Hereafter

[Wayne23]

5/1: #1 preseason. Recruiting class #1. Frosh Ryan Fox appears to be scary good.

5/5: “Madam Chari, I think we should encourage people who are willing to allow contact. These things are going to hurt anyone and I think there's something about the contact that they need, maybe that they need desperately, but despite that, they aren't forcing it.”

“Dangerous nonsense. NO!”

“I've been allowing contact for months. Absolutely no harm has come to me and they aren't becoming more aggressive.”

“No! At least let's wait to see if we, or more likely they, figure out a way to communicate.”

That got a lot of support and eventually the wait and see policy was voted on and passed 9-3. I was allowed to continue contact. Anyone else who wished to allow contact from the aliens would be allowed to do so but it would not be encouraged by the Council.

5/29: We lose Al Marn and Aron Harp, 2 good big men. They both would have gotten minutes.

We need to get a couple of bigs in the transfer portal. We have 5 bigs now, 3 very good starters, but we need some depth. We're fine in the back court.

Round 1: We offer to a B. No.

Round 2: We offer to 2 SFs, both Bs. We get one. He'll get minutes.

Round 3: We offer to a PF who's a C. Got him. He will get minutes.

6/25: We're going to all the camps again.

Hali and I are spending more and more time on the boat, every spare day that we have we're there.

6/26: I have one scholarship open. We'll take the best player we can get.

7/10: I swear I heard, “friends” from an alien today. I told them we want to be their friends and hope we can learn to communicate.

7/27: “Friends. We are your friends.”

“You seem to need something from us. Can you explain?”

“Need contact.”

"Nothing else, just physical contact?”

“Yes.”

“Can you explain?”

“We are Milino. Drift through space endlessly. Hungry for contact with living beings when we encounter them.”

“Will this harm us in any way?”

“No harm to you. We need contact. Then, soon, we leave you and move on.”

“I don't understand. Are you living beings?”

“Not like you but sentient. Difficult to explain.”

“You have no ship?”

“Do not need. We just drift.”

“Through space.”

“Through space, through stars, through comets, through black holes. Through everything. Need contact.”

“I will speak to my people.”

7/28: “And so I am absolutely convinced that they will bring us no harm. If we can fill their need for physical contact they will be on their way.”

“How soon?”

“I didn't ask but it seemed like it would be soon.”

“Find out.”

7/30: “The Milino say if all of them can make contact they will be gone in three days.”

“We're not going to force this on anyone.”

“I agree. Let's put out a good explanation and ask for volunteers. Those who wish to help can stand out in a public hallway to show their willingness..”

8/5: That's what happened. Contact was made, and last night I had one last encounter with the Milino.

“Thank you, Jed Clark. We have received the contact we need and we will depart now.”

8/7: Hio Soko is #4 and Josh Grat #9 on the Norton list.

8/21: We offer to an SG, #1 recruit in the country. He has us at #5 so there's work to be done!

[Wayne23]

8/24: “Wait! The Milino said they drift through stars and black holes?”

“Yes. They said they drift through everything.”

“How is that even possible?”

“No idea. Whenever I asked about them- what they were, what they were made out of, if they were like us- anything of that nature, they just said, 'Difficult to explain.' I don't know if they're living beings, robots of some kind, or something else entirely.”

“I almost wish we'd kept them around longer to try to find out more.”

“Too late now.”

9/4: Still “courting” recruits.

9/18: We get the SG. His GPA is 3.1 so the SAT should not be an issue.

Preseason NIT vs. Wright ST. All ranked teams on the pre-conf schedule.

9/22: “You know, Jed, we could spend all of our time on the boat...”

“I'm not ready to quit coaching yet.”

“Just saying. It's a nice way to live, you can still play the piano, and you can keep in touch with what we're encountering in space.”

“Some day.”

9/30: October will bring another food contest- side dishes. Sounds like fun!

10/2: First day of practice. We're better than we were last year. Ryan Fox is scary good.

10/16: It's amazing what can be done with side dishes! The contest is opening up a whole new world!

11/3: China Garden won the side dish contest with Asia Palace 2nd, and Taj Mahal 3rd. As with all of these contests the amazingly high quality of the
food here goes up to another level moving forward as the new dishes are regularly featured.

11/12: Here's the lineup:

Junior Roy Blay is back at PG.

Frosh sensation Ryan Fox is at SG. Why he didn't make the Norton list completely mystifies me. He may be the best player in the country.

#3 guard is soph Dan Jaco. #4 is frosh Lou Vina who has lots of potential but needs work on D. #5, Adam Wats, also needs work on D.

Ray Jorg, a junior transfer from Clemson, is at SF.

