The Phenom

[Wayne23]

3/8: 80-60. We went on a run about 10 minutes in. Up 11 at the half. They stayed close until the last 4-5 minutes.

21, 11 for Celk, 15, 5 for Mert. 13, 4 for Owen in 9 minutes; he was in foul trouble all night long. Sage had 8 and 6 from the bench. +6 RBs, 8 TOs.

The team that finished last in the conference in the regular season, Western Carolina, is in the final after upsetting the #2, then the #3 seed. But... they beat us by 10 at their place. We won by 11 at our place. On paper this is an easy win, but they weren't easy either time we faced them.

[Wayne23]

3/8: 80-60. We went on a run about 10 minutes in. Up 11 at the half. They stayed close until the last 4-5 minutes.

21, 11 for Celk, 15, 5 for Mert. 13, 4 for Owen in 9 minutes; he was in foul trouble all night long. Sage had 8 and 6 from the bench. +6 RBs, 8 TOs.

The team that finished last in the conference in the regular season, Western Carolina, is in the final after upsetting the #2, then the #3 seed. But... they beat us by 10 at their place. We won by 11 at our place. On paper this is an easy win, but they weren't easy either time we faced them.

[Wayne23]

3/9: 81-68 and the title! Back and forth through the 1st half. Down 3 at the half. Lots of fouls being called. It was close for 36 minutes, then we went on an 11-2 run. We really had to fight for this one.

19, 12 for tourney MOP Gary Owen. 20, 6 for Celk, who made the all tourney team. 14, 9, 4 for Sage, who had a great tourney.

On to the Big Dance! We should get a decent seed. I'm thinking a #6 maybe? We're ranked #16, NET #18, but our conference and relatively weak schedule will probably mean a lower seed than those numbers would indicate.

3/12: WOW!!! #4 West! We play #13 Troy, 23-9. On paper we're a much better team.

Scouting Coach Pers Will: I've been looking at a lot of video of Troy. They're quick and they run their offense that way. They have a good C but are weak at SF and
PF, and they get most of their points outside.

On D they play mostly man and they like to press.

We need to set screens and move without the ball, and on D we need to play a tough 3-2, at times, and a solid m2m the rest of the time. We should beat this team if we play our game.

[Wayne23]

3/17: 89-74 We got out to an early lead and stretched out to 20 quickly. Up by 12 at the half. They got it to 3 several times in the 2nd but we eventually started playing good ball and broke it open.

18, 5, 5 for Sand, 15 each for Celk and Owen, 12, 4 for Sage. 10 each for Mert and Hayd. 6 players in double figures. 7 TOs.

First NCAA win in school history!

In the 2nd round it's #5 seed, #25 ranked Arkansas, 23-9. This is a tough matchup for us.

Scouting Coach Pers Will: Tough team, they're 4-2 vs. Top 25 teams. They're quick, run a balanced attack with a lot of free wheeling, and they find the open man. On D they play m2m and go with the press quite a bit.

They have a DEEP bench.

We need to play the game close to the basket and fight off picks on D. This one won't be easy.

[Wayne23]

3/19: 88-79 but it wasn't that close. We jumped out to an 8-1 lead. They caught up with 8 to play in the 1st, then we jumped ahead again. Up 5 at the half and playing well. We jumped out to an 18 point lead in the 2nd and the final score was as close as they got. GREAT WIN!!!

Our big guys were totally dominant inside. 24, 10 for Celk, 17, 13 for Owen, 13, 3 for Mert, 7, 4 for Sage, and they all played solid D. +6 RBs.

Their SG lit us up for 22 andntheir back up SF had 20, but it didn't matter.

Excerpts from Post Game Presser:

Q: Coach, biggest win in program history?

Coach: Absolutely! We not only won,. We were in complete control for most of the game and all of the 2nd half. We dominated a ranked team- a damned GOOD team. WOOOOO!!!

Q: #1 seed, #5 ranked Louisville next. Do you have a chance?

Coach: Hey, we're in the Sweet Sixteen! Of course we have a chance. All the bad teams have gone home; we expect to play really good teams at this stage. I can tell you one thing, we'll do what we always do, give it all we've got.

Q: Any thoughts about how you'll play them?

Coach: Not yet. All of our focus was on Arkansas. But we have a few days to prepare. The staff will be up all night looking at video and we'll plan from there.

Louisville is 30-7. Early on they beat the then #1 team in the country on the road. They've played 9 ranked opponents.

Scouting Coach Pers Will: They're good, but that's to be expected. They have a terrific back court which we're really going to have to work hard to contain. It all starts with the guards with their team, and most of their scoring happens outside. We feel like we're stronger inside and as with Arkansas the game absolutely has to be played near the basket for us to have a chance.

On O they don't rush. They're very good at setting screens, moving without the ball, and finding the open man.

On D they play mostly man. They only press occasionally but their man to man is solid. They have an excellent bench.

To beat these guys our guards have to play tough D, and we need to work it inside all night long, and rebound, rebound, rebound.

We're a 5 1/2 point underdog.

[Wayne23]

3/24: 62-79. They definitely had the edge in talent; we gave it all we had. We stayed in it for about 15 minutes then they started to dominate. Down 11 at the half.

