Fun and Games

[Wayne23]

5/1: #15 recruiting class. We buy all the basics.

6/5: One spot for a transfer.

6/9: No one of interest.

The autopsy report came in on the Mayor today. Probable cause of death listed as heart failure.

6/26: 5 scholarships. We’ll go 3 and 2 either way.

8/7: I have my first Norton candidate. PF Jon Buck is #47.

8/21: I offer to a PG, 2 SGs, 2 PFs.

9/11: We lose one.

9/18: We get a PF, #58, lose one.

Caribbean Challenge vs. Texas.

9/25: We get 3, lose one. We get an SG, #25, our #1 pick, a PG, #49, and a PF, #51.

10/2: Got the last one, an SG, #35.

1st day of practice. We’re picked 8th. I expect us to do a lot better than that.

11/6: 8 man rotation to start:

Soph Ry Wood is back at PG. Senior Jay Crum is at SG. Senior Mo Wall subs at PG and SG, and junior Greg Mack subs at SG.

Senior Jon Wats is at SF. Frosh Jon Buck starts at PF, subs at C. Soph Mal Leck subs at SF and PF.

Junior Don Jord is at C.

I’ve been driving to Charlotte. It’s a long drive but there’s lots of opportunity there.

[Wayne23]

11/20: 2-0 start against fairly weak teams and at home. We won by 14 and 18. Jon Buck looked really good at PF in both games. He may be my first superstar. Jord looked good at C, too.

All 5 recruits sign.

I wonder if NC ST is my last stop. Can I take them to NCAA titles or should I move up if and when I get the chance.

12/4: 5-0, RPI #49. Buck is leading us with 20.4, 10.2.

12/15: 7-0 headed for the Caribbean Challenge vs. #2 seed Texas, 6-2. We’re the #7 seed.

I’m going to lie low here this year. I just have a feeling that it’s not a good idea to pursue my “hobby” here. No idea why I have this feeling but I’m going with it. I brought licorice, but no poison darts.

12/16: 82-63. We led for the last 30 minutes. Buck fouled out late but led us with 27 and 5. 12, 10 for C Don Jord, who wound up with 4 fouls.
Our bench played well. +17 RBs.

#3 seed, #18 ranked Villanova, 9-1, in the semis. They’re tough, especially outside, but we’re a 5 ½ point favorite.

12/17: 80-63. We led for the final 38 minutes. 16, 7 for Jord, 12, 11 for Buck, 14 for SG Jay Crum. +21 RBs. I was not happy with 20 TOs though.

#4 seed Southern Cal, 8-1, for the title. They’re tough outside and they have a good C. We’re favored by 1 ½ but we need to play well.

12/18: 63-70. We never led and played lousy ball. Buck is an exceptional player but he needs to learn discipline. He was in foul trouble all night, which really hurt us. He had 16, 6 , but he would have been able to do even more if not for the fouls. Two of them were really dumb fouls. What really lost it for us though was 25 TOs.

12/25: 10-1 going to ACC play. #24, RPI #15. +14.3 PPG (#85, #14), +9.0 RBs (#27), +3.7 TOs (#108). Buck still leads us, 18.0, 9.2. The next 6 guys get between 10.5 and 6.8, so he is clearly our go to guy.

For some reason I’ve been gun shy about committing any more murders lately. Not sure what that’s about. There’s no indication that I have anything to worry about.

[Wayne23]

1/1/1984: 12-2, 2-1. We lost to a tough Georgia Tech team there, won 1 each at home and on the road in the other two. #19, RPI #10.

I wondered how Buck would do in ACC play. Well he started with 3 very strong games.

1/8: Terrific week. We beat #3 Duke and #13 Miami. Both at home, but still. #13, RPI #6.

1/15: 15-3, 5-2, #13, RPI #7. Tied for 3rd. The ACC is always tough.

1/29: 18-4, 8-3, #12, RPI #5. Alone in 3rd place. Jon Buck is #7 on the Norton list.

Drove to Charlotte last night and got an innocent bystander. Just someone probably walking home from working late at night. Used my old reliable licorice dart. I’m starting to feel the urge strongly again. While the licorice dart isn’t very creative it feels safe, and safety still seems to be a worry. I hope I’m not getting paranoid.

