Historical Association #2

[Wayne23]

5/1: National Gold, International Basic.

6/5: There are some great transfers, but we don’t have any open spots.

Lotsa trouble in Cuba.

6/26: 3 scholarships. We need bigs.

There’s a gold rush on in the Klondike.

2 new fun songs: “Old Bill Jones,” and “Halleluliah, I’m a Bum.” Oh, and “Break the News to Mother.” That one’s pretty good, too!

8/21: We offer to a PF and 2 Cs.

9/18: Got 2, lost 1. Got a PF, #29 (Our highest rated ever), and a C, #60.

No in season tournament. We have a stronger schedule this year.

9/25: Got a C, #36. This is a great recruiting class!

10/2: 1st day of practice. This is my best team since I got here; really deep. Let’s see if that makes a difference.

11/6: 8 man rotation:

Soph Leon Lee is back at the Point. Frosh Quin Tigs is at SG, backs up at PG.

Soph Ban Hawk and frosh Hap Span back up at SG.

Senior Cris Matt starts at SF.

Senior Alex Page starts at PF, backs up at C.

Frosh Jon Ware is at C.

Juco junior Jeff Felt backs up at SF and PF.

I have high hopes! We’re picked 10th but I’m aiming top 3 or so.

They got something in Boston called a “subway.” They’re telling me they dug a tunnel and they run a train through it. Hard to believe. Not for me. What if the tunnel collapses.

[Wayne23]

11/20: 2-0. C Jon Ware and SG Quin Tigs look very good.

All 3 recruits sign.

12/4: 6-0. Ranked! #15, RPI #3. Ware gets 17.0, 10.0. Tigs gets 13.3. 3 more pre-conf. games, all at home. Love to go 9-0.

12/25: 9-0, #, RPI #. +12.7 PPG, +7.8 RBs, +3.8 TOs. Ware and Tigs continue to lead us on O. We’re #9 in points allowed, #11 in RBs.

[Wayne23]

1/1/1898: 11-1, 2-1, #21, RPI #5. Lost at #3 Ga Tech but beat #10 North Carolina. John Ware was a giant against UNC, 23 and 17.

1/15: 13-2, 4-2. #18, RPI #7. We’re not gonna catch Ga. Tech in the ACC, but we just might finish 2nd. Maybe not, but we got a shot at it.

1/29: 15-3, 6-3, #23, RPI #10. +7.2 PPG, +8.2 RBs, +0.9 TOs. Alon ein 4th, 1 back of 2nd.

2/12: 19-4, 10-4, #20, RPI #10. Tied for 3rd, ½ back of 2nd. 4 to play, at Syracuse, then three here vs. ranked teams, but we think we can win them all. I’d love 3 out of 4.

2/16: Those dirty rotten Cubans sunk one of our ship. The Maine. This could mean war.

2/22: The newspapers are full of Cuba, Cuba, Cuba. Everybody’s all het up. “Remember the Maine” sounds like a call to war.

2/26: We go to the post season 22-5, 13-5, #19, RPI #11. Alone in 2nd, 1 bck of 1st. +6.8 PPG, +7.6 RBs, +0.2 TOs. We’re having a terrific season, but we need to do better handling the ball.

[Wayne23]

3/9: Last place Kona, 14-17, 4-14, won two play in games. We face them in the quarters. We won by only 4 there on a night when we were awful.

3/10: 81-62. 21, 12 for Ware, 14, 2,6 for sub guard Ban Hawk. But 18 TOs.

#3 seed, #22 ranked Duke, 20-10, 12-6, in the semis. They beat us by 14 so this is going to be a challenge. Their PG is a potential All American, but we match them everywhere else.

3/11: 57-88. Very disappointing. I had hoped we would at least be competitive. We weren’t. Their PG was unbelievable, 41,11, 13. 21 TOs, 30% shooting.

23-6, 13-5, #21, RPI #12.

3/12: We expect a good seed. Hoping for a #3 or #4.

#3 South. We start with #14 Youngstown ST. Best chance we’ve ever had to get past the 2nd round for my first time.

3/17: 73-56. 17, 5, 4 for Tigs with no TOs; that’s great for a PG! 18, 3, 3 for Araj, 14, 7, 3 for Ware.

#6 seed, #24 ranked Indiana, 20-9, in Round 2. This is a good team, but it’s still our best chance ever to get past this round.

3/19: 66-63. Never more than a 9 point difference either way. 15 lead changes, 8 ties. We came on late and got the lead to 7 with 1:45 to play. They chipped it down but we held on. 16, 7 for Lee, 10, 13 for Ware. Great bench play by Matt (13) and Hawk (12).