Their SG and SF combined for 43 while ours got 16. That was the difference. That and the bench, 8 points to their 22.

We won the inside game but it wasn't enough and we weren't able to get it inside or force them inside enough.

They went to the line 24 times to our 12 but the officiating was decent. We had to foul too often. No one got into serious foul trouble though.+8 RBs but 22 TOs, 13 more than they had.

Bottom line is that they were the better team.

Excerpts from Post Game Presser:

Q: Tough night, Coach. Your thoughts?

Coach: Our guys gave it all they had and never quit, but that's one hell of a team, and when they go to the bench they don't lose much at all. All you can do is your best, and we definitely did our best tonight.

Q: Coach, you're losing two starters, Reg Hayd and Ren Mert, and your 2nd and 3rd guys off the bench, Joel Dens and Hank Leon.

Coach: We're gonna miss those guys but that's college hoops. We have 5 excellent recruits coming in and we're excited about next season already.

Q: So does that mean you'll be back?

Coach (hesitates): I have every intention of being at KSU next season. I can't make that a 100% guarantee, but I'm not thinking of going anywhere else.

Q: Owen, Celk, Sand, Sage are all back and as you said, you have a great recruiting class coming in. Is the Southern too easy?

Coach: Not sure I want to say it's too easy, but I'll talk to Tank Perkins about exploring our options.

[Wayne23]

4/3: #6 Indiana wins the title.

4/4: Awards: Rah Celk is Southern Conference POY, Frosh OY, and 1st team along with Gary Owen. Shawn Sand made the 2nd team. I was voted COY.

Over the next few days I'm sure I'll be getting some interesting calls about job openings. I'd like to stay here one more year but let's see what happens. I have to say that I'm missing New England. I'm a LONG way from home...

4/9: We exceeded expectations again and our TP is now 19.

Only one conversation with a team near home. That's a top tier team and I just don't feel I'm ready for that big a jump. I'm staying here.

4/23: I ask for a facilities upgrade again. I expect to get it and I won't be happy if I don't.

I am NOT happy.

Quite the heated argument with Tank Perkins. I think it's fair to say that at least for the moment we are NOT friends.

30-5, 16-2, Southern Conf. champs, ranked #13. Overall I'm 55-12, .821. Pretty damn good!

[Wayne23]

5/1: #27 recruiting class.

We move to the Ohio Valley Conference. The OVC is slightly more competitive than the Southern.

We buy the Southeast and the Atlantic East again. I'm tempted to buy the Midwest, since many of my opponents are there, but I'm not sure I'd be successful recruiting there.

Since this will almost certainly be my last year here at KSU, I plan to enjoy it!

6/5: 2 spots for transfers.

6/12: We get a PG and a PF. They both look promising! I won't be here but I'll do all I can to keep this team competitive.

6/25: Not going to any camps this year.

6/26: 5 scholarships. I'd say 3 guards and 2 bigs but 2 and 3 would be okay.

[Wayne23]

6/28: I am REALLY missing home, family, and friends. Maybe it's because I expect to be leaving after this season or maybe I've just been away too long. Of course it's possible that my next job could take me even farther away from home, so there's that.

Anyway, I need to get my mind right and focus on what we're doing here. I do hate the heat and it's always hot here, but there again, focus!

7/15: Working hard. The summer camp went well. We had 87 boys and girls for the week. I got to see my players and a couple of the freshmen look ready to start and to do some good things.

PF Johnny Brom is really looking like he's something. Guard Luke John will very likely start. Ike Howe, another guard, will fight for minutes, as will C Brian Weat and PF Sam Toma. We'll be deeper this season.

8/7: Gary Owen and Rah Celk made the Norton list! That's a first for KSU!

8/21: We offer to 3 PGs, a PF, and a C.

9/18: We get one, lose one. We get a PG, #108.

Thought we might be invited to a tournament. Disappointed that we weren't. Schedule is a little more challenging.

9/25: We get a PG, #56. Lose a guard and a big.

[Wayne23]

10/2: We get 2, lose a guard. We get a C, #74, and a PF, #213. Hoping to land another guard.

1st day of practice. We're going to be good, probably a little better inside and more than a little better outside.

Senior Shawn Sand is switching to PG. Having a PG who can shoot will help us.

Frosh Luke John is at SG, and he can definitely shoot.

Frosh Ike Howe is our #3 guard and he can shoot, too. All 3 guards are good defenders. Senior Greg Morr is our 4th guard but he'll only play if we have injuries.

We have three guys sharing the load up front, and to mess with the other teams' D. They're going to switch it up regarding which positions they play:

Soph Rah Celk will start and finish most games at SF, at least for now, but will play both PF and C.

Frosh Johnny Brom will play mostly PF but some SF.

Senior Gary Owen will play mostly C, but some SF. We'll probably adjust the positions over time.

Frosh Brian Weat has looked really good in practice and I'd start him if I could. He's my first big off the bench. Senior Rick Sage has dropped to 2nd big from the bench. Frosh Sam Toma should get minutes but I don't know how I can give them to him.

10/9: Lost the guard.

10/23: I went with a PF, #122, and he committed.

11/14: Season starts tomorrow. As always, can't wait! We're picked to win the OVC. Eastern Illinois, Eastern KY are supposed to challenge us.