2/12: 21-5, 11-4, #11, RPI #6. Alone in 2nd in the ACC. Jon Buck is #5 on the Norton list.

I hit 2 more. One was in Blacksburg, VA while we were there to play VA Tech. It was an old lady walking out of a grocery store.

Then I got a man in Durham. He was sitting in the park feeding squirrels. Licorice dart both times.

2/26: Amazingly enough we win the ACC by a game. 24-5, 14-4, #12, RPI #5. +8.6 PPG (#84, #37), +5.4 RBs (#51), +3.8 TOs (#119). Our stats are not great but we won games.

Buck still leads us with 17.4, 9.4.

I hit 2 more, a nun in Boston when we were there to play Boston College, and a prostitute in Durham.

I got the nun on the morning of 2/24. I was sitting on a bench on a city street just seeing who would walk by that I could get. She walked by, turned and smiled at me and got a dart in the left cheek.

Tonight I went cruising in Durham and di one of my old favorites. Solicited a male prostitute, got him into an alley, had him strip down and get on his hands and knees, and slit his throat.

The urge has just been insatiable. I know I need to slow down though.

[Wayne23]

3/5: Jon Buck is #8 on the Norton list and he is coming back. I thought he might go pro. Thankfully he didn’t.

I’ve decided to do most of my hits on the road for a while. Even though the licorice dart kills don’t register on the cop radar I think it’s better. Some eager beaver looking to make a name for himself might start counting up the suspicious deaths.

3/9: We play #9 seed Virginia, 17-11, 8-10, in the quarter finals. They embarrassed us by 18 at their place. We’re favored, but by only a ½ point. Their backcourt can put points up and they have a very good Center.

The tourney is in Pittsburgh this year.

3/10: 76-73 in OT. Our 3rd OT game of the season and we’re 2-1. This game was close all the way. They hit a desperation three at the end of regulation to take it to OT. We scored the first 7 in OT, then they scored the next 8. With 32 seconds left they fouled Don Jord. He hit the front of a 1 and 1 and missed the second. They got the RB, played for the last shot, missed a 14 footer. Buck got the Rb, they fouled him immediately and he hit 2. They threw up a ¾ court prayer and it missed everything. We had seven players with between 12 and 7 points. 18 TOs but they had 25.

#4 seed, #19 ranked Wake Forest, 21-8, 12-6, in the semis. We won by 7 at our place but they’re favored by 3 ½. They have great guards and they’re good up front, too. We’ll need to play hard.

After the game with VA the staff and I were up until almost 2:30 planning for Wake. When they left my room I waited a while and then hit the street. Before long a female prostitute walked past me and asked me “the question.” I said yes, of course. I was too tired to do the alley thing so I let her get a few steps ahead of me, telling her I wanted to watch her butt as she walked. She gave me some extra wiggles and I got her in the left butt cheek with a licorice dart. She felt it, turned to say something, stopped, and down she went.

I can’t seem to get enough right now.

3/11: 82-78. This one was close all the way, just like our last game. At the end we found C Don Jord with a great pass and he laid it in. Wake came down and missed. Buck got the RB, they fouled him, and just as he did yesterday he hit both. But that meant a 4 point lead with .7 left. They took a desperation three that missed. 23, 8 for Jord, 22, 7, 4 for PG Ry Wood, 16, 7 for Buck. Only 10 TOs.

#3 ranked, #4 seed North Carolina, 26-6, 13-5, for the title. A win here would get us a #1 seed. They crushed us at their place and beat us by 3 in OT at our place.
They’re favored by 4 ½, as they should be. They’re solid all up and down the lineup.

I wanted to go out last night but the staff and I were at it until 3:30 and I just crashed. I needed the sleep.

3/12: 66-75. They were better. We kept it reasonably close but could never quite get there.

26-6, #10, RPI #4. We could possibly be a #1. I doubt we’ll be lower than a #2.

#2 East. We’re in the toughest bracket. We play #15 Bethune-Cookman, 21-9.

3/16: 60-51. We never trailed and we led by as many as 19. They made a run at the end but the final was as close as they got. 21 for Buck, 12, 9 for Jord. Only 7 TOs.