Junior Hio Soko is back at PF. Hopefully he'll avoid injuries this year.

Soph Josh Grat is back in the middle.

#1 big off the bench is our only senior, Troy Moro. If Jorg doesn't impress at SF Moro will get his shot.

#2 is junior Abe Moli who has started in the past, and who is an excellent athlete.

#3, soph Del Crue, is a transfer from Michigan.

[Wayne23]

11/13: The season starts tomorrow at the NIT. We're the #1 seed and Wright ST is #16. We're heavily favored.

11/14: We quickly take the lead. Then we get it to 20. 55-29 at the half. Fox is living up to the hype, 17, 4, 4, 3. +10 RBs, 2 TOs. We didn't expect a challenge tonight and we're not getting one.

100-56. 25, 8, 6, 3 for Fox, 18, 7 for Soko, 9, 15 for Grat, 15, 3 for Moro. +17 RBs, +22 inside, 5 TOs.

11/15: #8 seed, #25 ranked VA Commonwealth in the round of 8. This is a team we should beat but they can score, especially inside.

11/16: First 10 minutes are close. 51-37 at the half as our guards get hot late. 20 and 7 for Fox, 16, 3, 5 for Blay. They have the edge inside. We get the lead to 20 midway through the 2nd.

91-71. 36, 11, 3 for Fox, 25, 6, 10 for Blay. 7, 15 for Soko. +23 RBs, 9 TOs.

[Wayne23]

11/17: All sort of upsets in this tourney. On the other side it's #6 seed vs. #7, and we face #13 seed Buffalo. They beat #24 Louisville but we think we're a much better team.

11/18: Takes a while but we take the lead. 39-28 at the half. 17, 6, 3, 4 for Fox. +16 RBs. We're running away from them.

90-57. Fox is unstoppable, 42, 10, 5, 5, 3 blocks. 12, 4, 5 for Moro. +23 RBs.

11/19: #6 seed, #3 ranked (How does THAT happen!) Florida, 3-0, for the title. They are strong inside, but I don't see them stopping our guards.

11/20: They take an early lead but we come back and lead by 10 with 7 to play in the 1st. 40-29 at the break. 21 and 5 for Fox. +8 RBs, 4 TOs. Soko has 3 fouls. We get the lead to 20 midway through the 2nd half.

84-54. 28, 11 for NIT MOP Ryan Fox. It is a travesty that he's not on the Norton list! 13, 13 for Grat, 14, 9 for Moro, 12 for Jaco.+21 RBs, +16 down low, 12 TOs.

We romped through the NIT, in large part due to Fox.

[Wayne23]

11/22:0-1 Arkansas is here. Their PF is an All American, at least 2nd team.

There are not going to be a lot of teams who have a chance to beat us this year.

11/23: We start slowly. 30-30 at the half. 10, 12 for Fox and their star has 13, 3. +18 RBs. We need to crank it up in the 2nd. Up 2 with 10 to play; tough game!

68-61. By far our lowest point total. It was tied with under 4 minutes left. 21, 16, 3 for Fox, his lowest point total but those rebounds! 14, 10for Soko, 13,

19 for Grat. +21 RBs. +22 in the paint.

11/25: 2-1 Duke is here. They score outside but this is not their typical team. It's a rebuilding year.

All of these teams we're playing were ranked preseason and lots of them are not right now.

11/26: We fall behind. Then we catch up. 37-30 at halftime. 15, 8, 3, 3 for Fox, 9, 6 for Grat. +10 RBs. We take charge and get the lead to 20, then 30.

90-49. 42, 18, 4, 3 for Fox who continues to amaze us. He is #1 in the country in scoring, #4 in RBs. 15, 10, 3, 3, 3 for Grat. +29 RBs, +30 down low, 10 TOs.

The probe immediately in front of us is showing that they've entered a space that is a very light pastel blue, which makes no sense. We'll see when we get there I guess.

[Wayne23]

11/29: #9 Memphis, 4-1, is here. We score 19 a game more than they score, give up 7 ½ fewer.

11/30: Early lead. Then a big lead. 47-36 at the half as they come back a little from down 19. 19, 7, 2, 3 for Fox, 10, 7 for Soko. +14 RBs.

83-58. 30, 10, 3, 3 for Fox. 16, 9 for Soko, 12, 7 for Moro. +28 RBs.

12/2: #7 Arizona, 4-1, is here. They score almost as many as we do but they give up just under 14 more.

We're giving Moro more minutes at SF. He's playing better than Jorg is. Jorg is still starting.

12/3: It's back and forth and then we go on a run. 44-34 at the half. 16, 8 for Fox, 19 for Soko. We open the half with a 12-1 run.

