DDSCB25: Superstar

[Wayne23]

4/3: Kansas wins it all.

4/4: Awards: Witt is named to the Big 12 2nd team, which is highway robbery. He absolutely belonged on the first team. I get Conf. COY which shocks me.

4/9: Let’s see what kind of offers I get.

I’m going to Duke. I don’t like the South but hey, it’s Duke!

4/23: I ask for money. I get $35,000.

I finish the season at K St at 29-10. Overall, after 7 years as a head coach, I’m 189-58, .765.

[Wayne23]

5/1: #6 recruiting class. Ranked #21.

“You’re sure? Golf 12 months a year?”

“Not interested in living in the South.”

5/22: 2 guys transfer out. I encouraged both of them to do so. We’re going for a guard and a big.

5/26: We offer to 2 guys.

5/29: No.

We offer to the same 2.

6/2: No.

We offer to 2 others.

6/5: No. We offer to a guard and an SF.

6/9: We get a guard. He may start.

We’re done.

6/25: We’re going to Indy and all the regional camps.

6/26: First day of recruiting. We need 3 bigs.

7/17: We offer to a C and 2 PFs.

8/15: I like our chances with all 3 recruits.

9/18: We get all 3.

Challenging pre-conf sched.

10/2: First day of practice. This will be a rebuilding year.

11/13: We start tomorrow. Here’s the lineup:

Junior Wade brow is at the Point.

Soph Fred Jeff, a transfer from New Mexico is at SG.

#3 guard is frosh Pete Turr who is pretty good. Junior Tod Hart is next. Then comes frosh Del Kent, and finally, frosh Tord Hjoc.

Junior Jon Aker is at SF.

Senior Del Batt is at PF.

Senior Bob Chap is at C.

1st big off the bench is junior Pat Fore. Next is frosh Cris Kata. Finally, there’s frosh JJ Gibb. We’re very thin inside.

[Wayne23]

We start with 0-1 Washington, here. They didn’t look good in their opener.

11/14: We start slow then take the lead. Up 3 after 10. 37-29 at the half. PG Wade Brow has 14 and 3.

We hold our lead early. Up 9 with 10 to play. Solid lead late.

85-70. Brow had 25, 4, 4, 3. 16, 11, 3 blocks for Jon Aker, 11, 8, 3 for Bob Chap. +16 in the paint. A good start.

The fans were kind to me.

11/16: 0-1 South Carolina is here. They had trouble scoring in their opener.

11/17: Fast start. Up 9 after 10. 42-29 at halftime. 14, 3 for Del Batt, 10, 3 for Aker. +16 inside. Only 4 TOs.

We get the lead to 20 early. Up 10 with 10 to go.

72-70 as they hit a three at the buzzer. 24, 6, 3, 3, 3 blocks for Batt, 13, 3, 6, 5 for Aker. +24 in the paint.

“You fell asleep in the 2nd half. You need to learn to put teams away.”

[Wayne23]

11/20: At 1-1 Colorado St. They’re good inside.

11/21: We fall behind early. Shooting 2-15. Down 3 after 10. 35-35 at the break. 13, 7 for Batt. We’re shooting only 33.3%.

We start fast. Up only 2 with 10 to play. Close late but we lead.

85-77. We made our free throws late. 22, 3, 6 for Brow but he had 7 TOs. 19, 15, 3 for Batt, 15, 8 for Chap, 13, 5 for sub Pete Turr.

11/23: 5-0 Arkansas is here. This may be our first test. They’re good outside.

11/24: Slow start for both teams. Down 3 after 10. We’re shooting poorly. 25-26 at the half. Balanced scoring. We shot only 31.3%.

Early lead but it’s close. Down 2 with 10 to play. Close late.
77-70. We finished strong. 17, 1, 7 for Brow, 18, 5 for Chap, 8, 16, 4 for Batt.

[Wayne23]

11/27: At #16 West Virginia, 5-1. They can play.

We’re ranked #8.

11/28: Early lead. They turn it around and lead by 12. Down 11 after 10, they’re 10-11 from the floor. They lead by 20. 27-50 at halftime. We’re shooting 29.4%. Batt has 3 fouls.

They’re holding their lead early. Down 28 with 10 to play. We’re shooting 29.2%.

63-87. We were never in it. 14, 5 for Chap.

12/4: 3-0 Iowa is here. They play very good D.

12/5: Both teams are shooting poorly early. Up 4 after 10. Late run! 41-26 at the half. 10, 7 for Batt, 10, 3 for Chap. Only 1 TO.

Holding our lead early. The lead goes to 20. Up 19 with 10 left.

91-73. 17, 11 for Batt, 20, 5, 4, 4 for SG Fred Jeff, his best game so far. 17, 5 for Brow, 15, 5, 3 blocks for Chap. Only 6 TOs.

“We’re playing good, Kip but we’re a year away. One injury to a big guy and we’re screwed.”

[Wayne23]

12/11: #15 Oregon, 9-0, is here. Tough team, they’re good both inside and outside.

12/12: We’re shooting poorly again, 1-13. Tied after 10 despite our miserable shooting. 39-44 at the half. Shooting 28.1%. 10, 10 for Batt, 8 for Turr.

