OMARI

[PointGuard]

Feb. 21: Jackson State Tigers (8-17, 5-7) @ Grambling Tigers (17-9, 10-3)

We put Jackson State in a hole early and never let them dig their way out. By the end of the first half we were ahead 41-20. Our play in the 2nd half was lackadaisical but we never let Jackson State make a serious run and came away with an easy 71-57 victory. Most of our offense came from the perimeter with PG Brian Fox, SG Jon Benoit, and reserve SF Ukko Noronen combining to sink ten 3-pointers. Noronen had 13 points and Benoit and Fox each scored 11.

[PointGuard]

Feb.24: Alcorn State Braves (13-14, 6-8) @ Grambling Tigers (18-9, 11-3)

Our guys wanted to nail down 1st place in the conference with a win tonight. We started sh\low. But after 5 lead changes in the first 7 minutes, we began to pull away. At halftime we were up 32-25 and then we continued to steadily expand our lead throughout the 2nd half. We put the Braves away with a solid 71-53 whipping. PG Brian Fox continued his strong 2nd half of the season, shooting well to drop in 19 points. C Aleem Charles and SG Jon Benoit both scored 11 points with Charles pounding the board to grab 17 rebounds.

[PointGuard]

Mar. 3: Alabama State Hornets (13-15, 6-9) @ Grambling Tigers (19-9, 12-3)

With 1st place in our pockets, I worked hard to keep our guys from letting up in this final game of the regular season. I was hoping to be able to ease Correy Parker back into the flow by bringing him in off the bench for 8-10 minutes of play, but the doc and our athletic trainers shot that down. We took control of the game with 12 minutes remaining in the first half and led by 10 with 5 minutes left to halftime. But the Hornets stung us late in the half, cutting our lead at the break to 38-33. It took us 4 minutes in the 2nd half at which point we were ahead by 3 points to gain our footing. We then combined a potent offense with a stingy defense to build a 23 point lead. We then cruised to an 83-67 stomping of Alabama State. C Aleem Charles had 23 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and a block and SG/PG Jon Benoit also poured in 23 points to lead the way. PF Brody Rowland added 14 points and SF Ukko Noronen continued to perform well as our 6th man, scoring 9 points and pulling down 4 rebounds. So now we move on into the SWAC Tourney touting a 10 game win streak.

[PointGuard]

SWAC Final Standings

Grambling Tigers—13-3, 20-9, NET: 86
Prairie View Panthers—11-5, 12-17, NET: 288
Bethune Cookman Wildcats—10-6, 14-15, NET: 248
Arkansas Pine Bluff Golden Lions—9-7, 10-19, NET: 350
Florida A&M Rattlers—8-8, 12-17, NET: 323
Alabama A&9M Bulldogs—7-9, 15-14, NET: 259
Southern Jaguars—7-9, 12-17, NET: 314
Alabama State Hornets—6-10, 13-16, NET: 316
Alcorn State Braves—6-10, 13-16, NET: 284
Mississippi State Delta Devils—6-10, 8-21, NET: 348
Jackson State Tigers—5-11, 8-21, NET: 349

[PointGuard]

SWAC TOURNAMENT

Round 1

11th seed Jackson State—76, 6th seed Alabama A&M—74
10th seed Mississippi Valley—78, 7th seed Southern—69
8th seed Alabama State—84, 9th seed Alcorn State—55

Round 2 (Quarterfinals)

5th seed Florida A&M—87, 4th seed Arkansas Pine Bluff—7
11th seed Jackson State—74, 3rd seed Bethune Cookman—65
2nd seed Prairie View—78, 10th seed Mississippi Valley—62
1st seed Grambling—91, 8th seed Alabama State—80
(We had a devil of a time with the Hornets in the first half and were behind more than we were ahead. Following the 13th lead change with 3 minutes to go until halftime, we finally were able to shut down Alabama State’s offense to take a 52-47 lead to the locker room. We changed up our D in the locker room to apply a zone D more than our M-2-M. That paid off. The Hornets were unable to break our zone and we gradually increased our lead to as much as 16 points and finished the game up by 11 points. We outshot the Hornets 49% to 32% but the refs sent Alabama State to the line 32 times where they scored 24 points. We were 16 of 20 at the line. Our top scorer was PG Brian Fox PPwho made 5 of 6 from outside the arc and scored 18 points. He also had 6 assists. Reserve SF David Heyward scored 15 points during his 18 minutes on the court. C/PF Aleem Charles scored 12 points and SG/PG Jon Benoit put in 11 points. C Correy Parker had a rough first game back, picking up 4 fouls that limited him to 12 minutes. Alabama State was led by Roland Howe’s 23 points and 7 rebounds.)