90-66. 29, 5, 3 for Soko, 22, 13, 4, 4 for Fox, 12, 2, 6 for #3 guard Dan Jaco. +20 RBs.

Nothing new on the light pastel blue space. Nothing else seems unusual about the space except for its color.

[Wayne23]

12/6: 2-4 UConn is here. Definitely a rebuilding year for them. We have a huge advantage in just about every stats category.

12/7: We take the lead right away and get it to 20 quickly. Then to 30. 58-15 at the half; not pretty. 25, 7 for Fox. +22 RBs. Not playing the starters much in the 2nd.

83-38. 30, 9 for Fox in only 24 minutes.

We're 9-0. #1, NET #1.

12/9: Away from home for the first time since the preseason NIT. At 5-2 Villanova. We score 20 more, give up 6 fewer, get 16 more RBs.

12/10: Feels strange to be wearing the green uniforms for the first time this season.

We take an early lead but they're hanging around. 44-41 at halftime; worst D we've played all season. Blay has 3 fouls. 19, 4, 2, 3 for Fox. I get a little loud about the poor D. We're playing better in the 2nd, up 12 with 8 to play.

81-63. Held them to 22 in the 2nd half. 27, 6, 4, 4 for Fox, 18, 8 for Soko, 10, 7, 4, 5 blocks for Grat. Out rebounded for the first time all season, but only
by 1. +16 in the paint.

Ray Jorg hurt his calf. He's day to day.

[Wayne23]

12/12: At #8 Kansas, 7-1. They don't score many but they play excellent D.

12/13: They're right there with us early on. Then we go on a 12-2 run. They're doubling Fox and it's working. They come back late and it's

37-34 at halftime. 15, 5 for Grat, 8, 3, 5, 4 for Fox. Soko has 3 fouls. Not one of our better nights so far. We may need to max the d for the first time all season, we'll see. They take the lead and I max the d. We lead by only 1 with 10 to go. We go on a run, up 15.

89-74 but we had to work for it. 27, 8, 7, 6 for Fox, most of it in the 2nd half. 17, 6 for Grat, 12, 9, 3 for Soko. +12 inside.

One more pre-conf game.

We'll be into the pastel blue within a few days.

[Wayne23]

12/20: #3 Kentucky, 9-1, is here. Not sure they can score enough points to stay with us but they can play and they may have the best C in the country.

12/21: Tied after 10. A late run puts us up 33-23 at halftime. 18, 7 for Fox. 3 fouls for Grat against their tough C who has only 10 and 2, but 5 blocks. Up only 2 with 10 left and I max the D.

68-59. They held us way below our scoring average but we scored enough and played great D. They and Arkansas both held us to 68. Next lowest has been 81.

31, 9, 2, 3 for Fox, 10, 2, 6 for Blay. Their C can play!

At the end of pre-conf play we're 12-0, #1, NET #1. +26.0 PPG, 2nd in scoring, #1 in margin. +17.8, #1 in RBs and margin. -4.6 TOs. +7.0 assists. +4.6 steals.

Fox averages 30.1, 10.8. He's amazing! 12.8, 8.3 for Soko, 9.7, 9.5 for Grat.

The Big 10 has 3 other ranked teams, #6, #7, #21.

[Wayne23]

12/25: We start at 4-5 Rutgers. This should be a win.

12/26: We start flat. We finally wake up with about 8 to play. 47-27 at the half. Fox is explosive. He had no points for the first 11 minutes and ended the half with 14. 10, 5 for Soko. +12 RBs. This is becoming a rout.

94-55. 34, 6, 4 for Fox. 16, 10, 3 for Soko, 13, 7 for Grat, 7, 2, 12, 3 for Blay. +25 RBs.

12/27: #5 ranked Michigan, 11-1, is here. They have a very good SG but not as good as ours! But they're a very good team and we'll need to play well.

12/28: We take the lead quickly; Fox is hot early. 38-26 at the half. 16, 2, 3 for Fox but he has 3 fouls guarding their big scorer, who has 2, 2, and 3. They come back and it's close. Fox quickly picked up foul #4 and we are behind late.

64-65. Grat missed an open 5 footer at the buzzer; that simply shouldn't happen.

Fox fouled out on an iffy call with 48 seconds left. He had 20, 3, 3; the other guy's numbers were better, 18, 9, 9, 4, 4. 12, 11 for Grat, 14, 7 for Soko. 20 TOs! NOT happy losing at home!

The pastel blue is beautiful, fascinating, and mystifying. No idea what it's all about. We hope to run into some space rocks, a comet, or anything really, to see what effect the blue has on them, if any.