DDSCB 2023: The Greatest

[Wayne23]

5/1: Recruit class #51.

We exceed our expected to spend amount.

5/29: We lose a guard who wouldn’t have played much. Looking for the best player we can get.

We offer to a PF. NO.

6/2: Offer to an SF. No.

6/5: We offer to an SG. Got him.

6/25: We will go to Indy and all the regional camps.

6/26: 4 scholarships. We need 2 and 2.

7/11: We offer to 2 PGs, a Pf, and a C.

8/21: Learning about the school and my players, all of whom are on campus for part or most of the summer. Still chasing recruits.

9/11: We lose a C. I offer to a PF.

9/18: We lose 2, get one. We get a PF, #65. He was #1 on our list.

Going to the Alaskan Classic. Good schedule. The ACC is tough so only a few challenges before we get there.

9/25: We get 2, lose one. We get 2 PGs, #78, and #83. Looking for a big guy.

10/2: 1st day of practice. Lots of questions in the backcourt.

10/9: We lose another big. Offer to an SF.

10/16: The SF, #40, says yes but we’re not sure he’ll hit our SAT score. Hope he does, he can play!

11/13: Here’s the lineup:

The starting guard positions are completely up in the air.

Junior Doug Evan will start at PG. Senior Kel Prog will get equal time there; he’s a better passer but Evan is a better shooter and defender.

Junior Dan Fell, a transfer from Texas ST, starts at SG. Senior Will Doug gets equal time there.

Our 5th guard is frosh Paul Wood, who isn’t bad.

Senior Cab John is at SF. His D needs work.

Soph Ron Pepp is at PF. He looks good.

Junior Lou Kell is at C. He is probably our best player and is a 3 year starter.

1st big off the bench is senior Mara Bail, and he’s weak on D. 2nd is junior Heck Wilk, who may well move up. Finally, there’s frosh Tony Spal, who is not ready.

We start the season at home with UAB. I have no idea what to expect but I’m using the same plan I used at N.O.

[Wayne23]

11/14: Close early. A run puts us up 13 after 10. 53-45 at halftime. Balanced scoring. 2 starters have 3 fouls each, but the same is true for UAB.

Close early in the 2nd. A run puts us up 13 with 10 to go. We take control late.

93-69. 14, 6 for C Lou Kell, 13, 6, 1, 3 for sub guard Will Doug. 4 others with 11 or more. +24 inside.

I guess my system works anywhere!

The crowd was really behind us and it was a full house!

At 0-1 Oregon ST next.

11/17: Back and forth early. Up 1 after 10. 47-41 at the half. That’s the biggest lead by either team so far after 19 lead changes and 8 ties. 14 for Doug, 11, 6 for PF Ron Pepp. We look good inside.

Looking good early. Up 15 with 10 to play.

100-89. 21, 9 for Pepp, 18, 11 for Kell, good guard play. +30 down low.

Kent ST, 0-1, is here.

11/21: Quick lead. Up 17 after 10. 56-32 at the break. 19, 5, 3, 3 for Pepp, 18 for John. We own the paint.

Up 29 with 10 left, this is a blowout.

99-70. 28, 5 for John, 23, 6, 4, 3 for Pepp. +38 in the lane.

We’re 3-0 heading for the Alaskan Classic where we’re the #7 seed. We face BYU, 1-1, first.

We look over the lineup and after a long discussion we decide not to make any changes yet.

[Wayne23]

11/25: Close early. Down 4 after 10. 47-63. BYU is really bringing it at us. Shooting 67.7% to our 55.2%. Pepp has 10 and 3, but 3 fouls. 12 for Kell. They’re killing us outside and on the bench.

I give them a pep talk and make a couple of changes but this won’t be easy!

We gain some ground early. Down 9 with 10 to play.

93-106. We just didn’t play D, 64.9%. Pepp fouled out in 20 minutes with 20 and 4. 18, 4 for Kell, 16, 3, 3 for John, 14, 0, 4 for Evan.

2-1 Arkansas is here.

11/28: Back and forth early. Up 6 after 10. 51-48 at halftime. Balanced scoring. Excellent bench play.

Big run early. Up 18 with 10 to go.

