College Hoopedia

Day 13 Questions and Answers

NCAA Mighty Mites: Shortest of Subjects Become Big-Time Playoff Performers

March 25th, 2023 - 16:58

Standing 5-8 in height and 8-5 in stature, Kansas State's Markquis Nowell (single-game playoff record of 19 assists) and Fairleigh Dickinson's Demetre Roberts (averaged 15.7 ppg/4 rpg/4 apg in three playoff contests) were the most entertaining players in the 2023 NCAA Tournament. They added immensely to the NCAA tourney's history of magnificent mighty mites.

When diminutive dandy Tyrone Bogues isn't on the list (scoreless in three playoff games as a Wake Forest freshman in 1983-84), you know the small packages are something big. A couple of North Carolina State playmakers - Monte Towe and Spud Webb - spearhead the following ranking of the 25 most impactful pint-sized players in playoff history even shorter than Nowell and Roberts:

Rank	Mighty Mite (Height)	School/Tourney Year(s)	Summary of NCAA Playoff Performance
1.	Shawnta Rogers (5-4)	George Washington 96-98-99	averaged 20.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 5 apg and 2.7 spg in three defeats vs. power-league opponents
2.	Monte Towe (5-7)	North Carolina State 74	averaged 15.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.3 apg and 2 spg in four contests with national titlist
3.	Anthony "Spud" Webb (5-7)	North Carolina State 85	juco transfer averaged 17 ppg and 6.3 apg in four contests for regional finalist
4.	Earl Boykins (5-6)	Eastern Michigan 96-98	averaged 17 points, 3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.3 spg in three contests vs. schools winning national title at some point
5.	Keith "Mister" Jennings (5-7)	East Tennessee State 89-90-91	averaged 12 ppg and 8.3 apg in three defeats
6.	Drew Lavender (5-6)	Oklahoma 05/Xavier 07-08	averaged 10.9 ppg, 3 rpg and 5 apg in eight contests (four outings with > 5 assists)
7.	Willie Worsley (5-6)	Texas Western 66-67	averaged 10.8 ppg and 2.6 rpg in eight contests (scored game-high 24 points vs. Seattle in opener for defending NCAA titlist)
8.	Demontrae Jefferson (5-7)	Texas Southern 17-18	averaged 19.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 4 apg and 2.7 spg in three contests
9.	Tajuan Porter (5-6)	Oregon 07-08	averaged 16.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg and 2 apg in five contests (including 33 points vs. UNLV)
10.	Jackie Crawford (5-7)	SW Missouri State 92	juco transfer collected team highs of 16 points and 7 assists in defeat vs. Michigan State
11.	Chico Fletcher (5-6)	Arkansas State 99	scored team-high 21 points in defeat vs. Utah
12.	Greg Brown (5-7)	New Mexico 93-94	juco transfer averaged 11 ppg, 4.5 rpg and 2.5 apg in two losses
13.	Jeremiah Dominguez (5-6)	Portland State 08-09	Portland transfer averaged 12 ppg, 3 rpg and 3 apg in two defeats
14.	Dick Hickox (5-6)	Miami (Fla.) 60	scored team-high 17 points vs. Western Kentucky
15.	Otto Petty (5-7)	Florida State 72	averaged 8.2 ppg, 2 rpg and 5 apg in five contests for national runner-up (three outings with > 5 assists)
16.	Junior Robinson (5-7)	Mount St. Mary's 17	averaged 15 ppg, 3 apg and 1.5 spg in two contests
17.	Jason Harrison (5-5)	Mississippi 99-01-02	averaged 6 ppg, 4 apg and 1.3 spg in six contests (five outings vs. power-league opponents)
18.	Chris Lykes (5-6)	Miami (Fla.) 18/Arkansas 22	collected 10 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals with the Hurricanes in loss vs. Loyola of Chicago before averaging 3.3 ppg in four contests with the Hogs' regional finalist
19.	Arnold Bernard (5-5)	SW Missouri State 90	juco transfer contributed 7 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals in reversal vs. North Carolina
20.	Wat Misaka (5-7)	Utah 44	averaged 6 ppg in three contests for NCAA titlist
21.	Casey Jones (5-7)	Northeast Louisiana 90-91	averaged 8.5 ppg and 2.5 rpg in two defeats (vs. Purdue and Duke)
22.	Chuck Rolles (5-6)	Cornell 54	averaged 5.5 ppg, 3 rpg and 1.5 apg in three contests
23.	Gene Duffy (5-7)	Notre Dame 58	averaged 5.7 ppg and 2.7 rpg in three outings
24.	"Little" Johnny Campbell (5-6)	Arkansas 49	averaged 5.5 ppg in two games for West Regional third-place team
T25.	Sherry Marshall (5-7)	Columbia 48	averaged 4.5 ppg in two contests
T25.	Calvin Rayford (5-7)	Kansas 93-94-96	collected total of 8 points, 11 rebounds and 15 assists in nine tourney tilts
T25.	Jim Reilly (5-7)	Georgetown 43	averaged 2 ppg in three contests
T25.	Eric Bell (5-6)	Stephen F. Austin 09	supplied 3 assists and two steals in setback vs. Syracuse