#10 seed Texas, 19-10 in the 2nd round. We beat them by 19 in the 1st round of the Caribbean Classic. We’re favored by 4 ½. Their strength is inside but we handled that easily last time.

3/18: 70-53. We led all the way. 20 for SG Mo Wall. The rest of the scoring was divided. They doubled Buck but he still got 8, 11, 4. +15 RBs.

2nd straight trip to the Sweet Sixteen. We play #3 seed, #19 ranked UConn, 24-7. We’re favored by 1 ½. They look tough, especially inside.

3/24: 101-90 in a real shoot out. They led by 12 early then we came roaring back and at the half we were up by 9. We got it to 21 before they came back, but late in the game they never got closer than 7. 22 for Wall, 16, 5 for Jord. Buck was in foul trouble all night but we survived that with good bench play (28, 5, 5).

My first trip to the Elite Eight and we play #1 seed, #1 ranked Georgetown, 33-3. On paper we’re in big trouble. They are more than solid and their SG and C are among the best players in the country. We need to be at our best to have any chance.

3/26: 43-58. We played great D but they played unbelievable D. We shot 30%. But the big difference was at the line. They went there 28 times to our 11. Frankly, that’s about right. We found ourselves beat on too many plays and had to foul. No one fouled out but it still hurt us. I was truly impressed by how well they shut us down.

Still, great season!

4/3: #1 Georgetown is the champ. We lost to the best.

4/4: Awards: Freshman forward Jon Buck is 2nd team All American. In the ACC Buck is POY, Frosh OY, and 1st team. I am ACC COY.

4/9: Let’s see if anyone want us.

No interesting offers but no really top notch schools had vacancies. I am more than happy to be staying here.

4/23: I ask for a facilities upgrade. No.

29-7, #10, RPI #5, Elite Eight. Terrific season. Overall, I’m 322-129, .714.

[Wayne23]

5/1: #6 recruiting class. We buy East gold and a couple of basics.

6/5: One spot open and 2 guys who look interesting.

6/12: No luck.

6/26: 3 scholarships. 2 and 1 either way.

8/7: PF Jon Buck is #31 on the Norton list.

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

9/11: Lost 2.

9/18: We got a C, #40, and we lost one.

Golden ST Classic vs. #10 UConn.

We decided to go with a much tougher pre-ACC schedule this season. 9 ACC games vs. teams that are ranked in the preseason poll.

9/25: Got a PG, #50. Lost one.

10/2: We lose another one. I don’t think we’re going to fill that 3rd scholarship. Not looking good.

1st day of practice. We’re picked 7th. We’ll do better, hopefully a lot better.

11/6: 7 man rotation to start:

Junior Ry Wood is back at the Point. Senior Greg Mack is at SG but frosh Stu Olllo wants the job. He subs at both guard positions.

Frosh Sid Bail is at SF. All American soph Jon Buck is back at PF.

Soph Gray Latt starts at C, subs at SF, and senior Don Jord subs at PF and C.

After a bunch of hits I decided I needed to take a break. It just seemed that I was pushing it. But the urge is back and it’s strong. I still want to avoid kills that are within driving distance of home though. I’m off on recruiting trips so I’m all over the place, and the season is starting so I’ll do some travel with that, so there will be opportunities.

[Wayne23]

11/20: 2-0 start. We beat #8 BYU, here, by 3 in our opener. A really great game and our main man Jon Buck pulled us through. Then an easy home win over LA Tech.

Last night was the absolute closest call of my life. I was in Denver meeting this Center who we’re trying to recruit. I couldn’t get a flight out until the morning so I decided to find a prostitute and take her into an alley.

At about 1:30 in the morning I did. Just as I was finishing slashing her throat I heard,

“Freeze! Police!”

I froze.

“Turn around real slow with your hands high. There’s a gun pointed right at your sorry ass.”

I did. What the cop didn’t know was that in situations like this I always keep a piece of loaded licorice in my mouth, just in case. I’ve never had a slashing go wrong but you never know.

The cop started walking toward me. When he got close enough I fired the licorice dart, getting him high on the right cheek. He reached for the wound, looked puzzled and went down. Then I heard,

“Doug, you okay in there?”