95-81. 19, 4 for John, 16, 4 for Wilk, 14, 3 for Kell. +47 for the bench.

4-2 Providence is here. Their C is out with a broken hand.

12/1: Close early. Down 1 after 10. 46-38 at the half. Balanced scoring. Kell has 3 fouls. Big edge inside.

Up 15 with 10 to play.

105-79. 20, 11, 3 blocks for Pepp, 15, 4 for John, 20, 5 for Wilk. +41 for the bench.

We’re 5-1. #1 in PPG. Pepp leads us in points and RBs. Prog leads in assists.

[Wayne23]

12/4: 5-2 New Mexico is here.

12/5: Early lead. Up 17 after 10. 58-35 at the break. Balanced scoring. Big edge inside. 3 fouls for Kell yet again.

Up 20 with 10 left.

96-78. 21, 5, 4 blocks for Pepp, 19, 5 for Wilk, 12, 10 for Kell.

#21 Butler, 8-2, is here. They’re the best team we’ve played so far, but their PF is out with a broken hand.

12/12: Close early. Up 3 after 10. 40-37 at halftime. Balanced scoring. Good inside play. +12 for the bench.

Down 2 with 10 to go. They go on a run.

82-88. 12, 12 for Pepp, 14, 7 for Kell, 17, 11 for Wilk, 16, 6 for Bail. They killed us outside.

Last pre-conf game is with 9-1 Indiana here.

12/19: Close early. Up 10 after 10. 47-42 T the break. 12, 7 for Kell, 13 for Pepp. Great inside play.

Up 14 with 10 left. They come back.

95-89. They got it to one possession twice late. 20, 11, 3 blocks for Kell, 22, 5, 2, 3 for Pepp, 14, 3 for John, 10, 8 for Wilk.

12/25: We end pre-conf play at 7-2, NET #19. Still #1 in PPG, +12.1. +8.6 RBs, -4.4 TOs.

Pepp leads us with 16.8, 7.6. Kell gets 14.0, 6.8. John gets 12.1. Wilk, our 6th man, gets 11.7, 5.2.

The guard situation never has resolved itself so we continue to share time among 4 guards.

NC State, 7-4, is here to start ACC play.

[Wayne23]

12/26: Fast start. Up 8 after 10. 56-45 at halftime. 16, 7 for Kell, 13 for Pepp. +32 in the paint.

We get the lead to 20 early. Up 19 with 10 to go.

106-80. 21, 11 for Kell, 23 for Pepp, 15, 5, 3 for Wilk.

At 3-7, 0-1 Georgia Tech.

12/30: Slow start for both teams. Up 6 after 10. 42-33 nat the half. Balanced scoring. Only 3 TOs.

Up 11 with 10 to play.

78-68. 18, 8 for Kell, 18, 10 for Wilk, 14, 6 for Bail. +26 for the bench.

10-4, 3-1 Syracuse is here.

1/4/2026: Early lead. Up 8 after 10. 44-22. 10, 8 for Pepp. Big edge inside.

Up 23 with 10 left.

86-64. 21, 11, 3 blocks for Pepp, 16, 5 for Kell, 15, 3 for Wilk, 12, 7 for John.

“Jam Jones, WBKB, Blacksburg, VA. I’m here with Coach Ally Cash, the magician who led New Orleans to a national title last season and who know has our Virginia Tech Hokies at 10-2, 3-0 in the
ACC. Coach, the Hokies won 9 games all of last season and you’ve already topped that with lots of gamnes left. How do you work this magic?”

“It’s not magic, Jam. It’s hard work, discipline, working within the system, putting team above self, and believing in yourself.”

“Well, it sure works. You’ve got some new guys on the team but just about all of the returnees are playing way better than they did last season. How do you do that?”

“See my previous answer. We got them to buy in. Another thing, Jm, is our system is very simple in a lot of ways. We only play one defense, man-to-man, and when we press that’s also man-to-man.

We run a completely free wheeling offense so there are no set plays to remember.”

“But there’s a down side to that. The players need to get open and the other players need to find them when they do get open.”

“That’s true, and we work on that a lot at practice.”

“What’s a typical practice look like, Coach?”