Round 3 (Semifinals)

2nd seed Prairie View—81, 11th seed Jackson State—73
1st seed Grambling—80, 5th seed Florida A&M—55
(Following 6 lead changes in the first 4 minutes, we took control and steadily pulled away the rest of the game. By the half we led 39-27. Our lead in the 2nd half ballooned to as great as 31 points. We totally dominated the Rattlers in all aspects of the game. SF Ukko Noronen’s 18 points were high in the game. C Correy Parker came back strong in and scored 17 points while also hauling down 7 boards during his 18 minutes of play. PG Brian Fox had 15 points and 6 assists. C/PF Aleem Charles scored just 6 points but dominated the boards with 13 rebounds. None of Florida A&M’s players scored in double figures.)

Round 4 (Championship)

1st seed Grambling—89,2nd seed Prairie View--69
(We played the Panthers twice this season and won each of those games by 12 points. In the first 5 minutes there were 6 lead changes. But we then exploded offensively to carvr out a 53-43 halftime advantage. Our dominance continued in the 2nd half as we continued to draw away. We knocked down16 of 39 from outside the arc. PG Brian Fox had a huge game, scoring 29 points to go along with 4 rebounds and 4 assists. C Correy Parker had 16 points and 9 rebounds. SF Ukko Noronen added 11 points. The win sends us to the NCAA Tournament with a 23-9 record and a win streak that has now extended to 13 games.)

[PointGuard]

Grambling’s Regular Season Summary

Team

Overall Record: 23-9; SWAC Record: 13-3 (1st place); NET Rank: 61

PPG: 74.3; Opponent PPG: 67.3 (40th best in Division 1)

Players

PPG: Brian Fox—11.4, Jon Benoit—11.4, Correy Parker—11.3, Aleem Charles—10.4, Brody Rowland—6.8, Ukko Noronen—6.7, Rico Canty—5.5, David Heyward—4.7, Brad O’Neil—3.8, Antawn Detmer—3.5, Paul Swan—3.5, Greg Howell—2.1, Charles Whitney—1.3, Bret Caldwell—1.1, Scott Burris—0.3

RPG: Aleem Charles—8.1, Correy Parker—5.9, Brody Rowland—4.5, Rico Canty—3.8, Jon Benoit—2.8, Brian Fox—2.5, Ukko Noronen—2.0, Brad O’Neil—1.8, David Heyward—1.8, Antawn Detmer—1.8, Paul Swann—1.6, Greg Howell—1.0, Bret Caldwell—0.6, Charles Whitney—0.4, Scott Burris—0.1

APG: Jon Benoit—4.2, Brian Fox—2.9, Brad O’Neil—1.5, Aleem Charles—1.2, Brody Rowland—1.2, Rico Canty—1.2, Ukko Noronen—1.1, David Heyward—1.1, Paul Swann—0.9, Scott Burris—0.9, Correy Parker—0.7, Antawn Detmer—0.5, Greg Howell—0.5, Bret Caldwell—0.5, Charles Whitney—0.5

[PointGuard]

NCAA Selection Show

Grambling is the 6th seed in the West Region and will play 6th seed Stanford (22-9)

NCAA Tournament

Round 1

11th seed Grambling Tigers (23-9) vs 6th seed, #22 ranked Stanford Cardinal (22-9)

Pregame Comments: We’re excited to be part of the Big Dance, but sure would like to upset the ranked and favored Cardinal. Stanford was 12-1 in preconference play and had a 7-game win streak midway through Pac-12 conference play. They’re an offensive juggernaut, averaging 82.5 ppg (6th best in Division 1). Stanford averages 37.0 rpg (14th bet), 19.8 apg (6th best), 7.0 bpg (7th best), and 8.9 spg (39th best). But they’re only the 211th best defensively, giving up 73.1 ppg. They’re two big scorers are C Kenny Drakeford (17.9 ppg) and SF Blake Lytle (15.1 ppg). Drakeford also averages 9.2 rpg. We’d like to shut down their inside game, but it’s going to be tough handling their talented starters. For us, PF Brody Rowland has a sprained finger that could limit his effectiveness. The game is in Los Angeles so there will be a lot of Stanford fans and very few Grambling fans in attendance.

1st Half Summary: Off the tip-in, Rico Canty hit a quick 3…so nice start. The refs were a little too quick with the whistle but were at least calling fouls on both teams, not just us. At the first media timeout we held a 9-7 lead. Jon Benoit picked up his 2nd foul with 12-1/s minutes left in the half. Both teams then had a tough time scoring…at the 2nd media time out, we trailed 12-11. Surprisingly D was dominating the O. Brody Rowland then hit a 3 and Brian Fox followed up with 2 consecutive 3’s to put us on top 21-14 with 9 minutes remaining to halftime as we took advantage of Stanford’s starters being on the bench for breathers. By working the ball into Correy Parker we got Drakeford to pick up his 2nd foul and head to the bench at the 6:13 mark. We continued to keep the Cardinal off-balance. We were up 33-21 at the final media time out. Our momentum carried us to a big 42-27 halftime advantage. We held Stanford’s shooting to just 32% plus forced them to make 10 turnovers. We hit 54% of our FG’s including 78% (7 of 9) of our 3’s. PG Brian Fox pumped in 13 points in the half with SF/PF Rico Canty adding 10.

