A New Tomorrow

[Wayne23]

#1 East, as expected. We play #16 Purdue-Fort Wayne, 17-16.

3/16: 100-54. A wipe out. 28, 19, 5 for Hamp, 15, 3, 11 for Coon, 19, 6, 6 for Jenk. +34 RBs, 7 TOs.

#9 seed Dayton, 24-10, in the 2nd round.

Still hundreds of missing persons. At this point all are presumed dead.

3/18: 96-59. 28, 13, 4 for Hamp, 17, 2, 8 for Coon, 15, 4, 3 for Jenk. +19 RBs, 8 TOs.

#5 seed, #17 ranked Villanova, 24-11, in the Sweet Sixteen. We won by 39 at our place in November.

3/21: A petition, with more than the required 3,500 signatures, was presented to the Council tonight. It requested that we move back to the hub and go back into space in search of a safer planet. That came as a shock to most of us. A committee was formed to investigate. It reports back on 4/21.

3/23: 81-64. They did better this time than last time. 25, 10 for Hamp, who is averaging more than 26 a game in the big dance so far. +19 RBs, 10 TOs.

#11 seed NC ST, 23-14, in the Elite Eight. Beat them by 31 at our place.

3/25: 96-55 and back to the Final Four. 17, 6, 4 for Hamp, 18, 4, 3 for Jenk. +27 RBs, 10 TOs.

#1 seed, #2 ranked Florida, 34-5, in the national semifinal. This is a very good team. We'll need to earn it.

4/1: 87-91. They led by as many as 16 in the 2nd half and we just were not able to close the gap. They shot 57.7% and beat our D in ways no one else did all season. -13 RBs, worst of the season. 27, 3, 6 for Jenk. Last game for Felt, Kinz, and three subs who never played much, and for Robb, of course. Most of our main weapons are back along with some really impressive looking recruits and transfers. But we should not have lost this game. We simply didn't play well.

4/3: #9 UCLA stuns Florida for the title.

4/4: Awards: Bart Hamp is 1st team All American and I win National COY. In the ACC, Hamp is MOP and 1st team. Guards Ward Coon and Ron Jenk make the 2nd team.

4/9: I'm not going anywhere. I want to stay with Hamp until he graduates next year.

4/21: LONG, HEATED discussion on staying or leaving. There was considerably more support for leaving than I would have thought. People talked about 4 months of horrible weather every year, blizzards, hurricanes, now earthquakes, the bugs...

There was enough sentiment to leave that the Council, after many people demanded it, scheduled a referendum. The date is June 27.

4/23: I ask for $. I spent a lot to extend some contracts.

We got $20,000.

37-2, Final Four, but no title. After 18 seasons I'm 559-103, .844.

Let's get that title back!

[Wayne23]

5/1: #1 recruiting class. Preseason #1.

6/5: Room for one transfer.

6/16: No one we want.

6/26: 2 scholarships. 1 and 1 or 2 bigs.

6/27: The referendum was probably closer than most people thought it would be. We're staying on planet. 180,228-125,673.

6/30: Lots of unrest around the result of the referendum. Hopefully it will settle down in time.

Winter has begin. It's snowing.

7/11: Construction has had to slow down. The snow has been heavy with high winds. Crews are working on the interiors of buildings but no exterior work can be done right now.

8/7: 6 Norton candidates: PG Ward Coon is #1, C Bart Hamp is #2, PF Ryan Edds is #4, PG Ron Jenk is #6, SG Josh Beck is #17, and PF Fred Pell is #30. We're going to be tough!

8/10: The snow has not let up, heavy all winter with regular high winds. No exterior construction has been done since late June.

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

9/3: Winter is over. Construction crews are back to work. So many people still in temporary housing.

9/18: 0 for 2 on recruits. We lose both.

Coaches Classic and lots of ranked teams.

9/25: We get a C, #22, and a PF, #24.

Everyone is crowded together and it's causing a lot of stress. Construction is going as quickly as possible.

10/2: First day of practice. We are very strong.

11/1: Police report that crime is way up, especially things like domestic abuse and all alcohol related crimes. It has to do with overcrowded living and working conditions.

[Wayne23]

11/12: We open tomorrow at the Coaches Classic. We're the #1 seed. We play #16 Manhattan.

11/13: 79-46. Runaway. 22, 9 for SF Ryan Edds, 15, 7 for Hamp.