“We always spend a lot of time on D, and a lot of time on the offense, but aside from that it varies. We try to fix the things that went wrong in the last game, we prepare for the next team we’re
facing, we work on individual things- there’s no one standard practice.”

“Thanks Coach.”

At 8-5, 0-3 Florida State next.

1/6: Behind early. Tied after 10. 54-54 at halftime. Great bench play, 12 for Bail, 10 for Wilk. +26 down low.

We look good early. Up 13 with 10 to go.

108-91. 22, 16 for Pepp, 20, 6 for Wilk, 15, 3, 9, 4 for Evan, 15, 6 for Bail, 14, 5 for Kell. 70 in the paint.

11-2, 4-0, NET #24. Tied with Pitt for the early ACC lead, with 2 teams one back.

#1 in PPG, #3 in RBs.

9-5, 2-2 Wake Forest is here.

[Wayne23]

1/9: Close early. Up 6 after 10. 38-32 at halftime. 11 for Pepp, 9, 4 for Kell.

Fast start. Up 17 with 10 to go.

82-65. 26, 9 for Pepp, 17, 8 for Kell.

SG Will Doug bruised his bicep. Out for at least 10 days.

#21 Miami, 13-3, 3-2, is here.

1/16: They lead early. Down 6 after 10. 43-46 at the half. They’re tough.

We catch up early. Tied with 10 to play.

91-85. 24 lead changes, 11 ties. What a battle! 19, 5 for Kell, 14, 4 for Bail, 13, 4 for Wilk. +22 in the lane. +8 for the bench, which was the difference.

At 10-6, 4-3 Boston College.

1/18: We lead early. Up 11 after 10. 52-43 at the break. 18, 3 for Pepp, 17, 3 for Kell.

Holding the lead early. Up 12 with 10 left.

105-91. 33, 7 for Kell, 16, 9 for Pepp. 64 in the paint.

9-7, 3-4 North Carolina is here.

1/23: Back and forth early. Up 3 after 10. 50-40 at halftime. 17, 4 for Kell. We could be playing better inside.

Up 12 with 10 to go. Late run.

96-73. 29, 14 for Kell, 18, 9, 1, 3 for Pepp, 14, 2, 9, 3 for Evan, 14, 5 for John.

15-2, 8-0, still tied with undefeated Pitt for the ACC lead. 2 up on Syracuse.

At #19 Virginia, 14-5, 4-4.

[Wayne23]

1/25: They take an early lead. We’re up 5 after 10. 46-36 at the half. 19, 9 for Pepp, 10, 6 for Kell.

Up 14 with 10 to play.

86-75. They got it to 5 but no closer. 26, 14 for Pepp, 17, 10 for Kell. +32 RBs.

11-8, 5-5 Boston College is here. We won by 14 there.

1/27: Quick lead. Up 10 after 10. 48-32 at the break. +12 for the bench.

Up 22 with 10 left.

100-79. 16, 5, 1, 2, 3 for Pepp, 16, 7 for Bail, 13, 11 for Kell, 14 each for Prog and John, 10, 3, 6 for Evan. Easy win.

1/29: As we feared one of our recruits did not hit our SAT score. We offer to a PF.

The battle for 1st in the ACC is next. We’re at #9 Pitt, 18-1, 9-1, 1 game behind us. 3rd place is 3 back.

We enter the polls at #24.

2/1: Both teams start slow. Up 2 after 10. 57-46 at halftime. 16, 6 for Kell. +28 inside.

Holding the lead early. Then they come back. Tied with 10 to go.

91-97. They were better late in the game. 16, 14 for Kell, 16, 8 for Wilk. Too many TOs, 15, -6 from the line, 4 fewer threes. Their guards beat us.

At 12-9, 6-5 Louisville.

2/3: Close early. Down 1 after 10. 46-39 at the half. 16, 3 for Kell.

Down 1 with 10 to play.

101-95. They kept it close. 24, 4 for Kell, 16, 8 for Pepp, 15, 5 for Wilk, 13, 4, 4 for Evan.

18-3, 11-1, #22, NET #5, tied for 1st in the ACC.

12-9, 6-6 Clemson is here.