2nd Half Summary: Stanford scored the first 5 points, but Drakeford was called for his 3rd foul 90 seconds into the half. We led 48-32 at the first media time out, but we had been sloppy and made 5 turnovers already, so I focused on ball control during the timeout. Our turnovers continued which allowed Stanford to begin edging up. At the 2nd media turnover out lead was down to 52-40. With 7 minutes to go Stanford got within 6 points and nerves were definitely setting in. At the final media time out we led by just 2 and Stanford tied it at 64-64 on their next possession. Stanford edged ahead with 40 seconds on the clock. We called time out but the play we set up resulted in a blocked shot. We had to foul…the Cardinal made both free throws. We failed to score and lost a heart breaker, 70-66. Our 11 turnovers in the 2nd half were our downfall.

Stats: PG Brian Fox—20 points; SF/PF Rico Canty—10 points; PF/C Aleem Charles—8 points; C Correy Parker –7 points.

Tournament Championship Games:

CIT: San Jose State—77, Arkansas—57
CBI: Quinnipiac—92, Texas Christian—77
NIT: Southern Utah—100, Alabama-Birmingham—93
NCAA: Kentucky—69, Duke—61

Awards:

SWAC Coach of the Year—Omari Aura
SWAC 2nd Team All-Conference—Jon Benoit

[PointGuard]

The Future

This was my 4th season at Grambling. While the first year was merely creating a foundation, the last 3 seasons have had 20+ wins each year with a combined record of 74 wins and 27 losses and 3 straight NCAA Tournament appearances.

This was the 4th attempt to increase the basketball budget. After my requests being summarily denied each of the prior 3 years, the board finally acceded to an increase. But just a measly addition of $5500 or about a 4% increase from what we’ve been operating on for 4 straight years. I viewed it as a slap in the face after the success we’ve had and the positive publicity for the college and a substantial increase in fan support and revenue generation. But the college remains focused on providing most of it’s financial support to football.

I made my displeasure known and then made a decision to move away from college coaching and the continuous recruiting effort…and to get back to professional basketball with a brand new challenge. That being to become a head coach for an international professional team in Australia’s National Basketball League.

With only Correy Parker graduating, the team’s nucleus will return this coming season with significant improvement due to the experience they’ve gained plus the addition of 2 very strong recruits. So I feel I’m leaving the Tigers’ basketball program at a high point with the potential for immediate improvement. I wished the players my best and began working on my Aussie accent.

Family followup:

A year after this, Al Miller, Janeka Aura's father who had been living with the Aura's in San Luis Obispo, passed away due to complications from pneuomia that came about after he contracted the flu.

Fred Aura, Coach Fedora, died 2 years later when he was hit by a car while walking home after watching a Cal Poly basketball game. His fedora was NOT knocked off his head in the accident.

Janeka Aura, retired from her lenghty nursing career and went on to do a series of volunteer jobs. Her contributions to the community were recognized by her being awarded the San Luis Obispo County Grace N. Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award (Awarded to a woman with distinguished service and dedication over an extended length of time throughout her professional or volunteer career) and later the Isabel P. Ruiz Humanitarian Award (This Award annually recognizes and rewards a local individual for outstanding efforts in advocacy and caring for people in San Luis Obispo County). She lived a healthy and vibrant life up to her passing at the age of 97.

Omari Aura, served as a successful coach in the Australien Professional Basketball League for 26 years, retiring and returning to the U.S., to live 2 blocks from his mother in San Luis Obispo. He married an Australian woman and had just one son, who played basketball up through college.

Malik Aura, became a lawyer and later a Florida State legislator, accumulating a great deal of wealth. Contracted Lou Gehrig's Disease at the age of 62 and as the disease ravaged his body, committed suicide. Celia, his wife, married a rich Florida real estate developer a year later, lived the good life until her death at 87, and contributed much of her extensive wealth over the years to a large variety of charitable organizations. The two children of Malik and Celia, led very indulgent lives and never amounted to much.

Devany Aura, offered a basketball scholarship to UCLA, but turned it down to go pre-med at the University of Washington. She became a talented family practice doctor in Seattle and had 4 children, all of whom were good athletes.

Zahara Carter, Fred's assistant and Sports Admistrator at Cal Poly. She went on to become Athletic Director at 3 different universities, retiring at the age of 68 as A.D. at Marquette University.

[And thus ends the Aura Saga (Fred (Coach Fedora) at Towson, Boston College and Cal Poly followed by Omari at Grambling). I’m ready for a new challenge as well. ]

[CoachPrm15]

That's one heck of a run and one heck of a final chapter, you really left no stone unturned and I look forward to seeing what will be next in terms of a diary on here from you. Very well done.

[PointGuard]

Thanks, Coach!

I've done some other lenghty dynasties (well, not as long as the Aura's)...but they have to be fun and intriguing for me to continue an association.

WIth CB2025 just around the corner, I'm thinking about a variety of options that can be different from all the ones I've done in the past. We'll see what rises to the top.

Hopefully the new aspects of the game that Gary is introducing will stimulate others to develop dynasty threads here. It's fun to see how different people approach how they play the game and how they choose to report what they're doing.