#8 seed Texas Western in the 2nd round.

11/15: 75-57. Never close. 19, 7, 4 for SG Ron Jenk. +23 RBs, 9 TOs.

#4 seed Missouri in the semis.

11/17: 73-69. This was a battle. 12, 17, 3 for Hamp, 17, 7, 3 for Jenk. +14 RBs.

#6 seed, #23 ranked Wichita ST for the title.

11/19: 87-70. 25, 11, 3 for Hamp, 19, 1, 7 for PG Ward Coon. +18 RBs.

#3 guard Josh Beck broke a finger. Out for a couple of months. Oli Ross will get his minutes.

11/20: Both recruits sign. We're ranked #1.

Construction continues. About 2/3 of those displaced from their homes are now back in permanent residence but it's still crowded in lots of places.

11/21: Home opener, 82-56 over #18 Kansas. 19, 9 for Hamp, 16, 7, 3 for sub guard Oli Ross. Great guard play tonight.

11/24: 75-55 at Michigan ST. 47-19 at the half. 23, 3, 11 for Coon, 20, 17, 3 for Hamp. +20 RBs.

We're 6-0, #1 ranked, #3 RPI. Looking good.

My workload is increasing. Lots of stats to keep track of, but I am also now a member of the Council and that's a LOT of work and responsibility. Not sure how much longer
I'll be able to coach. Tired most of the time.

[Wayne23]

11/28: 76-81 at Davidson. Didn't expect this. They were 2-2 coming in. It was a whistle fest. Hamp fouled out and our other 4 starters had 4 each. One of their starters had 4, none of the others more than 2. I don't want to say the refs beat us but it's the first time I've ever been thrown out for getting 2 technicals. Not a happy night.

Ongoing debate re staying or leaving Domus. Frankly, I don't see us leaving. We're very well established here and the odds of finding another habitable planet within the lifetimes of anyone on board are vanishingly small. I don't think people, if they really think about it, want to go back to the crammed, crowded, claustrophobic conditions of living on the hub.

12/1: 84-51 over UCLA here. 23, 5, 9 for Coon, 19, 8, 4 for Edds. 8 TOs.

12/5: 85-53 over #3 ranked Rider here. 21, 11 for Hamp. 18, 13 for Edds, 18, 6 for Jenk. +33 RBs. We were HOT tonight.

12/8: 87-66 over Pepperdine here. 25, 10 for Hamp, 15, 5, 9 for Coon. +24 RBs. That loss to Davidson really irks me. While we didn't play our best that night those damned foul calls handcuffed us. Same crew tonight and I came in with a chip on my shoulder, but they were fine. Refs? Give 'em a vision test and an IQ test. If they fail both- give 'em a striped shirt and a whistle. No way to figure them out.

12/12: 70-31 over Arkansas here. 31? That's a middle school score. They scored 11 in the 2nd half. 19, 13 for Edds. +23 RBs, 10 TOs.

We're preparing for the rainy season. There's no way to know whether we'll have the bugs we've had for the past two rainy seasons but mesh screens are in place in all buildings on all windows and doors. They are being installed in all replacement buildings. We are still not finished with the latter. A June 15 target date is in place, figuring in lost time during the rainy season.

12/19: 78-47 over South Carolina here. Balanced scoring, +19 RBs.

At the end of pre-conf play we're 11-1, #1, RPI #3. +22.5 PPG, +18.1 RBs (#1), +7.7 assists, -0.8 TOs. Hamp leads us with 17.6 PPG. He and Edds get 10.3 RBs (#8). Coon gets 7.3 assists (#2).

[Wayne23]

12/28: 90-61 over Virginia Tech here to start ACC play. 60-30 at the half. 22, 3, 6 for Jenk, 17, 10 for Edds.

12/30: 75-65 at Clemson. 45-25 at the half. They never threatened us. 19, 12 for Hamp, 20, 3, 4 for Coon. +16 RBs.

And it's raining... HARD...

1/4/2196: 78-53 over NC ST here. 21, 12 for Hamp, 20, 7, 3 for Edds. +16 RBs.

1/6: 80-41 over Wake Forest. A rout. 19, 7, 3 for Edds. +19 RBs, 9 TOs.

1/13: 88-69 at NC ST. 21, 11 for Edds, 7, 8, 5 for Hamp. +22 RBs.

