Heavy-hearted Iona perseveres

Springfield, Ma. — People talk of a “plan.” We all need a plan to where we’re going in life, be it in work or just with our relationships with people. When it comes to team sports, coaches lay a blueprint, a foundation for a program involving recruiting and developing chemistry with their players. The Iona [...]

The case for Saint Mary’s: Why the Gaels should go dancing

Like most kids who grew up in the ’90s, Matthew Dellavedova’s favorite player was Michael Jordan. This becomes a bit more intriguing given Dellavedova’s origins — he grew up in Maryborough, Victoria, Australia — but as is so often the case among the best players, game recognizes game. Regardless of the (vast) distances in between. [...]

Matthew Dellavedova’s five minutes of madness, and the Saint Mary’s community he calls home

The girl approached timidly, shooting nervous glances at the 6’4″ point guard clad in Saint Mary’s basketball gear. The guard was talking to four friends an hour after an 87-70 loss to Gonzaga, the Gaels’ fierce conference rival which had been granted the No. 3 national ranking earlier that week. While a win would have [...]

A Philly Hoops Renaissance

LaSalle has a proud basketball lineage. From guys like Tom Gola to Lionel Simmons to Michael Brooks to Ken Durrett, the Explorers have well-known players to go with well-documented success, including a 1954 NCAA Title. They have two players — Brooks and Simmons — in the top 25 of all-time scoring in NCAA basketball history [...]

Team before self, Braswell helps guide Charlotte’s turnaround

Charlotte 49ers senior power forward Chris Braswell could’ve been angry or even upset. He could’ve griped or bickered. Braswell was a starter and always has been at his time at Charlotte. But the preseason second team All-Atlantic 10 selection has become one of the country’s best sixth men and is a driving force behind this [...]

Despite MAAC championship setback, Iona makes case for NCAA Tournament

Springfield, Mass. – In the end, from his seat at the postgame conference podium, all Iona’s basketball coach Tim Cluess could do was vouch for his team’s entrance into the NCAA Tournament. For the second consecutive year, the top-seed team in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championships fell in the semifinals. Last year, it was [...]

Loyola reaches the MAAC mountaintop — finally

Springfield, Mass. – Throughout the season, Loyola coach Jimmy Patsos has lauded the unselfishness of his lone senior in the playing rotation. England native Shane Walker is a 6-foot-10, 222-pound forward that came to Loyola via the transfer route from the University of Maryland, where Patsos was a longtime assistant under former Terps coach Gary [...]

The debate: BCS vs. NCAA tournament

Who does it better, the BCS or college basketball? (Upfront, I will say I am against the BCS and would love to see a college football playoff.) Just look at this year’s NCAA Tournament, which has shown that a team not on its game can lose. That is the beauty of any tournament, and this [...]

Kemba beats Pitt with buzzer-beater in Big East tourney

One more look back from to last season before we turn our heads to 2011-12. Tweet This Post

2011 NCAA Tournament day No. 1 full of buzzer-beaters, upsets

Day No. 1 of the NCAA Tournament featured a lot of buzzer-beaters and a lot of upsets, so how is everyone’s bracket so far? Games that came down to the last possession were Butler over Old Dominion, Kentucky over Princeton, Moorehead State over Louisville and Temple over Penn State. In case you were one of [...]

Taking a closer look at the West Region

The West region has a lot intrigue, from great coaching to great teams with history. Duke is the top seed, but it was not given any favors by being shipped out west, and some can argue Duke is not deserving of a top seed because of its lack of quality wins. If the top seeds [...]

Favorites, contenders and longshots: analyzing the Southwest

Handicapping the Southwest region The Favorite A few weeks ago, on the heels of a dramatic loss to Texas and shellacking at Kansas State, the Kansas Jayhawks didn’t look like sure No. 1 seeds, let alone likely Final Four participants. After a strong six-game stretch to finish the regular season and a handy dispatching of [...]

The first set of auto-bids will be handed out today

The calendar turned to March last week, which means the casual sports fan will turn his full attention to college basketball and try to cram in two weeks’ worth of games, news and analysis in order to fill out his bracket. The pool, though, will inevitably be won by the non-sports person who does it [...]

Will Fairfield create any madness this March?

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — You could look at Fairfield’s 70-69 victory at St. Peter’s in one of two ways. If you’re all about the here and now—the race for the conference crown and league tourney seeding—Sunday was an important day. If, on the other hand, you’re the type who spends February scouting potential NCAA Tournament bracket-breakers, [...]

This Is Awesome/I Am Jealous

Huge thanks are in order to Storming the Floor, where I first caught wind of this, but if you have any interest whatsoever into what goes on in “The Room” for the NCAA Selection Committee, the links below are must reads. See, a bunch of reporters from around the country get together at NCAA HQ [...]