Restricted Recruiting

[Wayne23]

5/1: #5 Recruiting class. Preseason #3. We plan to make a BIG run at the national championship this year.

We buy the National Gold, International Basic.

6/5: No one transfers. I’m amazed that Scot stayed after whining all season.

We have a slot for a transfer and we’re going for a PG who looks really good. He started at FL last season.

6/12: He goes to Kentucky.

6/25: We’re going to all the camps.

6/26: 3 scholarships. We’ll take 2 and 1 either way.

Looking at 10 recruits.

8/7: 3 on the Norton list: C Mike Sanz is #8, PG Dave Cook #24, and PG Lee Scot #29.

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

9/11: #5 recruit, PG Jam Wilk committed.

9/18: #13, C Tom Kaid, commits.

We’re going to the Sunshine Shootout, opening against Santa Clara.

9/25: #33, C Sal Wing, commits.

10/2: 1st day of practice. We look really, really good.

11/6: Solid lineup. 7 guys who could start, and 2 others who probably WOULD start on most teams:

Frosh Dave Cook starts at PG, but soph Lee Scot will get his minutes, there and at SG.

Soph Kal Fleg is at SG.

Frosh Brad Cren looks like he’ll be a superstar at SF. Junior Elo Ming backs him up.

Our only senior, Mike Mapp starts at PF, subs at C, but frosh Chad Over wants Mapp’s minutes.

Frosh Mike Sanz is at C.

This team is a powerhouse!

[PointGuard]

LOL...$90K! The Buckeye sports machine in true action!

(And I suppose they stashed 3 Ferrari's for you to hand out to recruits as well? )

When you win the National Championship they'll just appoint you as the next Republican governor of Ohio.

[Wayne23]

I was amazed. And, if nominated i shall not run; if elected I shall not serve!

[Wayne23]

11/20: 2-0 start. Sanz, Cren and Fleg looked REALLY good!

All 3 recruits sign.

12/8: 5-1. We lost by 4 to #11 Alabama there. Ready for the Sunshine Shootout. We’re the #1 seed and we face #8 Santa Clara.

12/9: 85-51. No contest. 15 and 19 for SF Brad Cren, and everyone played well. +14 RBs, only 6 TOs.

#4 seed San Jose ST, 7-1, in the semis. This should be a walkover.

12/10: 87-67. 22, 15 for C Mike Sanz, 21 for sub forward Chad Over. Again +14 RBs and 6 TOs.

It’s #2 seed George Mason, 6-2, for the title.

12/11: 74-47. 24, 9, 4 for Cren. +7 RBs, +8 TOs. We’re 8-1, #6, RPI #2.

12/25: 10-1, #5, RPI #2, heading to Big 10 play. +22.7 PPG, +11.2 RBs, +7.1 TOs. Brad Cren leads us with 20.1, 9.7. Sanz gets 18.0, 10.1. Fleg scores 13.0 and gets 6.1 assists.

We’ll open Big 10 play against #7 ranked Maryland, 10-1, here. They’ll probably be our biggest conf. rival but the Big 10 is always tough.

[Wayne23]

1/1/2026: 12-1, 2-0, #3, RPI #1. We beat #7 Maryland by 22 when Brad Cren got 32 and 9.

1/15: 16-1, 6-0, #1, RPI #2. First time in my coaching career I’ve been #1 in the polls. We’re 1 up on Maryland and Illinois in the Big 10, 3 or more ahead of everyone else. Cren has had several 30+ point games and averages 21.8 and 10.1 RBs. He’s not in the top 5 on the Norton list, which makes no sense to me.

1/22: We beat #6 Maryland there, 75-67. Cren had 19 and 14, and seemed to hit a key basket every time we needed one. We led all the way but every time they got close Cren or Mike Sanz (17, 5) scored. Great win! Illinois is still 1 back but we’re up 3 or more on everyone else.

1/29: 20-1, 10-0, #1, RPI #1. 2 up on Illinois, 3 on #6 Maryland, 4 or more on the rest. +20.8 PPG, +10.5 RBs, +6.9 TOs. Cren leads us with 21.3,
10.1. For some unknown reason he was not nominated for the Norton award. Sanz, who was, is #12. He gets 17.2, 8.7.

2/1: We beat Illinois here, 83-60, so we’re now 3 or more ahead of everyone with 7 to play.

2/12: 24-1, 14-0, #1, RPI #2. +21.3 PPG, +9.7 RBs, +7.6 TOs. Up 3 on #6 Maryland, 5 or more on the rest. Mike Sanz is #9 on the Norton list.

