter D.

86-95. 15 threes, and we just didn’t play good D. +9 TOs. 15, 12, 4, 2, 2 for Stall, 17, 7 for Will. But you can’t give up 95.

Les Will is the only starting senior. Mark Brown is our 6th man and he is also graduating, as is Gray Lake.

4/4: I went to the Final Four in Philadelphia. I think this is the year we move to an elite program. We’ll see.

Unranked Creighton, 25-11 beat #1 Georgetown, 74-70 for the title. A strange year indeed!

Awards: Junior Fab Stall and senior Les Will made PAC 12 2nd team. That’s it.

4/9: The dream just came true. I am now the head coach at UConn! They are down, 13-15 this year, but we’ll build them up. I couldn’t be happier! We’re going home.

4/16: UConn has exactly two scholarship athletes coming back, a 5 star SG and a 5 star SF. And I don’t think they recruited even a single new guy. Yikes! BIG job ahead. And only one of my assistants is worth a d*mn (Game glitch- I can’t hire an assistant with a Rep higher than 11- with a Team Prestige of 76- WTF!).

4/23: We ask for a budget increase but don’t get it.

We said goodbye to Oregon ST with enormous gratitude to the university and to the community that got behind us so strongly. We said special goodbyes to FBI Agent Bruce Ewusy, and to George Smedley, whose group will continue to guard our property until it is sold.

We have a lead on a beautiful property with two houses, close to the UConn campus in Mansfield.

We ended the season 26-8, Elite Eight. After 6 seasons I’m at 159-42, .791. Last 3 seasons were 2 Elite eights, on Sweet 16.

[Wayne23]

5/1: As it turns out my two 5 stars both transferred out. I will play the 2041-2042 season with all walk ons. This is unique!

We buy the Gold national and basic international.

6/5: We are hoping to land some transfers. Plenty of room!

6/9: We offer to a C and an SG. Mulling over a couple of others. Desperate times!

6/12: We get the SG. He looks good.

We offer to a PG, an SF, and a PF. Ordinarily we wouldn’t consider either but again, desperate times. This is it though. There’s no one else.

6/15: We get the PF, and he may help us. Done.

6/25: We will go to all the camps. We can afford it and any info we can get will help.

We scoured the nation for walk ons and got some who seem decent but I don’t see how this can be other than a very painful season, and three of our goals seem unachievable: Sweet 16, top 3 in conf., Improve school prestige. 15 wins is questionable even though we’ll get the softest pre-conf. schedule possible.

6/26: 11 scholarships. Looking at 30, all of whom have at least some interest.

Daisy: We closed on the houses a few days ago and we’re in. Quiet location with 60 acres. Rhoda’s salary is more than a mill, and she has some great new endorsements so money is not an issue. She doesn’t like doing endorsements and will only go with products she actually believes in. So three: a car, a bank, and a health food.

7/31: Lots of recruits showing lots of interest but filling 11 is a huge task (Recruiting set back to Normal for this season only. Then I’ll go back to Hard.).

8/21: We offer to 6 bigs and 5 PGs.

9/18: Got 2 lost 3. Got C Troy Raze, #6, PG Jeb Roy, #31.

No in season tourney, thankfully. Mostly 2 star teams. We are at home for 7 of the 9 pre-conf. games, which will help.

9/25: Got 2, lost 4. #10 PG Bret Wats, and #40, C, Will Mack.

10/2: Got 2, lost 3. Got Den Hack, #46, C, and PG John Harm, #51, from Canada.

First day of practice. It’s going to be a long season. But really, given that they’re all walk ons, it could be worse.

10/9: Got 1, lost 3. Rash Deck, C, #33. That gives us 7, with 2 transfers. We may get a couple more before it’s over. We’ll be competitive next season.

11/6: Still chasing recruits.

Here’s the lineup we’re starting with: We have one guard who likes like he will do some good work for us, junior Jeff Wats. The rest of the time in the back will be shared among junior Marc Gunn, senior Rufe Ande, and frosh Doug Huks and Jud Main. We’re hoping 1 or 2 of those will step up.

Frosh D. J. Card will start at SF but senior Joel Lope will get nearly equal time.

We are weak inside. Junior Kebu Holt and Soph Scot Rich will start, and junior Del Parr will support, with an opportunity for more minutes. Remember that all of these are walk ons.