Big trouble. I stuck my knife in the cop’s chest to make it look like I had stabbed him and headed for the back of the alley which led to a side street. But just as I was clearing the alley I heard the other cop yell at me.

“Police! Stop!”

I kept going and ducked into a bar a couple streets farther down.

“Give me a draft but I gotta use your bathroom.”

“Over on the right.”

I cleaned up, washed the knife carefully, making sure to get any fingerprints cleaned off, stuck it in the bottom of the bathroom trash can, came out, sat at the bar, and drank the draft. I was wearing a dark wig, goatee, and clear glass glasses. I kept all of that on.

There were sirens going off like crazy. I guess the cop had called it in and backup was on the way.

I worked hard not to panic and thought it through. I decided I did not want to be in the bar when the cops eventually came in to ask their questions.

I paid for the beer and walked outside, walking back toward my hotel. I dropped my disguise into the first trash can I saw, burying it deeply below other trash in the can.

On the way to the hotel a cruiser pulled up beside me. The cop got out, asked for my ID, and started asking me questions.

I explained who I was. The NC ST ID proved I was who I said I was.

“Coach, this is a pretty sketchy neighborhood, what the hell you doing out here in the middle of the night?”

I explained why I was in town and told the cop that I was an insomniac, and that I often went for long walks late at night when I couldn’t sleep. I said I had stopped for a beer because I had found that one beer sometimes helped me to get to sleep.

“Do yourself a favor and do your homework when you’re traveling. You don’t want to be in this kind of neighborhood in the towns you travel to. We had a pretty ugly double murder not far from here tonight. You don’t want to be anywhere near that kind of thing.”

I thanked the nice policeman and walked back to the hotel. I noticed that the cop just drove away after he left me. He hadn’t stopped to write anything down. He didn’t do that when he checked my ID, or at any other time when he was with me. Lucky for me, but he wouldn’t forget meeting someone “famous.” I regretted not hitting him with a licorice dart but that would have been dangerous, too. Still, it was a mistake not to hit him.

I wasn’t able to get to sleep at all that night. If it had gone down any differently it could have been the end of everything, and I was definitely in that cop’s memory.

12/4: 5-0, #14, RPI #5. Buck leads us with 14.2, 8.6. We’re playing great D but our ball handling is terrible.

12/8: Headed for the Golden ST Classic where we’ll meet #2 seed, #23 ranked UConn. We’re the #7 seed.

Believe me, I intend to keep an extremely low profile while we’re at the tournament. Kill #50 is going to have to wait a while.

12/9: 81-80. Never more than a 7 point difference and three lead changes in the last half minute. We won it on Center Gray Latt’s 6 footer at the buzzer. They were doubling Buck on that play, as we thought they would be so we set up the play for Latt, and it worked. 16, 12 for Buck and +12 RBs were the difference, but there wasn't much difference!

There was knock on my hotel room door this afternoon, shortly before I was about to leave for the game.

“Coach Tuthry, I’m Detective Sergeant Mark Willis, with the California state police, and this is Detective Paul Wondry, of the city of Denver, Colorado police. We have a few questions for you.”

“I’m supposed to be leaving for a game in about ten minutes.”

“Yes sir, but this has to do with a murder investigation so I’m sure you understand that we need your cooperation.”

“Yes, of course. Let me call my assistant and tell him if I’m not on the bus I’ll be along later.”

I made the call.

“Coach Tuthry, we, that is to say the Denver police investigating unit assigned to the case, were made aware of your presence in the area by Officer Mosely, only two days ago. He was negligent in filing a report related to an interview he had with you early on the morning of Nov. 20. Now, he reports that you said you were in Denver to see a recruit, that you were unable to sleep, and that you went for a walk, stopping at a bar. Is that correct, sir?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Can you tell me the name of the bar, sir?”

“I have no idea. I just stopped in at a bar, had a beer, and left.”

“What street would that have been on, sir?”

“No idea, but probably the street where the officer stopped me. Yes, I’m almost sure it was on the same street.”

“Sir, we’ve shown your photo in every bar in that area and no one recalls seeing you.”

“Well, I’m pretty average looking, I guess. I didn’t really talk to anyone except the bartender, and I only talked to him when I ordered and when I paid.”

“Can you describe this bartender?”

I could but I didn’t, not honestly anyway.