Short & Sweet: Anderson Didn't Solve Case Winning > 60% of 1-Year Games

March 25th, 2023 - 13:46

Iona-bound Tobin Anderson moved on from Fairleigh Dickinson after his only season (21-16 record). But what a majority of media mavens fail to point out is there have been numerous "won-and-done" mentors (including Corey Gipson recently going from Northwestern State to alma mater Austin Peay) posting significantly better winning percentages in "short-and-sweet" one-year stints since the generally recognized start of the modern era of college basketball in the early 1950s.

Kyle Neptune nearly joined loser list of one-year wonders (16-16 with Fordham before succeeding Hall of Famer Jay Wright at Villanova). Fordham improved by 14 games in Digger Phelps' only season with the Rams in 1970-71, a mark that stood for one-year wonders until Chris Beard broke it with a 15-game improvement after UALR (30-5) went 13-18 in 2014-15. Buzz Peterson, the only coach to win a national postseason championship in his only season at a school (Tulsa), is among the following "one-and-done" coaches who won more than 60% of their games in one-year tenures in the last 50-plus years:

Coach	School	Single Season	W-L	Pct.	Reason for One-Year Stint
Lute Olson	Long Beach State	1973-74	24-2	.923	Became coach at Iowa.
Digger Phelps	Fordham	1970-71	26-3	.897	Became coach at Notre Dame.
Chris Beard	UALR	2015-16	30-5	.857	Became coach at UNLV.
Carl Tacy	Marshall	1971-72	23-4	.852	Became coach at Wake Forest.
Keno Davis	Drake	2007-08	28-5	.848	Became coach at Providence.
Matt Painter	Southern Illinois	2003-04	25-5	.833	Became coach at Purdue.
Stan Heath	Kent State	2001-02	29-6	.829	Became coach at Arkansas.
Paul Weir	New Mexico State	2016-17	28-6	.824	Became coach at New Mexico.
Thad Matta	Butler	2000-01	24-8	.750	Became coach at Xavier.
Bill Fitch	Bowling Green	1967-68	18-7	.720	Became coach at Minnesota.
Jim Harding*	La Salle	1967-68	20-8	.714	Forced out by administration.
Buzz Peterson	Tulsa	2000-01	26-11	.703	Became coach at Tennessee.
Bob Vanatta	Army	1953-54	15-7	.682	Became coach at Bradley.
Larry Shyatt	Wyoming	1997-98	19-9	.679	Became coach at Clemson.
Rick Barnes	George Mason	1987-88	20-10	.667	Became coach at Providence.
Corey Gipson	Northwestern State	2022-23	22-11	.667	Became coach at Austin Peay.
Ron Greene	Mississippi State	1977-78	18-9	.667	Became coach at Murray State.
Art Tolis	New Orleans	1987-88	21-11	.656	Forced out by administration.
Scott Drew	Valparaiso	2002-03	20-11	.645	Became coach at Baylor.
Louis Orr	Siena	2000-01	20-11	.645	Became coach at Seton Hall.
Bob Huggins	Kansas State	2006-07	22-13	.629	Became coach at West Virginia.
Grant McCasland	Arkansas State	2016-17	20-12	.625	Became coach at North Texas.
Brad Underwood	Oklahoma State	2016-17	20-13	.606	Became coach at Illinois.

*Harding became coach for Minnesota (ABA) for portion of 1968-69 season.