2/26: 28-1, 18-0, #1, RPI #2. 3 up on #6 Maryland, 6 or more on the rest. +20.8 PPG, +9.3 RBs, +7.5 TOs. Cren leads us with 20.9, 9.6. 18.8, 8.9 for Sanz.

Headed to the post season with BIG expectations!

[Wayne23]

3/5: Brad Cren declares. Mike Sanz is #8 on the Norton list.

3/7: #9 seed Michigan, 13-15, 8-10, in the quarters. Beat them by 15 here.

3/8: 67-60. Closest game since Jan. 4. Not the time to lose our focus. 22, 10 for Cren, 17, 17 for Sanz. +11 TOs, +9 RBs. We were never in danger but we coasted during the last 10 minutes or so and I’m not happy.

#4 seed Indiana, 17-11, 11-7, in the semis. We won by only 3 there, but 36 here. They’re an outside team. Maryland was upset by UConn.

3/9: 96-78. 28, 6 for Cren. +8 RBs, 10 TOs.

#7 seed UConn, 17-14, 8-10, for the title. We won by 3 there, then by 19 here.

3/10: 79-54. 23, 11 for tourney MOP Cren. 4 TOs (They had 23).

We expect a #1 seed, hopefully #1 overall, but Oregon makes a strong case.

3/12: #1 East, #1 overall. We play the winner of the play in game, Eastern KY, 16-14.

3/16: 78-61. 26, 10 for Cren, 27, 7 for Sanz. +9 RBs, 8 TOs.

#8 seed Big 10 rival Illinois, 22-8, in round 2. We won by 23 at our place.

3/18: 73-61. We led by as many as 23. 25, 6 for Cren, 22, 12 for Sanz. 7 TOs.

#4 seed, #10 ranked New Mexico, 27-4, in the Sweet Sixteen. Great PG and a very good team. All the bad teams are home at this point so we need to play.

3/23: 93-48. I don’t think we can play any better than we did tonight. 5 guys scored between 12 and 18, 2 double doubles, +19 RBs, +8 TOs.

#3 seed, #7 ranked Big 10 rival Maryland, 28-5, in the Elite Eight. We beat them by 18 at our place then 8 at theirs, but we’d better bring our game.

3/25: 71-76. It was close all the way. Sanz was in foul trouble all night and fouled out with 3:31 left and the score tied. Cren played the last 11 minutes with 4 fouls. That and poor shooting from the line (13-23) and from outside 4-16 on threes, is what did us in. 23, 8 for Cren. Uncharacteristically, we were out rebounded (35-39) and had 13 TOs. Kudos to Maryland but we really simply didn’t get it done. Very disappointing.

4/3: #4 Duke beats #2 Oregon for the title.

4/4: Awards: Mike Sanz is 2nd team All American. Brad Cren is Big 10 POY, Frosh OY, Def POY, 1st team along with Mike Sanz.

4/9: Let’s see who comes calling!

Going to Kansas! Time for a new challenge!

4/16: I hire a #3 assistant. The other two are staying.

4/23: I ask for $. I get $23,500.

Ready for a new challenge!

[Wayne23]

5/1: #9 preseason. #12 recruiting class. Only 10 scholarship athletes and 5 are seniors. Yikes!

National Gold, International Basic.

6/5: Hoping to get a transfer or 2.

We offer to 2 PGs and an SF.

6/12: We get a PG and an SF, both of whom look really good. Going after another SF who could play PF. We will need big guys next year.

6/16: Didn’t get the SF.

6/25: Going to all the camps.

Pro draft showed the wrong year. Not unusual.

6/26: 6 scholarships. We need 4 bigs.

Looking at 28, which is way more than we would normally look at.

8/7: PF Aron Cole is #49 on the Norton list.

8/21: We offer to a PG, 4 PFs, a C.

9/11: We lose 2.

9/18: Got 3, lost 2. Got a PG, #17, and two PFs, #32 and #68.

Preseason NIT vs. Arizona.

9/25: Bam! Got the other 3, a C, #11, a PF, #48, a C, #77. We may regret not grabbing a second guard.

10/2: 1st day of practice. We’re good, but not deep, and not Final Four good, unless we really develop. I like my outside game but we’re thin inside. We won’t be next year!

11/6: 7 man rotation. We are NOT deep!

