DDSCB25: Superstar

[Wayne23]

12/17: Laura is born. Mom and baby are healthy.

1/10/2040: We go 4-1 in our 1st 5 ACC games.

We start with a 13 point loss at North Carolina. We fell behind early and never caught up. Camm, Gill, and Chap led us but we shot only 33.3%.

Then we won by 19 at Cal. 23, 6, 9 for Gill, 15, 14 for Camm, 16, 7, 4 for Chap, 17, 11 for Haki.

We won by 27 at home vs. Southern Methodist. All 5 starters in double figures led by 22, 3, 5, 3 for Gill.

A 7 point win over #3 Duke there. 19, 10 for Camm, 21, 4, 4, 4 for Chap. We never trailed, and we led by as many as 22.

A 3 point win at #18 Syracuse. They led by 16 in the first and we clawed our way back in, never leading until the last minute. 17, 3, 5 for Gill.

I had the operation when we got back home. We won’t be having any more kids. We both feel like three is a great number.

[Wayne23]

1/29: We go 4-1 in our last 5. In a 2 way tie for 1st in the ACC with #5 Virginia. 19-2, 8-2. Ranked #2.

We beat VA at home by 11. 15, 20 for Camm, 18 for Gill.

We won by 10 at #15 Florida ST. 15, 11 for Camm, 22 for Gill, 14, 7, 5 for Chap.

We got thumped by 21 at #22 Clemson. We gave up 15 threes. 16, 12 for Camm, 13 each for Chap and Gill.

6 point win at Miami. 28, 17 for Camm, 18, 5, 3 for Gill.

42 point win at #20 Maryland. We were on fire all night and played incredible D. 20, 8, 3, 3 for Drye.

Chap is #10, Gill #12, and Haki #22 on the Norton list.

[Wayne23]

2/14: 4-1 yet again. We’re 23-3, 12-3, ranked #2, in a 2 way tie for 1st with VA.

Chap is #11, Gill #12 on the Norton list.

We beat Wake Forest by 12 here. Gill and Chap led us.

We beat NC ST by 22 here. 16, 15 for Camm, 20, 6 for Drye.

We beat Stanford by 27 here. 24, 6, 5 for Chap.

We lost by 4 at Pitt. It was close all the way. 26, 2, 4 for Gill.

25 point win over VA Tech here. 23, 7, 6 for Chap, 12, 13, 1, 3, 3 for Haki.

5 to play and we need to win them all if we hope to win the ACC.

[Wayne23]

3/4: We finish the regular season with 5 wins to finish first in the ACC. 28-3, 17-3, ranked #2.

We beat Louisville by 20 here. 23, 12 for Camm.

19 point win at Georgia Tech. 16 each for Camm, Gill, and Cher.

25 point win over #24 North Carolina here. 23 for Gill.

31 point win over Maryland here. 25, 9 for Chap, 13, 13 for Haki.

We beat Clemson by 10 here. 24, 10 for Camm.

“What do you think, Kip? Can we win it all?”

“We’ve got as good a shot as anybody. We have lots of weapons and we play good D.

Gill leads us with 15.9. Camm gets 14.9 and 10.2. Chap gets 13.8, 5.4, 4.7. 10.6, 9.8 for Haki.10.5, 5.2 for Drye.

+15.4 PPG, +12.2 RBs, -6 TOs, averaging 10.0.

[Wayne23]

3/5: Jake Chap is #10 on the Norton list.

Chap and little used C Dave Gann go pro.

We offer to an SG.

3/9: We play #8 seed Maryland, 20-12. We crushed them last week.

3/10: 83-70. It was a 2 point game at the half. We took charge early in the 2nd. 18, 11 for Camm, 19, 1, 3 for Gill.

#4 seed, #6 ranked Virginia, 27-6, in the semis. We won by 11 at home.

3/11: Back and forth early. Down 4 after 10. They lead by 10 late. 26-39 at halftime. We shot 24.3%.