We quickly fall way behind. Down 21 with 10 to go. We’re making a run at them but it’s an uphill climb.

79-92. We got it to 2 then they came back. 14, 12 for Batt, 18, 4, 3, 5 for Brow, 12, 8 for Chap, 13 for Turr.

We’re 5-2. Lost to 2 good teams.

Battle for Atlantis next. We’re the #1 seed. We play #8 Northern Kentucky, 7-0. They haven’t played anybody.

12/16: They start fast but we’re right there with them. Then we’re not, down 11. Down 8 after 10. Late comeback! 36-38 at the half. 10, 6 for Jeff.

They start fast. We’re playing catch up which is never good. Down 6 with 10 to go.

63-77. We were pretty awful. 18, 10 for Chap, 12, 6 for Jeff.

I hate to go to a tournament and lose in the first round. Especially given that we were the #1 seed.

[Wayne23]

12/18: At 6-2 Boise ST. They’re good outside.

12/19: We need a good game!

We miss our first 9 shots. Down 6, shooting 3-18. 31-39 at the half. We’re shooting 32.1%. Shooting has been a huge problem this season.

We continue to trail. Down 7 with 10 to go. They go on a run.

61-75. We’re just not playing well. 14, 4 for Brow, 12, 4, 3 for Batt, 10, 6 for Aker, 9, 15 for Chap, but we shot 29.8% and had 19 TOs.

“Looks like it’s going to be a long season, Kip.”

“Given the quality of the ACC it could be really ugly.”

12/25: At 6-5 California. The way we’re playing right now there are no easy games.

12/26: They take the lead. Then we come back. Up 5 after 10. We’re shooting well for once. 34-26 at halftime. Balanced scoring.

Tied with 10 to play. Close late. 61-59 as Batt hits a three late. 13, 5, 3 for Brow but 7 TOs. 13, 6 for Jeff. 17 TOs but we’ll take the win.

12/27: Our last pre-conf game is at home with 6-4 Stanford. If we play our game we should beat this team.

12/28: We score the first 10. Up 13 after 10. 45-33 at the half. Best we’ve played in a long time. 12, 9, 3 for Aker.

Up 9 with 10 to go.

86-77. 17, 14, 3 for Aker, 14, 10, 4 blocks for Batt, 15, 10, 3 for Brow. +19 RBs.

We end pre-conf play at 7-4.

PG Wade Brow leads us in scoring with 14.5. 12.7, 9.5 for Batt, 12.7, 8.0 for Chap. 10.5 for Jeff. 9.6, 6.0 for Aker.

We’re giving up more points than we’re scoring, -.4 PPG. +2.7 RBs. -3.7 TOs but 12.5 is not great.

[Wayne23]

1/1/2033: At 7-4, 1-1 Boston College.

1/2: Close early. 43-32 at the half. 10, 7 for Aker. Great bench play, +14.

We get the lead to 20.

97-89 but it wasn’t that close. 20, 13 for Aker, 19, 3, 8 for Brow, 12, 3, 3 for Jeff, 11, 4, 3 for Turr.

1/3: 7-5, 1-2 Syracuse is here.

1/4: They take the lead. Down 6 after 10. 36-45 at the half. Shooting problems again, 26.5%.

We catch up. Up 1 with 10 to play.

74-80. We faded late. Shooting woes did it to us again, 32.8%. 13, 5, 3 for Brow, 13, 7 for Batt, 16, 6, 3 for Turr.

[Wayne23]

1/8: At #7 Kona, 13-2, 3-1.

1/9: We fall behind early. Down 11 after 10. 35-50 at the half. 11, 3 for Batt.

We fall even farther behind. Down 15 with 10 to play.

84-104. We were never in it. We don’t have the talent to compete in the ACC. Next year should be better.

1/10: At 11-5, 3-2 Wake Forest. We should have a shot in this one.

1/11: Good start! Up 3 after 10. 34-40. We led for most of the half, by as many as 10. 11, 7 for Batt, 10,4 for Chap.

We’re fighting hard. Down 1 with 10 to go.

78-82. We played hard. 18, 6, 3 for Chap, 19, 0, 5 for Brow, 14, 12 for Batt.

4 of our next 5 are at home which should help.

[Wayne23]

1/15: 6-9, 3-3 Southern Methodist is here. This is a team we should beat.

1/16: Close early. Down 2 after 10. 35-33 at halftime. 14, 3 for Batt, 10, 1, 4 for Brow. Only 4 TOs.

Slight lead early. Up 3 with 10 to play. Good lead late.

79-63. A much needed win! 21, 6 for Batt, 18, 5, 7, 3 for Brow12, 7, 3, 3 blocks for Chap, 14, 8 for Aker.

1/17: At #23 Georgia Tech, 14-4, 5-2. It won’t be easy.

1/18: Early lead. Up 6 after 10. 32-32 at the break. We led for most of the half. Balanced scoring.

Back and forth early. Up 9 with 10 to go. We’ve turned them over 19 times.

82-75. Great road win! 15 each for guards Brow and Jeff. +11 for the bench. 15 fewer TOs.