Hereafter

[Wayne23]

5/1: #12 recruiting class. Can't quite afford the National basic report yet. We buy West Gold, national, international basic.

6/5: No one is leaving the program. Wish I had a spot, Utah's starting PG is available. Oh well.

I haven't been reporting on Council meetings because nothing has changed. I'm all over the ship and I have definitely noticed that most people seem pretty unhappy with the rebel Council members. None of the 4 have yet produced a good idea. None have voted in favor of anything brought up by the majority. None have done the kinds of extra work that the rest of us do. People are noticing and they're not happy. It feels like even a lot of people who voted for them aren't happy with their performance.

6/25: We're going to the Indy Elite and Las Vegas camps.

6/26: 4 scholarships. We want 2 bigs, 2 guards.

It sort of surprised me that we were unranked in the pre-season polls. Maybe because we lost so many to graduation.

8/7: Tim Smid was #44 on the Norton list. Weird. He didn't even start last season and may not this season. I expected Mal Mann to make the list. He didn't.

8/21: We offer to 2 PGs, a PF, a C.

8/31: It happened. A petition for a new special election was called.

“Given that we recently held a special election I am going to put whether to have another one to a vote of the entire crew. Election date, Oct. 1.”

Here we go again!

[Wayne23]

9/18: We got both PGs, #67, #80, and the C, #61. We lost our #1, the PF. We offered to a C.

We're headed to the Tip-Off in Paradise in Hawaii vs. Georgia. Nearly everyone on our pre-conf. schedule is ranked.

There's not much campaigning about whether or not we should have another election. From what I'm hearing, most people do want one.

Karl Graves, the leader of the rebel movement, and one of the rebel Council members, has been saying that they will put up a full slate and expect to wind up with a majority of the Council seats. If people are being honest with me as I make my rounds, he's dead wrong.

9/25: We lose another big guy.

10/1: The crew vote overwhelmingly to hold another special election. The Council Chair sets it for 12/1.

10/2: We lose another recruit.

First day of practice. We look good!

10/5: Both sides have already nominated their candidates. They dropped one of the sitting Council members. The word is that they almost dropped a second one.

10/9: Not sure we're going to be able to fill that scholarship. Everyone has said no, so far and we're running out of options.

10/16: Oh how I hate politics!

11/15: The season starts tomorrow and the lineup is really not set yet. Here's where we are:

At guard we're plying three guys about equally- Senior Tim Smid will start at PG and play some SG, senior Kent Maxx will play SG, and junior Jay Ward will play both guard spots. I expect Maxx to grab big minutes. We'll see which of the other two wants it more.

We're just as unsettled at SF. 2 frosh, Reg Free and Art Ruck will get about equal time there, and will fill in at the other inside spots.

We're settled at the other two spots, senior Mal Mann is locked in at PF, he's our best player. Senior Sam Milt is at C; we think he's ready to have a great season.

We open with #24 Villanova, here. There's not much to go by at this early stage. They've got a very good C who will test Milt. Other than that, they're a top 25 team so we should expect a battle.

Two weeks left in the campaign. It has been quieter than the last one. From what I'm hearing I think my side is going to do very well.

[Wayne23]

11/16: Up 8 after 10. Up 20 at the half. The team looks good. Up 14 with 10 to play.

82-61. We were in control all night against a good team. We're good and we're deep. 27 points, 18 RBs from the bench.

Frosh Reg Free led us with 18 and 6. Maxx had 18, 3, 2. 6, 12, 5 for Art Ruck. We shot 50.8%, 8-15 on threes. +7 RBs, 10 TOs. We controlled the inside.

The only criticism is that we committed too many fouls.

Ruck hurt his arm. He's day to day and will see limited time in at least our next game.

Off to the Tip-Off. We're the #5 seed and we play #4 seed Georgia, 0-1. If we beat them it's #1 ranked Kansas. But one game at a time. They were crushed by 31 vs. #22 Ohio ST and will use a different lineup against us so it's hard to know what to expect.

The campaign is still much quieter than the last one was. It seems like candidates are relying on one-on-one conversations more than rallies, debates, or other more public means of going after votes. There has been less dirty politics, at least overtly.

[Wayne23]

11/18: Early lead. Up 12 after 10. Up 7 at the half. We're not hitting shots. Up 13 with 10 left. Late run!

84-57. Great D! 14, 11 for Mann, 14, 7, 5 for Free, 18, 6 for Milt, 17, 2, 4 for Maxx.

We shot 41.3%, took 12 more shots, made 6. We hit threes again tonight, 12-25. Ruck didn't play well; the injury slowed him down. He'll sit tonight.

It's #1 in the country Kansas, 2-0, in the semis. We're going to have our hands full, particularly with a key player hurt. This is a very good team, especially on D and on the boards.

[Wayne23]

11/23: Back and forth early. Down 3 after 10. Big run puts us up 13 at the break. They come back, then we go on another run. Up 10 with 10 to go.

93-74. They don't play much D. 22, 5, 4 for Maxx, 16, 6, 4, 3 steals for Ruck. 14, 7 for Free, 11, 9 for back up big Mel Tuck.