How the West Has Lost: Utah State is 19 Games Below .500 in NCAA Tourney

March 25th, 2023 - 9:10

Amid failure of Pac-12 Conference entrants in this year's NCAA Tournament and Boise State still winless after nine playoff outings, the West remains the worst. Such a viewpoint shouldn't be a surprise unless you put stock in creepy porn lawyer #Avenaughty as a #Dimorat presidential candidate, hideous Hunter's laptop is Russian disinformation or always believe contrived comments from Muslim Brotherhood apologist/former CIA chief John "NBC News' Snoopy" Brennan. Brigham Young, New Mexico State and Utah State - more games below .500 than any institutions in NCAA playoff history - promptly bowing out of the NCAA playoffs is almost a tradition. Also weighing heavily out West, Wyoming is the only former national champion (1943) to compile an all-time NCAA playoff record more than five games below .500 (9-21).

Everett Shelton, coach of Wyoming's titlist, is the only championship team bench boss to finish with a non-winning playoff record (4-12 from 1941 through 1958) and was more games under .500 in NCAA Division I Tournament competition than any coach in history until supplanted by Fran Dunphy (3-17 with Penn and Temple from 1993 through 2019). Also, Shelton is the only coach to lose three consecutive regional final games (1947, 1948 and 1949).

Joining Dunphy and Shelton among the eight coaches more than six games under .500 in NCAA playoff play are Rick Byrd (1-8 with Belmont from 2006 through 2019), Pete Carril (4-11 with Princeton from 1969 through 1996), Don Corbett (0-7 with North Carolina A&T from 1982 through 1988), Hugh Greer (1-8 with Connecticut from 1951 through 1960), Stew Morrill (1-9 with Montana and Utah State from 1991 through 2011) and Mike Vining (0-7 with Louisiana-Monroe from 1982 through 1996).

More than half of the following 11 schools more than 10 games below .500 in NCAA tourney competition are from west of the Mississippi River:

School Playoff Record Games Below .500 Mark Summary of Tournament Tumult

Utah State 6-25 minus 19 lost 19 of last 20 games with only victory in that span in OT against Ohio State in 2001

Brigham Young 15-33 minus 18 only one of victories was by fewer than six points

New Mexico State 11-28 minus 17 lost 12 straight games until ending streak this year after winning seven of 11 contests from 1968 through 1970

Princeton 15-30 minus 15 lost eight of first nine games from 1952 through 1963 and five straight contests since 1998 until reaching 2023 Sweet 16

Iona 1-16 minus 15 15 straight setbacks with first four of them by fewer than four points from 1980 through 1998

Miami (Ohio) 6-19 minus 13 only victory in 10-game span from 1969 through 1992 was in OT against defending NCAA champion Marquette in 1978

Murray State 5-18 minus 13 lost 11 games in a row from 1988 through 2006

Penn 13-26 minus 13 lost last 10 games and 15 of last 16 after entering 1979 Final Four with winning playoff record (11-9)

Wyoming 9-21 minus 12 1943 NCAA titlist before losing 12 of 13 games from 1947 through 1967

Montana 2-13 minus 11 won inaugural game in 1975 but lost last four contests since 2012 by an average of 26 points

Weber State 6-17 minus 11 seven of last nine defeats since 1979 were by fewer than 12 points

School	Playoff Record	Games Below .500 Mark	Summary of Tournament Tumult
Utah State	6-25	minus 19	lost 19 of last 20 games with only victory in that span in OT against Ohio State in 2001
Brigham Young	15-33	minus 18	only one of victories was by fewer than six points
New Mexico State	11-28	minus 17	lost 12 straight games until ending streak this year after winning seven of 11 contests from 1968 through 1970
Princeton	15-30	minus 15	lost eight of first nine games from 1952 through 1963 and five straight contests since 1998 until reaching 2023 Sweet 16
Iona	1-16	minus 15	15 straight setbacks with first four of them by fewer than four points from 1980 through 1998
Miami (Ohio)	6-19	minus 13	only victory in 10-game span from 1969 through 1992 was in OT against defending NCAA champion Marquette in 1978
Murray State	5-18	minus 13	lost 11 games in a row from 1988 through 2006
Penn	13-26	minus 13	lost last 10 games and 15 of last 16 after entering 1979 Final Four with winning playoff record (11-9)
Wyoming	9-21	minus 12	1943 NCAA titlist before losing 12 of 13 games from 1947 through 1967
Montana	2-13	minus 11	won inaugural game in 1975 but lost last four contests since 2012 by an average of 26 points
Weber State	6-17	minus 11	seven of last nine defeats since 1979 were by fewer than 12 points

College Exam: Day #14 For One-and-Only NCAA Tournament Trivia Challenge

March 25th, 2023 - 8:42

Unless you're busy hoarding toilet paper again to wipe butt of George Soros suck-up/New York AG Alvin Bragg, seeking translator to try to understand Plagiarist Biledumb or cowering in fetal position from college basketball version of Orson Welles' War of the Worlds, it's your opportunity to start taking online tests for 23 quarantined days symbolic of normal time frame from Selection Sunday to Monday evening championship contest.