I have to say that this feels really good!

#7 seed Pitt, 23-9, upset #3 ranked Kentucky in a real shocker. They’re in our conf., but we didn’t play them. They have a fleet of outstanding guards, but only one good big guy. If we can contain their guards we can do this.

3/24: 56-66. We stayed with them for about 35 minutes. Then Ware fouled out.

Great season!

4/3: #1 Kansas goes undefeated.

4/4: Awards: Jon Ware is ACC Frosh OY, and 2nd team. I get Conf. COY.

Is this the year I move up? Frankly, I have some great people coming back, and some top 40 guys (3) coming in. It would take an outstanding offer. I may be here to stay.

4/9: A couple that were decent, but not good enough for me to leave here.

4/23: I ask for a budget increase. We can go after the big time players but an increase wouldn’t hurt. We got $14,000. I didn’t expect that!

WAR! We declare war on Spain. We tried a naval blockade but President McKinley decided even that wasn’t enough. Troops and ships are in Cuba fighting already. Heading for the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico. This is big!

25-7, 13-5. Overall I’m 262-127, .674. I feel we have turned a corner, and great things lie ahead.

[Wayne23]

5/1: National Gold, International Basic.

6/5: There’s one terrific looking transfer. We probably don’t have a great shot at getting him, but I have to try.

We have taken over Puerto Rico, and we’re advancing on all fronts.

6/12: Nope.

We annex Hawaii in a move that is separate from the war.

6/26: 4 scholarships. We’d like 2 and 2.

7/1: There are going to be lots of heroes in this war. So far, and maybe for all of the war, the biggest is Teddy Roosevelt, who led a charge up San Juan Hill and won the day. The whole country is talking about him. He was well known before this, but this will add to his fame. He seems like quite a man.

The pro basketball league announced today that no college player will be accepted into their league until his class has graduated. That’s been their policy since they started up a few years ago, but now they’ve made it official. They said, “College athletes have an opportunity available to very few- the opportunity to receive a college degree. This is not to be spurned in an age where the working man toils 60 hours a week for $6. College graduates usually begin their careers at 2-3 times that amount, and the work they do is far less physically demanding. A young man may foolishly think that a salary of $20 per week, which we offer, is a very good choice. It is not. Careers are short in our game. We will not tempt these young men into making a poor decision.”

Those of us in the college game whole heartedly agree!

7/15: Bubonic Plague in China and India is killing millions of people. Hope it don’t come here!

The war is going real well. We’re winning battle after battle.

7/31: I got some personal goals for the year, above what the A. D. expets:

1. Finish in the top 3 in conf.

2. Get to the ACC title game.

3. 3. Get to the Sweet Sixteen again.

4. 4. Get at least three “A” level recruits, if not all 4.

Yep, ambitious.

8/21: We offer to 2 PGs, 2 PFs.

9/18: Got our #1 recruit, C, #10, our highest ever. Lost 2 PGs.

Going to the Golden ST Classic vs. Murray ST. Tougher schedule this season.

9/25: And we get the other 3! A PG, #29, a PG, #37, a PF, #45. They’re all “A” rated recruits. Great haul!

Some new songs for me to learn: “The Admiral Dewey March,” for the war hero, “When You Were Sweet Sixteen,” for romance, “Who Put the Overalls in Mrs. Murphy’s Chowder,” for laughs, and the most beautiful song I’ve ever heard, “O Sole Mio.”

10/2: 1st day of practice. This looks like it’s going to be a very good team.

11/6: After 2 exhibition games almost nothing is settled, except that Jon Ware is our C, and Sam Elke is our PF. The other spots, and sub minutes, are up for grabs.

Here’s how we’ll start:

Juco junior Jed Gram starts at PG, and returning soph Quin Tigs starts at SG.

Junior Leon Lee, who started the past two seasons, subs at PG, and junior Ban Hawk subs at SG. Both will get plenty of minutes to prove themselves.

SF is WIDE open with junior Plio Araj starting and frosh John Lyde and Kesi Simc both getting lots of sub minutes.

We feel set inside. Juco junior Sam Elke starts at PF and subs at C, and Jon Ware is back at C.

Senior Jeff Felt subs inside.

The “experts” say we’ll finish 7th; I say to them, “Go climb a tree!”

[Wayne23]

11/20: 2-0 start. Ware, Tigs, and Elke led the way offensively in both games. We’re rebounding great but need to take care of the ball better.