[Wayne23]

2/8: We score the first 12. Up 16 after 10. 43-26 at the break. 11, 4 for Wilk, 10, 6 for Pepp. Big edge inside.

Up 23 with 10 left.

96-73. 23, 12 for Wilk, 20, 8 for Pepp, 17, 7, 3 blocks for Kell. 62 in the paint.

At #7 Duke, 19-5, 9-4.

2/10: They take an early lead. Down 12 after 10. 39-53 at halftime. 123 for Pepp. Poor D, 65.5%.

Down 13 with 10 to go. Not looking good.

90-92 on our last second three. 21 each for Kell and Pepp, 12, 7 for Bail, 11, 4, 3 for John. They beat us in the back court.

Pitt lost too, so still tied for 1st, 2 up on 3rd.

17-7, 9-5 Kona is here.

2/15: Back and forth early. Up 10 after 10. 49-41 at the half. 13, 6 for Pepp.

Up 8 with 10 left.

103-90. 23, 9 for Pepp, 23, 10 for Bail, 19, 10, 2, 2, 4 for Kell, 14, 6, 2, 2, 3 for Wilk. Big edge inside.

Pitt lost so we’re alone in first with 5 games to play.

At #25 Miami, 18-8, 8-7. We won by 14 at home. Their PF is out.

2/20: Close early. Down 8 after 10. 37-43 at the half. 11 for Pepp. We’re shooting 27%, which is the story.

Tied with 10 to play.

80-78. They missed a 17 footer at the end. 19 each for Pepp and Wilk, 13, 6 for Kell. We didn’t play that well inside.

Lou Kell strains a hamstring. Limited duty for awhile.

21-4, 14-2, #22, NET #4. 1 up on Pitt, 3 or more on the rest.

11-15, 3-13 Florida ST is here. We won by 17 there.

[Wayne23]

2/22: Early lead. Up 6 after 10. 61-58 at the break. Awful D, 60.9%. Both of our starting guards have 3 fouls. 23, 3 for Pepp, 12 for Bail.

Close early. Up 11 with 10 left.

121-105. 37, 5 for Pepp, 24, 6 for Bail. 82 in the paint!

#21 Virginia, 21-7, 11-6 is here. We won by 9 there.

2/24: Early lead. Up 5 after 10. 58-45 at halftime. 14 for Kell, 12 for Pepp, 11 for Bail.

Up 20 with 10 to go.

97-84. 23, 6 for Kell, 16, 7 for Pepp, 15, 6 for Bail. Good inside play.

We end with 2 on the road. First we’re at 14-13, 8-10 Clemson. We won by 23 at home.

2/27: They take an early lead. Down 10 after 10. We come back. 40-36 at the half. 10 each for Pepp, Kell, and Wilk.

It’s close early on. Up 11 with 10 to play.

91-77. 25, 9, 0, 3 for Kell, 21, 7 for Pepp, 12 each for Wilk and Bail.

Kell will be back to 100% for our next game.

We end the regular season at 10-20, 3-16 NC ST. We won by 26 at home.

3/1: Early lead. Up 8 after 10. 54-40 at the break. 21, 4 for Kell, 10, 3 for Pepp.

Up 16 with 10 left.

98-75 and we clinch the ACC regular season title. 31, 8 for Kell, 19, 5, 4 blocks for Pepp. 60 in the paint.

25-4, 18-2, 1st in the ACC, ranked #18, NET #4.

1st in PPG, +13.0, 2nd in RBs, +9.8. -2.9 TOs but 12.2 is too many.

Pepp leads in points with 18.9, and RBs with 7.7. Kell is 2nd in both with 17.9, 7.6. Evan leads with 5.9 assists.

On to the post season!

[Wayne23]

3/9: We play #9 seed North Carolina, 15-15, 8-12 in the quarters. We won by 23 at home.

3/10: Close early. Up 2 after 10. They go on a run. 46-50 at halftime. -7 at the line as the calls are going against us. We’re not playing with much energy.

Still trailing early. Down 3 with 10 to go.

88-98 in a shocking upset. We never got in synch. 21, 8 for Pepp, 13, 3 for Kell but poor D.

This will drop us from a probable #1 seed to who knows.

3/12: #3 Midwest. We play #14 Bucknell, 20-12.