Bad news. Sam Milt broke his arm in the first minute of the game. Out for a couple months. Ruck will start at SF, Free at C, Tuck will be the first big off the bench with Moro second.

#18 Indiana, 3-1, is here. We think that even with the injury to Milt we have the edge inside. I'm selling confidence. I want my guys going in believing
they can beat this team.

The campaign remains quiet. I like our chances.

[Wayne23]

11/26: Back and forth early. Tied after 10. High scoring with both temas hitting shots. Up 3 at the half. It's a shoot out. Mini-run puts us up 6 with 10 to go. Run!

105-90. What a shoot out! We shot 60%, they shot 56.1%. We hit a lot of threes, and were +7 at the line.

Maxx continues to be our go to with 21, 3, 4. 14, 6, 4, 3 steals, 3 blocks for Mann, 17, 5 for Ruck, 16, 4 for Free. Good bench play, +13 points; 12, 1, 6 for Smid, 10, 4 for Tuck.

#18. St. Mary, 3-1, is here. We think we're better. We score a lot more and we give up about the same.

[Wayne23]

11/30: Missing shots early. Up 4 after 10 but not hitting. Up 13 at the half. Shooting a little better but not great. Up 18 with 10 to play; in control.

76-55. Great D but the O wasn't up to our usual. We shot only 40%, but 11 more shots led to 6 more baskets. +11 at the line.

17, 9, 3 for Maxx, 15, 9 for Mann, 12, 8 for Free, 14, 0, 4 for Smid. +11 RBs, only 9 TOs.

We're doing okay without our starting C, Sam Milt, but we'll be better when he gets back.

3-1 Ohio ST is here next. They are terrific on D and they have a solid inside game. They could give us trouble.

Election tomorrow. This election never seemed to get the crew fired up. I hope they vote! If they do I think my side will do very well.

12/1: We won the election overwhelmingly, winning 11 of the 12 seats, most of them easily. The leader of the rebel movement, Karl Graves, lost badly. The only person they elected was a woman who works in food prep, a nice person who has always been well liked. She had not run before. I think she'll be someone reasonable.

[Wayne23]

12/3: Early lead. We're making shots. Up 6 after 10. Up only 3 at halftime. Up 4 with 10 left.

89-87. Whew! They missed a 30 footer at the buzzer. Another shootout, and we just couldn't put them away until the very end.

21, 9 for Free, 15, 2, 5 for Ward, 12, 5, 5, 5 steals for Ruck, 12, 7 for Tuck. Good bench play again.

Both teams shot over 50%. We took 10 more shots, made 4. The threes weren't falling, 22.2%. +6 RBs, 10 TOs; +22 in the paint, which was the key, along with +10 on 2nd chances.

We're 6-1, losing only to #1 Kansas. Now ranked #12.

4-1 Alabama is here. They have a very good C. They hit the boards and they take care of the ball. Could be a tough one.

We're playing just about all good to very good teams, though few of them have been ranked.

First meeting of the new Council. The rebel Council member, Ruth Ward, was not disruptive. She seemed to be very interested, asked good questions, and seems willing to work hard. Things are looking up!

[Wayne23]

12/7: Early lead but they're not far back. Up 10 after 10. The O is cooking! Up 17 at the half. Up 23 with 10 left. Ruck and Free are scoring points.

77-63. We took control early and held it throughout.

16, 9, 3, 5 steals for Free10, 5 for Ruck. Both of them can score and rebound, but they're not as good defensively as I would like. 21, 8 for Mel Tuck, who is really doing well as our first big off the bench.

We didn't shoot all that well, 40.8%, but we took 19 more shots and made 7 of them. +8 RBs, 8 fewer TOs. Very good bench play and we owned the inside against their good big guys.

A couple of lineup changes: Ward is getting full minutes, with Smid going to back up. Ward defends better and scores a lot more. Smid dishes better. Tuck will get lots more minutes, mostly from Ruck, and mostly because of his scoring and glass eating.

I can't believe we're still playing Cal Poly, 2-5, and can't believe I haven't changed them out as our home and home rival. They're here next. I don't even want to play this game.

We're now #10 in the country.

[Wayne23]

12/13: Seems like my guys don't want to play this one either. They're flat. Up 7 after 10. A run opens it up. Up 18 at the half. Up 19 with 10 left. Their SF is a scorer. We're not doing anything special to stop him because it doesn't matter.

96-76. A yawner. 22, 12 for Mann, and 21 for Ruck, who didn't like losing minutes. 9, 11, 4, 4 steals, 3 blocks for free. 14, 6 for Tuck, who seems to get better every game.

+13 RBs, 11 TOs. +19 from the line; when you're a lot quicker the other team has to foul.

Our biggest challenge since #1 Kansas is next, we're at #11 Michigan, 6-3. They're starting PG is out with a broken arm so we're each down one starter.

They don't score nearly as many as we do and they give up about the same. Let's see how we do on the road. We haven't been away from home in a month.

One of our probes sees something. First time in a long time. This is a probe that is trailing us. Something big is moving toward it very quickly. That's all we know right now.