All 4 recruits sign.

Going three guard. I need to start Ban Hawk. He’s a scoring machine. If it doesn’t work I’ll readjust. Araj sits.

12/4: 5-0, #18, RPI #4. Hawk got 23 in his first start, and Tigs got 18 at SF, his new position. We got 45 RBs so going 3 guard didn’t hurt there. Oh, and we won by 26 over Wyoming, a good team.

Creighton here, then off to the GSC vs. Murray ST. We’re the #1 seed.

12/9: 70-68. We led all the way but they made a huge comeback late. The final was as close as it got, but they had a shot to win at the end. It rimmed out. 14, 13 for Ware, 14 for Hawk, 13 for Tigs. +18 RBs.

#4 seed Duquesne, 3-4, in the semis.

12/10: 73-64. 19, 5 for Tigs, 15, 3, 5 for Hawk, 13, 4, 3 for Gram. 44 RBs, 8 TOs.

#2 seed Weber ST, 7-2, for the title.

12/11: 84-67. 24 for Hawk, 10, 10 for sub Jeff Felt, 14 for Tigs. 39 RBs, 5 TOs.

#15, RPI #3.

PEACE!!! Spain surrendered. Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico all now belong to the U.S. Cuba is now a free and independent nation, but the U. S. is protecting it. Admiral Dewey and Teddy Roosevelt come home as national heroes.

12/25: We end pre-conf. play at 11-0, #15, RPI #4. +12.2 PPG, +11.4 RBs, +2.2 TOs (11.6 right now, which is great!). Ban Hawk has quickly become our #1 scorer (15.1 despite not starting the first 4 games); glad I put him in the starting lineup! Quin Tigs is #2 (14.4), and moving to SF hasn’t hurt his scoring. Jon Ware gets 11.6. Both he and Sam Elke are getting 9.3 RBs (We’re #4 nationally).

The ACC is tough, 6 ranked teams, from #4 to #18.

What a year. War fought and won. Plague in the Eastern part of the world, new advances in living well.

[Wayne23]

1/1/1899: 3-0 start, including a road win over #14 Syracuse. #13, RPI #4.

1/8: First loss. At #3 Ga. Tech, 85-93. Close all the way. They were just a little better. BUT, they were 15-18 from the line, and we never got to the line- not once.

14-1, 3-1, #13, RPI #4.

1/15: 16-2, 5-2, #12, RPI #5. Tough conference. We’re alone in 4th, 1 back of 2nd. Schedule is favorable the rest of the way though. And Hawk is just lighting it up!

Back up guard Leon Lee badly twisted an ankle. He’s out three weeks. We’ll give Simc his minutes and go with 2 guards when he uses them.

1/29: 20-2, 9-2, #12, RPI #5. +11.6 PPG, +11.0 RBs, +1.0 TOs. Alone in 2nd, 2 back of Ga. Tech. Hawk is up to 17.2.

2/12: 23-3, 12-3, #11, RPI #7. In 3rd, ½ game back of 2nd, ½ game up on 4th.

The Philippines are in revolt against us, fighting to be independent.

2/19: 25-3, 14-3, #10, RPI #7. 1st time in the top 10! Alone in 2nd by 1 ½ games, but Wake Forest could catch us.

2/26: We end the regular season 25-4, 14-4, #11, RPI #7. Alone in 2nd place. +11.0 PPG, +10.2 RBs, +1.6 TOs (12.6). Hawk averages 17.4. Ware gets 9.6 RBs. Gram gets 5.7 assists.

[Wayne23]

3/9: #7 seed Louisville, 18-11, 10-8, in the quarters. Beat them by 25 then lost by 10.

3/10: 78-70. Big 2nd half. 25 for Hawk, 17, 4, 5 for Gram. 45 RBs, 11 TOs.

#3 seed, #16 ranked Duke, 22-9, 13-5, in the semis. They won by 14 there. Their PG is world class, but we match up well otherwise.

3/11: 80-76. Great win! Their terrific PG had 29, but Hawk had 32, 8, 3. 12, 7 for Tigs, 8, 10 for Ware. 10, 13 for sub Jeff Felt. 51 RBs (+10).

1st place, #2 ranked Georgia Tech, 30-2, 18-0, for the title. This is a 5 man team, but oh those 5! They won by 8 there, so we can compete.