“He was bald. Seemed kind of tall.”

It went on like that for quite a while. They asked how far past the bar I had walked. I told them the bar was the end of the line; that was where I stopped walking and
I had never gotten past that point. That was a lie, of course.

They asked me if I knew anything about the murders. When I said I didn’t they asked if I had seen anything on television or radio or in the papers. I had, since I’d been looking, but there really wasn’t much. It was a very tiny national story for a day because a cop had been killed but there really wasn’t anything after that.

Eventually they let me go to the game, telling me to be sure to call the Denver detective if anything else occurred to me that might be helpful.

As I rode in the taxi to the arena it occurred to me that I would probably be watched for a while. Damn!

#6 seed ST Louis, 6-1, in the semis. They have a good outside game but we’re a huge favorite.

I made it a point to walk around town after midnight but I stuck to well lit, decent neighborhoods. Sure enough though, a cop stopped me and asked a few questions. I gave the usual story about insomnia and he let me go. That convinced me that I was right about being watched. Fortunately, it’s not easy for cops to communicate with cops in other states but again, some eager beaver might start trying to tie some things together.

12/10: 88-73. We scored 53 in the 1st half. 22, 10, 5 for Latt, 17, 8 for Buck, 17 for PG Ry Wood. Only 6 TOs.

#4 seed, #22 ranked Providence, 7-2, for the title. They have a solid lineup but we’re big favorites.

I went for another walk after the game. I didn’t get stopped but two cruisers drove past me at different times.

12/11: 80-68. We owned the 2nd half. 17, 10 for tourney MOP Jon Buck. +16 RBs.

12/25: 11-0, #8, RPI #2. +15.1 PPG (#50, #23), +11.7 RBs (#8), +2.7 TOs (#70). Buck gets 16.7, 8.7. Latt gets 15.7, 8.5, so he’s a big factor in our success.

I’m still lying very low. Trying to maintain all of my other patterns though, especially the late night walks in strange cities.

[Wayne23]

1/1/1985: 14-0, 3-0, #4, RPI #2. Not sure we’re that good but we’re good!

1/15: 17-1, 6-1, #4, RPI #2. The winning streak ended at 14 when we lost at Miami. We played poor D that night and shot 28.3%.

1/29: 20-2, 9-2, #3, RPI #4. We lost at #4 North Carolina. We’re one game back of 1st place. The schedule is favorable. If we play well we should go 6-1 in our last 7.

Jon Buck is #19 on the Norton list. He’s so low because we have better players this year so he doesn’t need to carry as much of the load.

Sad to report that one of my recruits didn’t hit our SAT score. So 2 of 3 scholarships go unfilled. Not good.

2/12: 23-3, 12-3, #3, RPI #3. In 2nd in the ACC, ½ back of 1st, ½ up on 3rd. At this point it’s a 3 team race with 3 to play and our schedule is favorable.

Detective Paul Wondry, Denver Police,

“Captain, all I’m saying is there’s something suspicious here.”

“Paul, people get knifed, get their throats cut every week, probably every day, maybe dozens every week.”

“Yes, I know, but I’ve found what looks like a connection between these 8 in these towns Tuthry was either living in, close enough to drive to, or visiting.”

“Look, that Coach was in town for 8 knife murders, a bunch of different towns. Keep digging and you’ll find 8 more, maybe 28 more. He was there on legitimate business
every time. Let it go and find out who killed our cop.”

“Yes sir.”

2/26: 26-3, 15-3, #3, RPI #3. We win the ACC by 1 over #14 Miami, and 2 over #8 North Carolina and #6 Duke. Should be quite an ACC tournament. +11.5 PPG (#88, #11), +10.3 RBs (#3), +1.7 TOs (#50).

[Wayne23]

3/9: We play #8 seed GA Tech, 19-11, 8-10, in the quarter finals. Beat them by 20 at our place and we’re a huge favorite to do it again.

3/10: 71-54 but a very costly injury. Our best player, Jon Buck strained a calf muscle and is out for about 10-12 days. NOT good! He led us with 19 and 9. 15, 11, 4 with 4 blocks for Don Jord.