We trail by 10 early. Down 6 with 10 to play. Trailing by 10 late.

72-73. We made a great late charge. Chap missed a 40 footer at the buzzer. We shot 31.2%. Hard to win when you do that.

[Wayne23]

3/12: #1 East, #1 overall, which is a surprise. We play #16 seed Jackson ST, 19-14.

3/16: We led all the way. 21, 17 for Camm, 13, 11, 5 for Chap.+24 in the paint.

#9 seed Syracuse, 22-11, in the 2nd round. We won by only 3 there.

3/18: 91-62. 23, 13, 3 for Haki, 18, 7 for Camm, 16, 6, 3 for Drye. It was never close.

#5 seed, #18 ranked Kansas, 23-13, in the Sweet Sixteen.

We get the guard we were after.

3/23: 82-67. Close for about 25 minutes. 22, 12 for Camm, 12, 6, 11, 5 for Chap. +34 in the lane.

Duke and Virginia both lose.

#3 seed, #9 ranked Providence, 29-6, in the Elite Eight.

3/25: Back and forth early. Up 7 after 10. 47-34 at the half. 11, 7 for Haki, 10 each for Camm and Drye.

“Come on, guards, make some shots.”

Big lead early. Up 22 with 10 to go. Huge lead late.

95-63. 18, 12, 4 for Haki, 13, 4, 10 for Gill, 14, 11 for Camm, 13, 4, 5, 3 for Chap. A team effort to get to the Final Four!

[Wayne23]

3/31: #4 seed, #12 ranked Oklahoma ST, 28-8, in the national semifinal. On paper we win easily.

4/1: We score the first 13. Haki and Camm are unstoppable so far. Up 15 after 10. They come back late. 41-35 at halftime. 17, 3 for Haki, 8 each for Chap and Camm.

We lead early but it’s close. The lead goes to 10. Up 10 with 10 to play.

91-76. 24, 7, 3 for Camm, 21, 7 for Haki, 13, 7, 10 for Chap. +18 inside.

Chap banged up his hip but he’ll play.

It’s #1 seed, #3 ranked Kona, 37-2, in the title game. They’re strong outside.

4/3: We’re ice cold early and we trail. Then we heat up. Up 3 after 10. 37-46 at the half. Fouls are hurting us, especially in the back court. 12, 4 for Camm.

We trail early. Down 5 with 10 to play. We take the lead then it’s back and forth. Late run!

79-70 and our 3rd title in 4 years! 28, 3, 3 for Gill, 23, 6, 5 blocks for Camm.

“Fred Greb, CBS, here with Coach Jess Wynn. Coach, three national titles in 4 years. Only John Wooden has ever done anything like that. What’s your secret?”

“Get the best players you can get, teach then to play hard and play together, then hope for the best.”

“You rarely get a top 10 recruit.”

“That’s true, but I get a lot in the 15-30 range and they get the job done.”

“Why don’t you go after the top 10 harder?”

“They’re generally one and done. I like to keep players for a couple of years or more if I can although that’s getting harder and harder with the Portal and early exit for the NBA.”

“Would you list yourself as a great coach?”

“That’s not up to me. I coach. Others decide things like that. I’m 38 years old, about to turn 39. I’ve hopefully got many years of coaching ahead of me. That’s what I’m interested in.”

“Only 6 coaches in NCAA history have won 3 titles. You’ve got 3 at age 38. Very impressive. Thanks Coach.”

[Wayne23]

4/4: Awards: Jim Camm is tourney MOP. Jake Chap makes the 2nd team.

In the ACC Jim Camm is POYand 1st team along with Chap and Aimo Haki. Mark Gill makes the 2nd team. I am Conf. COY.

4/5: “I’m really looking forward to my slow season. Oh, they offered me the desk from 4:00 to midnight, Weds. Through Sunday. I declined.”

“Yeah, once the kids start school you wouldn’t see them much.”