And the bugs are back.

1/18: 92-66 at Miami. On paper they looked good. I thought we'd have more trouble. 22, 18 for Hamp, 18, 4, 11 for Coon. +15 RBs.

Scientists now believe that we have seen three closely related but different species of the same bug family during the past three rainy seasons, a slightly different one each season. This year's version is causing more and more severe allergic reactions than did the previous two. Not good.

1/20: 100-58 over Louisville here. They only had 3 losses coming in. I expected more from them. 22, 9, 3 for Jenk, 20, 3, 8 for Coon, 16, 14 for Hamp. +24 RBs, 7 TOs.

18-1, 7-0, #1, RPI #1. Tied with #12 North Carolina, with #13 Georgia Tech 1 back.

Many people are in isolation in their buildings. So many suffering from severe reactions from stings. 42 dead, 144 critical, many others seriously ill. We are only allowing entrance to any building through a single doorway except in emergencies and someone is stationed by the door to try to kill any bug that gets in when someone enters or exits.

[Wayne23]

1/23: 89-69 at Syracuse. 21, 9, 4 for Hamp, 20, 3, 7 for Coon. 9 TOs.

#3 guard Josh Beck will be back for our next game. He's been out for more than two months with a broken finger.

1/25: 95-61 over #15 Pitt here. 36, 11 for Hamp. +18 RBs, 10 TOs.

Hundreds extremely ill due to bug stings. Many deaths.

1/26: Another petition submitted to the Council tonight for a referendum on moving back to the hub and getting away from here.

The Council tables it.

1/27: 89-65 over #25 Duke here. 19, 8, 3 for Pell, 21, 3, 6 for Jenk. 9 TOs.

Bart Hamp is #2, Ryan Edds #8, Ward Coon #9, and Ron Jenk #24 on the Norton list.

1/30: 86-66 at Florida ST. 17, 14 for Hamp, 21 for Jenk, 13, 12, 3 for Edds. +17 RBs.

It's a 3 way race. We're still tied with #10 North Carolina, and #11 Georgia Tech is still 1 back. Everyone else is out of it. We play both of those teams on the road.

2/2: Another petition to move back to the hub- 10,000 signatures.

The Council forms a committee to report back on 3/2.

2/3: 83-60 over Virginia here. 29, 9 for Hamp, 14, 12 for Edds. +20 RBs.

At #11 Georgia Tech next.

2/8: 63-30. Incredible win! Balanced scoring, amazing D, +15 RBs.

North Carolina lost so we're alone in 1st.

2/10: 84-40 over Clemson here. 43-14 at the half. 20, 10, 5 for Edds, 21, 6, 4 for Jenk. +34 RBs.

It's a 2 team race. Georgia Tech is now 4 back.

25-1, 14-1, #1, RPI #1. 1 up on North Carolina.

Hamp is #3, Edds #7, Coon #11 on the Norton list.

Severe reactions to the stings continue to be at high levels despite the fact that people are only leaving their buildings when absolutely necessary. Scientists studying the bugs are in hazmat type gear.

[Wayne23]

2/13: 84-64 at Virginia Tech. 25, 11, 5 for Edds. +24 RBs.

At #7 North Carolina next. We're now 2 up on them.

2/17: 92-61. Didn't expect it to be this easy. 25, 13 for Hamp, 17 each for Jenk and Beck. +26 RBs.

3 game lead with 4 to play.

2/22: 83-60 over Syracuse at our place. 22, 10, 6 for Hamp, 21, 8, 4 for Jenk. 8 TOs.

The bugs are gone. Thankfully!

Lots of action regarding the upcoming decision by the committee working on the petition to have another referendum.

2/24: 78-56 at Boston College. 17, 10, 3 for Hamp, 15, 6, 8 for Coon. +24 RBs.

We clinch 1st place.

2/27: 94-75 over #18 Georgia Tech here. All starters had at least 12. We were on fire offensively.

3/2: The committee recommends a second referendum on staying or leaving Domus.

The Council sets a date of June 15.

3/3: 103-74 at Virginia to end the regular season. 30, 10 for Coon, 23, 11, 3 for Edds.

31-1, 20-0, #1, RPI #1. We win the ACC by 3 over North Carolina, 6 or more over the rest.