We need something to occupy our minds during quarantine from much of the invective-infected #MessMedia. Emphasizing a "one-and-only" theme for a "one-and-only" event, here is Day 14 of a treasure-trove of tantalizing NCAA Tournament trivia questions from CollegeHoopedia.com tracking the only coach, conference, player or school to be linked to a distinguished or dubious achievement (click here for answers or conduct research digesting historical morsels in CollegeHoopedia.com's year-by-year highlights):

1. Name the only school to compile a losing record in a season it won on the road against a conference rival later capturing the NCAA championship. Hint: The school is a former national titlist itself, but had just one winning league mark in 12 years from 1977-78 through 1988-89.

2. Name the only school to compile a conference record of more than 10 games below .500 in a season it defeated a league rival becoming NCAA champion. Hint: The school, which finished in first or second place in league competition four consecutive seasons in early 1930s, had 44 consecutive non-winning records in conference play before securing its first tourney appearance.

3. Name the only school to trail by at least 10 points at halftime of a tournament game and end up winning the contest by more than 20. Hint: A prominent network broadcaster played for the team. The next year, the school became the only one in tourney history to win back-to-back overtime games by double-digit margins.

4. Who is the only coach to lose in back-to-back seasons to teams seeded 14th or worse? Hint: He captured an NCAA championship later that decade.

5. Name the only double-digit seeded team to reach the Final Four until Virginia Commonwealth achieved the feat last year. Hint: It's the worst-seeded school to defeat a #1 seed, a conference rival that defeated the team a total of three times that year during the regular season and postseason league tournament. The next year, the university became only school to reach back-to-back regional finals as a double-digit seed.

6. Name the only school to win a regional final game it trailed by more than 15 points at halftime. Hint: The school lost its next game at the Final Four to a team that dropped a conference game against the regional final opponent by a double-figure margin. Three years later, it became the only school to score more than 100 points in a championship game and win national final by more than 21 points.

7. Who is the only team-leading scorer to be held more than 25 points under his season average in a Final Four game? Hint: He scored 39 points against the same opponent earlier in the season to help end the third-longest winning streak in major-college history. He is the only player to lead the playoffs in scoring and rebounding in back-to-back seasons although he wasn't named to the All-Tournament team one of those years despite becoming the only player to lead a tourney in scoring by more than 60 points. In addition, he is the only player in tournament history to collect more than 40 points and 25 rebounds in same game.

8. Name the only school to lead the nation in scoring offense and win the NCAA title in the same season. Hint: The top four scorers were undergraduates for the only titlist to win all of its NCAA Tournament games by more than 15 points.

9. Name the only school to play in as many as three overtime games in a single tournament. Hint: One of the three overtime affairs was a national third-place game.

10. Who is the only Final Four Most Outstanding Player to go scoreless in two NCAA Tournament games in a previous year? Hint: His NBA scoring average decreased each of last nine seasons in the league after becoming Rookie of the Year.

Answers (Day 14)

Day 12 Questions and Answers

Day 12 Questions and Answers

Seeds of Doubt: #1-Seeded Teams Failing to Bear NCAA Tournament Fruit

March 24th, 2023 - 20:56

All four #1 seeds in 2023 failed to advance to Elite Eight for the first time in NCAA playoff history, but at least none of them elbowed their way past UCLA to the top of list of most-lopsided losses in tourney annals for top-seeded squads. Houston, with an opportunity to participate in the Final Four in its backyard, incurred the most lopsided loss (14 points against Miami FL).