“Plus, working only one day a week from April through mid-August is good for us as a family.”

“No regrets?”

“Not at all. I want a career but I also want to have family time.”

“You know I support you no matter what.”

“And I appreciate that.”

Von and I have a great marriage.

4/23: I ask for a facilities upgrade yet again.

No yet again. My A. D. and I are really fighting over this. Most of the profit we make in the hoops program is going to the football program and I am NOT happy about it.

35-4, national title. For 15 seasons I’m 436-113, .794.

[Wayne23]

5/1: #2 recruit class, #1 preseason.

5/22: We lose Aimo Haki. That’s a big loss! We need 2 big guys.

5/26: We offer to 2.

5/29: 0-2.

6/2: We get both guys we were after. One will start.

6/25: We’re going to all the regionals plus Indy even though we have no openings for recruits.

6/26: No scholarships available. We’ll probably recruit some players in case someone leaves in March.

8/7: 5 on the Norton list. Guard Dave Pabe is #7, guard Lane Seal #8, C Norm Brid #9, Forward Don Drye #11, and forward Eric Hook #16.

“I hate to go back to work almost full time.”

“It’s your call, Von.”

“Oh, I’ll do it. I don’t really hate it, it’s just that I’ll be spending less time with the kids and you.”

9/18: Tough pre-conf sched.

10/2: 1st day of practice. We’re good, maybe really good.

11/12: Here’s the lineup. Very different from last year:

Frosh Lane Seal is at the Point. He plays the whole game well.

Frosh Dave Pabe is at SG. He is also very good, or has looked that way in practice.

#3 guard is junior Cris Cher. We lose a little D when he comes in. Junior Josh Alan isn’t bad for a #4 guard.

Soph Don Drye moves from PF to SF. He’s solid.

Frosh Norm Brid is at PF. He’s a terrific rebounder.

Junior Jim Camm is at C. He may be our best player.

1st big guy off the bench is soph Tom Geer, a transfer from Mississippi ST. Next is soph Eric Hook. Voi Riik is a junior transfer from Mississippi St where he started. Frosh Lee Mont isn’t ready but has potential.

[Wayne23]

11/13: We start the season tomorrow with #17 UCLA, here.

12/1: We start the season 4-1. 23 point win over #17 UCLA at home. 20 and 19 for Norm Brid. +30 in the paint.

22 point win over #16 Penn St here. 13, 15, 3 for Brid.

17 point win over Dayton here. 29, 6, 4, 5 for guard Dave Pabe, 15, 2, 7, 4 for Lane Seal, 16, 13, 3 blocks for Brid.

20 point win over #19 Kentucky at home. 20, 18 for Brid, 14, 7, 6 for Camm. +32 in the lane.

We lost by 18 at home to #4 Wisconsin. We shot only 31.5% but the refs beat us. They went to the line 43 times to our 15. I got my 2nd career technical and damned near got a 2nd one. We never had a chance. 11, 15 for Brid.

12/2: “Von Gray here. I don’t get the chance to interview my husband very often but here he is, Coach Jess Wynn of the UConn Huskies. Hi there, Coach.”

“Hi there, Von!”

“We’re here to talk about a poll that was just released today. 500 former college basketball players were polled and asked to name their top 5 all time college players. Lew Alcindor, later Kareem Abdul
Jabbar, came in at #1. You, sir, were #2. The rest of the first team was made up of Bill Walton, Bill Russell, and Oscar Robertson. Comments?”

“I really enjoyed my four years playing at UConn and we did pretty well, winning three national titles. I had great coaches and really good teammates.”

“Some of it had to be you. I mean you had the highest scoring average in NCAA history, were in the top 5 in both assists and rebounds. 500 people who ought to know put you at #2 all time.”

“That’s a tremendous compliment, and I appreciate it. That top 5 is a hell of a group. Who mad ethe second team?”

“Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry Lucas, Pete Maravich, George Mikan, and Bob Cousy were 6-10.”

“Great players!”