#5 seed, #17 ranked Wake Forest, 21-10, 12-6, in the semis. We won by 12 here at home, but they’re a 4 ½ point favorite. No doubt because of Buck’s absence; they’re solid up front.

All of the other favorites lost today so if we can get by Wake we still have a shot at winning this tourney.

3/11: 67-64! Close all night. Our guards pulled us through, SG Greg Mack had 22, 5, 4, and PG Ry Wood had 19. The bigs didn’t score a lot but were +15 on the boards.

#7 seed, #17 ranked Virginia, 22-8, 10-8, for the title. We won by 13 at home. They’re favored by 1 ½.

3/12: 70-72. So close! Never more than 8 points separating the teams. They had the last possession and their SF hit an 18 footer off a screen. 20 each for SF Sid Bail and Wood.

28-4, #3, RPI #3 but we may drop to a #2 because of the loss and the injury to Buck.

#1 South. We play #16 Quinnipiac, 19-11.

3/17: 76-61. 20, 6, 4 for SF Sid Bail, 13, 13, 4, with 4 blocks for C Don Jord. 13, 7, 3 for Wood. Only 7 TOs.

#8 seed Mississippi ST, 21-12, in the 2nd round. I could probably play Buck a little in this game but I’m going to gamble that we can win without him. He would then be 100% for our next game.

3/19: 72-62. They stayed close but we led most of the way. 20, 4, 7 for Wood, 15, 9 for Bail. And Buck is BACK!

#5 seed, #19 ranked Texas Tech, 24-8, in the Sweet Sixteen. We’re favored by 5 ½.

3/24: 76-59 and I can’t believe it, another injury. Don Jord bruised his shoulder and is effectively out for the season. Damn! 23, 15 for Buck. 14, 9 for Bail. Jord got hurt
4 minutes in and Bail did a great job of filling in for him, which he will continue to do. +18 RBs.

#3 seed, #8 ranked UConn, 27-6, in the Elite Eight. We beat them by 1 in the Golden ST. They’re favored by 1 ½. Their SG and PF are world class.

3/26: 74-85. C Gray Latt fouled out, playing only 18 minutes. Buck aggravated his injury and played only 24. Bail was in foul trouble all night. Talk about rotten luck. I really thought we could get to the Final Four this season but injuries did us in.

The game was in Nashville. I decided to take a chance and went out after everyone was settled in for the night. I ran into a VERY drunk woman on a side street not far from all the music venues in town. I guided her into an alley and slashed her throat. I know, I shouldn’t have done it. A licorice dart would have been safer, but using a knife is so much more satisfying. There’s just something about doing it directly and hands on.

3/28: Uh oh. Turns out the woman I killed was a country singer and mid-level celebrity, Tammy Tanya Tully. Probably not good although there’s nothing to link this to me.
Oh, I took her purse, to make it look like a mugging. Haven’t ditched it yet. I’m thinking I’ll put a heavy rock in it and drop it into the water somewhere, but in some other state.

Detective Paul Wondry, Denver Police,

“Chief, I don’t know if you read about it but a country singer in Nashville had her throat slashed early in the morning of the 27th. Guess who was in town for a basketball game.”

“Wondry, will you for Christ’s sake let it go. This **** happens every day. I read about it. She had more alcohol than blood in her blood stream. Probably ran into some derelict. Her purse is missing. Just let it go.”

4/3: #2 Kentucky is the champ.

4/4: Awards: F Gray Latt makes the ACC 1st team. Buck only made 2nd team. I think he got robbed. I am ACC COY again.

4/9: Move on? It would take an offer from an elite school.

I’m staying. I thought long and hard about GA Tech and OK ST, but decided to stay.

4/23: I had to pay a lot to extend my #1’s contract. Badly need a budget increase. We get a much needed $13,700. We have way less money to work with than the other top teams do.

31-5, won the regular season ACC, lost in the title game due to injuries which ruined our post season. #3, RPI #3. Great season.

All in all I’m 353-134, .725, for 15 seasons.

[Wayne23]

5/1: #25 recruiting class.

Detective Paul Wondry, Denver Police, “Captain, I’ve found a total of 17 knifings that happened when Coach Tuthry was either in the town, or close enough to have driven there.”