Three #1 seeds from ACC in the previous decade were eliminated prior to the NCAA Final Four by more than 16 points. Five #1 seeds have been kayoed by at least 20 points before the national semifinals since seeding was introduced in 1979. Arizona won two of the following nine games when #1 seeds in this category lost by more than 15 points:

Margin #1 Seed Regional Elimination Result Before F4

27 UCLA 1992 West Finals #2 Indiana (106-79)

25 Arizona 1998 West Finals #3 Utah (76-51)

20 Louisiana State 1980 Midwest Finals #2 Louisville (86-66)

20 Missouri 1994 West Finals #2 Arizona (92-72)

20 Virginia 2018 South First Round #16 Maryland-Baltimore County (74-54)

17 Ohio State 1991 Midwest Semifinals #4 St. John's (91-74)

17 North Carolina 2019 Midwest Semifinals #5 Auburn (97-80)

16 Duke 2011 West Semifinals #5 Arizona (93-77)

16 Oklahoma 2003 East Finals #3 Syracuse (63-47)

Margin	#1 Seed	Regional	Elimination Result Before F4
27	UCLA	1992 West Finals	#2 Indiana (106-79)
25	Arizona	1998 West Finals	#3 Utah (76-51)
20	Louisiana State	1980 Midwest Finals	#2 Louisville (86-66)
20	Missouri	1994 West Finals	#2 Arizona (92-72)
20	Virginia	2018 South First Round	#16 Maryland-Baltimore County (74-54)
17	Ohio State	1991 Midwest Semifinals	#4 St. John's (91-74)
17	North Carolina	2019 Midwest Semifinals	#5 Auburn (97-80)
16	Duke	2011 West Semifinals	#5 Arizona (93-77)
16	Oklahoma	2003 East Finals	#3 Syracuse (63-47)

Unfinished Business: Bama Remains "Susan Lucci" School in NCAA Tourney

March 24th, 2023 - 20:37

Weep On It/Think On It/Sleep On It/Drink On It. That could be the motto for 2023 top overall seed Alabama after the Crimson Tide remained viewed as a "Susan Lucci" school in NCAA Division I by failing to advance again to the Promised Land following a manhandling from San Diego State in the regional semifinals. Brigham Young, Missouri and Xavier are the only three schools participating in more than 25 NCAA Tournaments but never advancing to a Final Four (cumulative 88 playoff appearances).

Missouri has reached a regional final on four occasions but fell short in advancing to the Final Four. Four years ago, Xavier joined Mizzou (1994) as the only schools never reaching the national semifinals despite earning a #1 seed at some point during their NCAA playoff participation. Boston College is another bridesmaid multiple times comparable to Xavier, losing three regional finals (1967, 1982 and 1994) in 18 tourney appearances (22-19 record) since the field expanded beyond eight teams in 1950.

The following "Low Five" frustrated institutions remain in quagmire because they've made more than 20 appearances without reaching the Final Four:

School Tourney Appearances (Playoff Record Through 2023) Regional Final Losses

Utah State 23 (6-25 mark, .194) 1970

Brigham Young 30 (15-33, .313) 1951 and 1981

Missouri 29 (23-29, .442) 1976, 1994, 2002 and 2009

Alabama 24 (25-24, .510) 2004

Xavier 29 (30-29, .508) 2004, 2008 and 2017

School	Tourney Appearances (Playoff Record Through 2023)	Regional Final Losses
Utah State	23 (6-25 mark, .194)	1970
Brigham Young	30 (15-33, .313)	1951 and 1981
Missouri	29 (23-29, .442)	1976, 1994, 2002 and 2009
Alabama	24 (25-24, .510)	2004
Xavier	29 (30-29, .508)	2004, 2008 and 2017

Looking Out For #1: Only One of Last 21 Top-Ranked Teams Won NCAA Title

March 24th, 2023 - 20:07

Annually, there is a clear and present danger for pole sitter such as Alabama, which lost as top-ranked team in regional semifinal. Eleven years ago, Kentucky became only the fourth of past 40 schools atop the national rankings entering the NCAA playoffs since North Carolina '82 to capture the national championship.

In 2006, Duke became the ninth No. 1 team in 17 years to fail to advance to a regional final when the Blue Devils were eliminated by Louisiana State. In 1992, Duke defied a trend by becoming the first top-ranked team in 10 years entering the NCAA Tournament to win a national title. The five top-ranked teams prior to Duke failed to reach the championship game. UNLV lost twice in the national semifinals (1987 and 1991) and Temple '88, Arizona '89 and Oklahoma '90 failed to reach the Final Four.

Temple, a 63-53 loser against Duke in the 1988 East Regional final, and Kansas State, an 85-75 loser against Cincinnati in the 1959 Midwest Regional final, are the only teams ranked No. 1 by both AP and UPI entering the tourney to lose by a double-digit margin before the Final Four.