3/12: 60-67. We were in it all the way. As happened last time, fouls were the difference. They were 9-12, we were 1-4. Worse was the fact that Hawk was in foul trouble all night and played only 24 minutes before fouling out. He did lead us with 22 and 5 though. 18, 4, 4 for Gram. We played really well both times against this very tough team.

27-5, 14-4, #13, RPI #7. Hoping for a #2 seed, and REALLY hoping to be in either the South or the West.

Well, we got the #2, but in the East, and Ga. Tech is #1. We hope to get to them! We play 20-12 Norfolk ST first.

I’m learning two terrific new upbeat songs: “Hello, Ma Baby,” and “Keep on the Sunny Side.”

3/16: 77-67. 24 for Hawk, 16, 6 for Tigs. +14 TOs.

#7 seed Pitt. We beat them here, then they crushed us here in the regular season final. They have LOTS of very good guards. We need ours to step up big, and we need to control the inside, which we should be able to do.

3/18: 75-68. We led most of the way, but not by a lot. 22, 7 for Gram, 17, 9 for Ware. We did what we needed to do- we contained their guards and had an 18 RB edge.

Sweet Sixteen vs. #3 seed, #8 ranked Oregon, 29-4. Tough team all over, but especially at PF. We need to be at our best.

3/23: 73-82. The referee absolutely killed us- 37-47 vs. 13-22. I got my first ever technical foul. 21 for Hawk, 16, 8 for Ware, 15, 5 for Tigs. There’s talk of going to two referees. It’s time.

Big trouble in the Philippines. They are really fighting us now, and doing too well.

The British and Dutch are having trouble in South Africa with the Boers.

Good news though- Alfred Dreyfus is freed!

4/3: #1 Kansas wins it all.

4/4: Awards: Ban Hawk makes ACC 2nd team. Should have been 1st, and Ware should have made 2nd. I get Conf. COY.

4/9: No decent offers but I wouldn’t have gone anyway. My best 7 or 8 players are back and we have 4 A level recruits coming in.

4/23: We ask for a facilities upgrade. Back to B+. We had slipped to B.

29-6, 14-4. Great season! Overall, I’m 291-133, .686.

Looking for great things next season!

[Wayne23]

5/1: The usual reports. I can’t believe we’re not ranked.

6/5: No interesting transfers.

6/25: We’re red shirting a PG. We have plenty of guards and this kid isn’t ready.

6/26: 5 scholarships. We need 3 guards.

Something called a boll weevil is ruining the cotton crop. They say it came up from Mexico.

President McKinley declares an open door policy with China. Immediately after that a group of Chinese begin the Boxer Rebellion. They think Christianity is black magic, and they are very violent against it.

8/7: My first ever Norton Candidate, PF Adam Riva, #48.

8/21: We offer to 3 PGs, 2 Cs.

9/18: Got 2, lost 2. Got 2 Cs, #35 and #38.

Coaches Classic vs. UTEP. Lots of ranked teams on the sched.

9/25: Got 2 PGs, lost one. Got #24 and #40.

10/2: Got the last one, a PG, #28.

1st day of practice.

11/6: We have a strong starting 5, and 5 others who should be playing, but will get only limited time, at least for now:

Seniors Jed Gram and Ban Hawk, and junior Quin Tigs are all back at PG, SG, and SF. They will all play some of each.

Seniors Plio Araj and Sam Elke, and soph Kesi Simc will all sub at SF.

Junco junior Adam Riva and frosh Alfo Holz will start inside.

Junior Jon Ware, who started last year and the year before, and soph John Lyde will sub inside.

We’re good, and we’re deep. We’re picked 4th in the ACC but we hope to win it. Georgia Tech is a powerhouse again.

[Wayne23]

11/19: 64-61 and the title! Close all the way. 24, 7 for Holz, 11, 15 for Riva, 10, 8, 5, 3, 2 for Gram, 10, 5 for Hawk. 55 RBs (+8), 9 TOs (+10). In the last minute we hit three threes, our only ones of the game.

11/20: #5, RPI #16. Our highest ranking ever.

All 5 recruits sign.

12/4: 7-1, #6, RPI #1. We lost by 3 to UNLV there. 19, 14 for Holz, 14, 14 for Riva. We shot 29.3%. Our guards have not been scoring. We’re going to a more normal 2 guard set. Gram will sit, Ware will start at SF.

12/25: 11-1, #10, RPI #1. +19.0 PPG, +15.3 RBs (#1), +4.2 TOs (11.3). Our inside guys, Holz (20.5, 10.1) and Riva (11.6, 12.8), have been terrific. Hawk is getting 17.5.

Heading for a new century!