+25.1 PPG (#2), +18.0 RB (#1), +7.7 assists (#2), -1.8 TOs. Hamp leads ua with 17.8 PPG, and 10.2 RB. Coon gets 7.0 assists.

Coon and Wiel declare.

Hamp is #3, Edds #8 on the Norton list.

[PointGuard]

Looking more and more like people want to bug out!

[Wayne23]

3/9: We play #9 seed NC ST, 15-15, 9-11, in the quarters. We've beaten them twice already, easily both times.

3/10: 76-58.19, 3, 9 for Coon, 18, 9, 3 for Jenk, 18, 6 for Pell.

#4 seed, #25 ranked Duke, 21-9, 14-6, in the semis. We won by 24 at our place.

3/11: 87-69. 19, 5, 4 for Coon, 20, 7, 3 for Edds. 6 TOs.

#2 seed, #9 ranked North Carolina, 26-6, 17-3 for the title. We won by 31 there.

3/12: 95-58. 16, 12 for Hamp, 14, 15 for Edds, 18, 9 for Pell. +33 RBs.

We expect to be #1 overall.

#1 East, as expected. We play #16 Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 16-17.

3/16: 71-45. 30, 6, 8 for Coon, 13, 13 for Edds.

#8 seed Louisville, 23-8, in round 2. We crushed them by 42 in ACC play.

3/18: 91-69. Our starters each had 13 or more. Good D. 8 TOs.

#4 seed Pepperdine, 24-8, in the Sweet Sixteen. We beat them by 21 in December.

3/23: 87-59. 29, 11, 5 for Hamp, 26 for #3 guard Josh Beck. +30 RBs.

#10 seed Houston, 23-11, in the Elite Eight.

3/25: 80-51. 30, 1, 8 for Coon, 15, 11, 5 for Edds, 10, 15 for Hamp. +15 RBs, 6 TOs.

We have not come close to being challenged in the big dance so far.

#4 seed, #10 ranked UMass, 31-7, in the national semifinal.

Two #1 seed, #3 LSU and #4 Florida on the other side.

4/1: 77-68. The final score is no indication of the game. We led by as many as 23 and were never threatened. 20, 3, 11 for Coon, 17, 10 for Hamp, 19, 4, 4 for Jenk.

We play #4 ranked Florida, 32-7, for the title. We're a big favorite but we'll need to play our game.

4/3: 85-67.21, 5, 4 for Hamp, 20, 5 for Edds, 15, 2, 6 for Coon, 17, 3, 4 for Jenk, 9, 12 for Pell.

We were never challenged in the entire tournament.

4/4: Awards: Ward Coon is tourney MOP. Brad Hamp is a 1st team All American. Ryan Edds makes the 2nd team. I am national COY. In the ACC, Hamp is POY, Def POY and
1st team, along with Edds. Coon and Jenk make the 2nd team. Coon should have been 1st team.

4/9: I'm staying here.

4/23: I ask for $ again. Got $30,000. I can recruit worldwide.

40-1, my 4th national title, 3rd here. In 19 years I'm 599-104, .852.

[Wayne23]

5/1: #1 preseason. #10 recruiting class.

6/5: 2 subs transfer out. We have a great nucleus but we're down to 9 scholarship athletes.

Looking for transfers. Lots of room.

6/15: We're staying. The margin was closer but not by much, 172,599-122,303.

6/16: Offered to 4, got 4. 3 bigs and a guard and all look really good.

6/26: 2 scholarships. We want a big and a guard.

7/2: Blizzard to start the winter.

7/11: A 2nd blizzard. It has been bitterly cold and windy since the beginning of the month.

7/31: Coldest, snowiest, windiest month since we arrived here. Awful.

8/7: Ryan Edds is #6, Ron Jenk #7, Josh Beck #8, and Fred Pell #23 on the Norton list.

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

The weather has been cold, snowy, windy all winter long. It has been the worst winter since we arrived. Of course the "Let's get out of here" crowd is being very vocal.

9/18: We get both recruits, the PG is #5, the PF is #8.

Preseason NIT. All preseason opponents are ranked.

10/2: First day of practice. We'll contend for the national title.

10/7: Home made bomb found near the water treatment facility. Fortunately it did not go off. Our bomb squad managed to dismantle it with no injuries. Sadly, I suspect this is only the beginning of this kind of thing.