The school gaining the sweetest revenge against a top-ranked team was St. John's in 1952. Defending NCAA champion Kentucky humiliated the Redmen by 41 points (81-40) early in the season when the Catholic institution became the first to have a black player on the floor at Lexington, Ky. The African-American player, Solly Walker, played only a few minutes before he took a hit sidelining him for three weeks. But St. John's, sparked by center Bob Zawoluk's 32 points, avenged the rout by eliminating the Wildcats (64-57) in the East Regional, ending their 23-game winning streak. The Redmen, who subsequently defeated second-ranked Illinois in the national semifinals, lost against Kansas in the NCAA final.

In the 1982 championship game, North Carolina needed a basket with 16 seconds remaining from freshman Michael Jordan to nip Georgetown, 63-62, and become the only top-ranked team in 13 years from 1979 through 1991 to capture the NCAA title. It was a particularly bitter pill to swallow for seven of the 11 top-ranked teams to lose in the NCAA championship game in overtime or by two or three points in regulation.

It's win or go home! Less than one-third of the top-ranked squads captured the NCAA crown. Following is analysis sizing up how the No. 1 teams fared in the NCAA playoffs since the Associated Press introduced national rankings in 1949:

20 - Won national title (Kentucky '49; Kentucky '51; Indiana '53; San Francisco '56; North Carolina '57; UCLA '64; UCLA '67; UCLA '69; UCLA '71; UCLA '72; UCLA '73; North Carolina State '74; UCLA '75; Indiana '76; Kentucky '78; North Carolina '82; Duke '92; UCLA '95, Duke '01, and Kentucky '12).

14 - Finished national runner-up (Bradley '50/defeated by CCNY; Ohio State '61/Cincinnati; Ohio State '62/Cincinnati; Cincinnati '63/Loyola of Chicago; Michigan '65/UCLA; Kentucky '66/Texas Western; Indiana State '79/Michigan State; Houston '83/North Carolina State; Georgetown '85/Villanova; Duke '86/Louisville; Duke '99/Connecticut; Illinois '05/North Carolina; Ohio State '07/Florida), and Gonzaga '21/Baylor).

9 - Lost in national semifinals (Cincinnati '60/defeated by California; Houston '68/UCLA; UNLV '87/Indiana; UNLV '91/Duke; Massachusetts '96/Kentucky; North Carolina '98/Utah; North Carolina '08/Kansas; Florida '14/Connecticut, and Kentucky '15/Wisconsin).

10 - Lost in regional final (Kentucky '52/defeated by St. John's; Kansas State '59/Cincinnati; Kentucky '70/Jacksonville; Michigan '77/UNC Charlotte; Temple '88/Duke; Indiana '93/Kansas; Kentucky '03/Marquette; Louisville '09/Michigan State); Kansas '16/Villanova), and Duke '19/Michigan State).

9 - Lost in regional semifinals (North Carolina '84/defeated by Indiana; Arizona '89/UNLV; Kansas '97/Arizona; Duke '00/Florida; Duke '02/Indiana); Duke '06/Louisiana State; Ohio State '11/Kentucky); Gonzaga '22/Arkansas, and Alabama '23/San Diego State.

8 - Lost in second round (DePaul '80/defeated by UCLA; DePaul '81/St. Joseph's; Oklahoma '90/North Carolina; North Carolina '94/Boston College; Stanford '04/Alabama; Kansas '10/Northern Iowa), Gonzaga '13/Wichita State) and Villanova '17/Wisconsin).

2 - Lost in first round (West Virginia '58/defeated by Manhattan) and (Virginia '18/UMBC).

1 - Declined a berth (Kentucky '54).

NOTE: After United Press International started ranking teams in 1951, UPI had just three different No. 1 teams entering the national playoffs than AP - Indiana lost in 1954 East Regional semifinals against Notre Dame, California finished as 1960 national runner-up to Ohio State and Indiana lost in 1975 Mideast Regional final against Kentucky.