“Do me a favor, Paul. Pick the coach of another team, say a professional hockey team, yeah, the Detroit Red Wings. Do the same kind of research for the current coach. Let me know what you come up with- not just for knifings, but for any unsolved murders in towns he was in or could have gotten to. And leave me the hell alone until you’ve got the data.”

“But boss-”

“No, that’s your assignment. And I want you to take it as seriously as you’re taking the thing with Tuthry.”

6/5: Room for a transfer.

No one we want.

6/26: 4 scholarships. We need at least 2 guards.

8/7: 3 Norton candidates: PF Jon Buck is #22, PG Ry Wood is #34, and PF Gray Latt is #36.

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

Detective Paul Wondry, Denver Police, “Uh, Captain, I have a partial report on Darryl Singler, the coach of the Detroit Red Wings.”

“Okay, let’s hear it.”

“Only the last 5 years, but he’s been in town or close enough for 5 knife killings, 7 shootings, 3 car bombs, 3 poisonings, all unsolved.”

“So, about the same number as Tuthry, and in less time.”

“Well sir, you chose the murder capital of the U. S., and there’s no pattern regarding the type of killing as there is with Tuthry’s 17 knifings.”

“They’re not Tuthry’s 17 knife killings, Paul. You’re freaking obsessed. Let it go.”

“I’d like permission to just do one thing. I want to keep track of any other knifings or strange killings where Tuthry could be involved.”

“As long as it doesn’t take up your time on the job or the department’s resources.”

“Thank you sir.”

9/11: We lose one.

9/18: We lose another one.

Caribbean Challenge vs. South Florida. Some challenges in the pre-conf. sched.

9/25: We get 3, lose a PG. We get a PF, #22, two PGs, #23 and #37. We offer to a C.

10/2: 7 man rotation:

11/6: Senior Ry Wood is back at PG. Soph Clay Frie is at SG. Soph Stu Ollo subs at both.

Junior Gray Latt is at SF. Junior Jon Buck is at PF. Frosh Jon Robb is at C. Soph Sid Bail subs at all three up front spots.

Looks like one scholarship will remain unfilled.

I’m getting the “itch” again.”

[Wayne23]

11/20: 2-0. Ranked #19. We beat #22 Florida by 8. PF Jon Buck, as expected, is playing terrific ball. C Jon Robb is playing equally well.

All 3 recruits sign.

I took out a drunk last night in Raleigh. Used the licorice dart. Not as satisfying as a knife but I’m really leery of using the knife these days.

12/4: 5-0, #16, RPI #6.

12/15: 7-0, #19, RPI #8. Buck and Robb are terrific inside and SF Gray Latt isn’t far behind them. Sub Sid Bail is playing excellent ball but it’s hard to get him minutes.

The guards aren’t scoring much but they’re taking excellent care of the ball. The team looks great at this point.

Heading for the Caribbean Classic vs. #7 seed South Florida, 4-2. We’re the #2 seed.

12/16: 72-64. We were never in any real danger but they stayed within sight. 20, 13 for Robb, 12, 10 for Buck. 14, 4, 4 for PG Ry Wood. +12 RBs.

#3 seed New Mexico ST, 6-3, in the semis. They have a good inside game but ours is better.

12/17: 70-62. We led all the way. 13, 9 for Buck, 15, 5 for Latt. 12 for Wood. +8 RBs, +7 TOs.

#1 seed, #23 ranked Utah, 8-0, for the title. Best team we’ve played all year and they’re favored by 1 ½. They’re especially good at SG and PF. I think we’re the better team, but not by a lot.

12/18: 73-51. We played our best game of the season so far. 26 with 8 assists for tourney MOP Ry Wood, 12, 17 for Buck. +15 RBs.

Couldn’t resist, even though I should have. I hit the streets in San Juan after the game. My goal was to get a cop. It took a while but eventually one came along. The dart got him just below the left eye.

12/25: 11-0, #7, RPI #6. +19.9 PPG (#98, #1), +12.9 RBs (#4), +2.3 TOs (#60).

Detective Paul Wondry, Denver Police, “Dead cop in San Juan. Mysterious death. He was just found dead and they can’t find any reasonable cause of death. Guess who was in town for a basketball tournament.”

“People drop dead all the time.”

“The guy was 31 years old, worked out every day, in terrific shape.”