3/9: #8 seed East Carolina, 14-14, 6-10, won the play in game. They’re first.
3/10: 73-56. 42-24 at the half. 18, 7 for Tutt, 16, 7, 4 for Wall, 17, 6 for Pitt. +16 TOs.
#4 seed, #23 ranked Cincinnati, 20-8, 10-6, in the semis. Beat them by 13 here, then only three there.
3/11: 72-55. 15, 13 for Tutt, 17, 7 for Wall. +11 RBs.
#3 seed, #16 ranked Temple, 24-5, 11-5 for the title. Beat them by 12 there.
3/12: 79-65. 25, 6 for Zinn, 9, 14 for Wall, 13 each for Guin and Tutt. +15 TOs.
We’ve reached the level where anything other than a national title is a disappointment. I like our chances but there’s always a tiny bit of luck involved.
#1 overall. We play 18-13 Cal-Davis first.
3/16: 71-49. Balanced scoring, excellent D, +16 TOs.
#8 seed NC ST, 19-12, in the 2nd round.
3/18: 85-74. 23, 5, 7 for Zinn, 24 for Guin, 18, 11 for Tutt, 15, 13 for Wall. +15 RBs.
#5 seed, #15 ranked Oklahoma ST, 25-9, in the Sweet Sixteen.
3/23: 74-58. Close for about 25 minutes. 6 players had between 8 and 15 points. 13, 12 for Wall. +14 TOs.
#3 seed, #17 ranked Temple, 27-6, 11-5, in the Elite Eight. We just beat them by 14 in the conf. title game.
3/25: 99-59. We were in complete control all the way. 58 RBs, most I’ve ever seen (+36). 26, 6, 5 for Guin, 17, 5, 10 for Zinn, 14, 10 for Tutt.
Final Four! We’ll play #3 ranked Indiana, 33-4.
In the other game it’s #2 Kansas vs. #8 Charlotte.
4/1: 83-84. They went to the line 38 times, we went 19. WHY? In a game of this importance, WHY! Pitt fouled out in 18 minutes, Zinn in 28. So in crunch time two of our starters weren’t in the game. 21, 9 for Tutt, 11, 9 for
Wall, 15 for Guin, 13 for Zinn.
I’m so frustrated I can’t stand it. 20 years, 500+ wins, 2 national titles. Maybe I should just retire.
4/3: #2 Kansas won the title.
4/4: Awards: Cap Guin was conf. Def. POY, 2nd team. Zinn, Tutt, and Wall made 1st team.
4/7: Li flew to Moscow- with doctor’s and my approval. She and Chairman Radchev jointly announced that FtC will return to Russia. No Americans will be part of the delegation. Great victory for Li, and for FtC.
4/10: Li is back and she’s exhausted. We put her back in the rehab facility so she can have expert staff nearby 24/7. It should only be for a few days.
4/15: Li is back home. She’s still weak, but much better.
4/23: We ask for a facilities upgrade. Got it. We went from A to A+.
33-2, but we lost in the Final Four. Overall, after 20 seasons, I’m 530-168, .759.
I’m still deciding whether to come back, or whether to resign.
4/27: I’m coming back. You need to have something to resign TO. I don’t. I’ll give that some thought over the course of the season.