And then there were two:
Indiana and Duke have emerged as the best two teams in the country as both have excellent guard play, versatile big men and sufficient outside shooting. I know it’s early, but barring any significant injuries, look for them to be the top two seeds on Selection Sunday and count on both being in Atlanta. Pick your upsets from other brackets.
California Dreamin’:
San Diego State, with a roster of California players that UCLA passed on, is at it again. The Kickback Kids (as Cal head coach Mike Montgomery calls therm) continue to dominate the Golden State with 26 straight wins against in-state schools and 11 in a row against members of the Pac-12. Steve Fisher’s team dominated the UCLA Bruins from start to finish last Saturday night as Jamaal Franklin was clearly the best player on the floor (yes, better that Shabazz Muhammad).
Can you believe that Fisher’s teams have beaten Arizona, UCLA, Cal and USC all on the road in the last three years? And don’t forget the win at Gonzaga a couple years ago. Forget best in California — let’s just say BEST in the WEST. Jim Sterk, the Aztecs’ AD, just put the football program in the Big East… Why not put the hoopsters in the Pac-12, Jim? it would help upgrade the conference.
Oh by the way, be sure to follow SDSU and Arizona in the Diamond Head Classic — the Christmas tourney in Hawaii — as they could meet in the final on Christmas Day.
The Fab Flint:
I wasn’t going to mention this, but as you read down, you’ll know why. Last Saturday night I was inducted into the Greater Flint Area Hall of Fame. I won state championships in Flint before going to Michigan. But I mostly wanted to share this story with you. A guy named Lamarr “Spider” Edwards was also inducted. His claim to fame is a pretty special one. On Monday, November 23rd, 1992, in front of nearly 8,000 people at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Spider poured in 29 points to help the Sam Ragnone AAU team beat Chris Webber and the Fab Five 122-121 in overtime. Yes, Steve Fisher, our Flint guys are tough. (Editor’s note: here’s more of Spider’s story)
On the carousel:
Back in the spring of 2006 there were 61 coaching changes and 14 in the major conferences. The big splashes were Kelvin Sampson being hired at Indiana and Bob Huggins at Kansas State. Sean Sutton was taking over for his dad at Oklahoma State and Greg McDermott was on his way to Iowa State. Some hires worked out, but the coach has already moved on – like Huggins, Tony Bennett at Washington State and Mike Anderson at Missouri. Others just were not good fits: Sidney Lowe at NC State and Jeff Capel at Oklahoma. Of those 14 in major conferences, only three remain, and one of them deserves a ton of praise. Mick Cronin took over tough situation at Cincinnati and, after some expected bumps in the road early in his tenure, has the Bearcats ranked 11th in Associated Press poll and unbeaten at 7-0. The ranking is no fluke, as in a nine-day span Cronin’s team beat Iowa State, Oregon and Alabama. The guy still has tricky non-conference games to come, with Marshall, Xavier and New Mexico remaining. He doesn’t crave the spotlight and his ego is not as large as some in this business, but Mick Cronin is getting it done in the Queen City.
Goodbye to one of the best:
It was a tough day in college basketball Saturday with the news of Rick Majerus passing away. I spent three days with Rick at the Montage in Laguna Beach before he took the Saint Louis job and talked a lot of college basketball and laughed about the time Ashley Judd hugged him after the 1998 championship game and his comments about it later. His passion for basketball was unreal. He wasn’t afraid to ask others in the coaching profession for advice, and he also was ready to provide support to others when asked. When I think of Rich Majerus, I think of Utah basketball going to the Final Four, the rise of Andre Miller and Keith Van Horn and how my good friend Lute Olson is still trying to figure out the Triangle and Two from the 1998 NCAA Tournament. Somewhere, Rick and Al McGuire are figuring out a good last-second shot and a defense that would stop any college player you can name.
RIP Coach Majerus, you will be missed and remembered.
— Bill Frieder
Former Michigan and Arizona State head coach Bill Frieder is an analyst for Westwood One’s coverage of NCAA Basketball. In his weekly blog Boxed Out, Bill scours the box scores to bring you interesting stories from the world of college basketball.