Frosh Brad Gray is at the Point but he needs to earn more minutes than I’m giving him to start.

Senior Len Corn looks really god at SG. He subs at PG. Soph Mark Lyon subs at both guard spots and he has a chance to break into the starting lineup.

Red shirt junior Sam Medy is at SF, but he too has someone breathing down his neck.

Senior Aron Cole starts at PF, subs at C, and he looks solid. Senior Cal Soll is solid at C.

Red shirt senior Cris Bass subs at SF and PF, and he could also become a starter with hard work and good play.

After these 7 it’s not good!

[Wayne23]

11/13: We start the season at the NIT vs. Arizona. We’re the #7 seed. They’re #10.

11/14: 80-67. 21, 5, 6 for SG Len Corn, 12, 12 for PF Aron Cole, 11, 10 for C Cal Soll, 11, 6, 4 for PG Brad Gray. We played 7 guys and all 7 contributed. +13 RBs.

#2 seed, #11 ranked Kentucky in round 2. Tough team, especially outside.

11/16: 61-82. We’re not ready to face a team this good. 15 for Corn, 13, 12 for 6th man Cris Bass.

11/20: 1-1. #24.

12/11: 7-1, #9, RPI #9. It’s a team effort. 7 guys scoring between 14.1 and 6.1.

12/25: 9-1, #7, RPI #2. +8.5 PPG, +6.2 RBs, +3.6 TOs. No one is putting up great numbers for us except for Aron Cole’s 10.0 RBs, but as a team we are really playing well together.

The Big 12 looks tough, especially #4 Iowa ST.

[Wayne23]

1/1/2027: 11-2, 1-1. #8, RPI #3. Iowa ST is next, here.

1/15: 12-4, 3-3. Tough conference. #8, RPI #5.

1/29: 14-6, 5-5, #9, RPI #7. Tough conference! In a 3 way tie for 5th but only 2 back of 1st- only 2 up on last. +2.1 PPG, +5.2 RBs, +2.4 TOs. 5 of our last 8 are at home, so that’s in our favor. We don’t have a go to. We still go with 7 guys, and they’re all roughly at the same talent level. Aron Cole is our best, and he’s at #24 on the Norton list.

Oh well, a BUNCH of good recruits and transfers will be here next season. Hang on!

2/12: 17-7, 8-6. Lots of home cookin’. #12, RPI #9. In a 4 way tie for 2nd, 1 back of 1st. 2 teams 1 back of us.

2/26: 19-9, 10-8, to end the regular season. #14, RPI #11. In a 5 way tie for 2nd in the Big 12. I think we’re the #3 seed. +2.3 PPG, +4.2 RBs, +2.9 TOs.

[Wayne23]

3/5: Starting PG Brad Gray goes pro.

3/9: We play #6 seed West Virginia, 16-11, 10-8, in the quarters. Beat them by 11 and 10.

3/10: 78-66. A career day for SG Len Corn, 35, 10, 5. +16 RBs.

It’s #7 seed, #20 ranked Iowa ST, 22-9, 9-9, in the semis. Beat them by 9, lost by 8.

3/11: 57-79. We were awful. Iowa ST is not a lot better than us, if at all.

Hoping for a #3 seed.

3/12: #4 West. We face #13 Western Carolina. I’m sad to say that I don’t think we’re going very far in this tournament. Hope that I don’t convey that to my kids in any way.

3/17: 87-64. 19 for Brad Gray, 15, 14 for Aron Cole. Only 4 TOs.

#12 seed Yale, 23-8, won in a big upset. They’re next.

3/19: 72-69. We escaped! Down 16 at one point and we didn’t lead until 1:11 to go. Len Corn was 1-9 on threes but the one he hit came with 0.4 seconds left to play. 26, 12 for Cole, 17, 13 for Soll. +9 RBs, +10 TOs.

#1 seed, #6 ranked UConn, 24-6, in the Sweet Sixteen. On paper the two temas look evenly matched. Let’s hope my guys come to play!

3/24: 71-82. We were outplayed.

4/3: #3 Duke beat Big 12 rival Iowa ST by 12 to win the title.

4/4: Awards: Senior Aron Cole mad the Big 12 1st team. Seniors Len Corn and Cal Soll made the 2nd team.

4/9: Staying here.

4/23: I ask for a budget increase. No.

22-11 in my first season at Kansas. Looking to do MUCH better next season, even though we’re losing 5 of the 7 who play any meaningful amount of time.

Overall, I’m 251-63, .799.