Center Stage Collapse: Zach Edey Joins POY List Failing to Win Playoff Game

March 24th, 2023 - 16:45

Despite regal effort (21 points/15 rebounds/3 blocked shots vs. #16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson), unanimous national Player of the Year Zach Edey (Purdue) joined a striking number of standouts who didn't win an NCAA Tournament game in season when they were named national POY. Edey joined Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe and Navy's David Robinson (1987) as the only unanimous POYs to incur an opening-round setback in NCAA playoffs. Following is list of fallen stars although majority of them provided prolific performances when their team was eliminated from postseason play:

Year	National Player of Year	School	Award(s)	NCAA Tournament Summary
1957	Chet Forte	Columbia	UPI	DNP
1964	Gary Bradds	Ohio State	AP/UPI	DNP
1970	Pete Maravich	Louisiana State	AP/UPI/USBWA/Naismith	participated in NIT (101-79 loss vs. Marquette in semifinals)
1975	David Thompson	North Carolina State	AP/UPI/NABC/USBWA/Naismith	DNP because Wolfpack was on NCAA probation
1978	Phil Ford	North Carolina	NABC/USBWA/Wooden	14 points/3 assists/4 steals/7-of-19 FGs in 68-64 loss vs. San Francisco in West Regional
1978	Alfred "Butch" Lee	Marquette	AP/UPI/Naismith	27 points/3 rebounds/3 steals in 84-81 overtime loss vs. Miami of Ohio in Mideast Regional
1980	Mark Aguirre	DePaul	AP/UPI/USBWA/Naismith	19 points/9 rebounds/4 assists in 77-71 loss vs. UCLA in West Regional
1980	Michael Brooks	La Salle	NABC	29 points/12 rebounds in 90-82 loss vs. Purdue in Mideast Regional
1987	David Robinson	Navy	AP/UPI/NABC/USBWA/Naismith/Wooden	50 points/13 rebounds/3 steals in 97-82 loss vs. Michigan in East Regional
1988	Hersey Hawkins	Bradley	AP/UPI/USBWA	44 points/10 rebounds/6 assists/3 steals in 90-86 loss vs. Auburn in Southeast Regional)
1991	Shaquille O'Neal	Louisiana State	AP/UPI	27 points/16 rebounds/5 blocks in 79-62 loss vs. Connecticut in Midwest Regional
1995	Shawn Respert	Michigan State	NABC	28 points/4 rebounds/3 assists in 79-72 loss vs. Weber State in Southeast Regional
2016	Denzel Valentine	Michigan State	AP/NABC	13 points/6 rebounds/12 assists in 90-81 loss vs. Middle Tennessee State in Midwest Regional
2022	Oscar Tshiebwe	Kentucky	AP/NABC/USBWA/Naismith/Wooden	30 points/16 rebounds in 85-79 overtime loss vs. Saint Peter's in East Regional
2023	Zach Edey	Purdue	AP/NABC/USBWA/Naismith/Wooden	21 points/15 rebounds/3 blocked shots in 63-58 loss vs. Fairleigh Dickinson in East Regional

No NCAA Crowns for Illini, Irish & Purdue Despite At Least 24 All-Americans

March 24th, 2023 - 12:06

Kentucky and North Carolina still rank 1-2 for most All-American honorees over the years. Duke isn't far behind UK and UNC although none of the Blue Devils' All-Americans came from the state of North Carolina.

Illinois, Notre Dame and Purdue never have won an NCAA championship despite all three schools supplying at least 24 different individuals as All-Americans a minimum of 35 times. Following is a list of the top 10 universities boasting the most All-Americans since 1928-29 (AP, Converse, NABC, UPI and USBWA):

Rank School (Different Individuals) Rank School (Total # of All-Americans)

1. Kentucky (49) T1. North Carolina (75)

2. North Carolina (46) T1. Kentucky (75)

3. Duke (45) 3. Duke (68)

T4. Indiana (42) 4. Kansas (60)

T4. Kansas (42) 5. Indiana (58)

T6. Illinois (33) 6. UCLA (49)

T6. UCLA (33) 7. Ohio State (48)

8. Ohio State (31) 8. Notre Dame (44)

9. Notre Dame (26) 9. Illinois (39)

10. Purdue (24) 10. Purdue (35)

11. Michigan (21)

12. Syracuse (20)

Rank	School (Different Individuals)	Rank	School (Total # of All-Americans)
1.	Kentucky (49)	T1.	North Carolina (75)
2.	North Carolina (46)	T1.	Kentucky (75)
3.	Duke (45)	3.	Duke (68)
T4.	Indiana (42)	4.	Kansas (60)
T4.	Kansas (42)	5.	Indiana (58)
T6.	Illinois (33)	6.	UCLA (49)
T6.	UCLA (33)	7.	Ohio State (48)
8.	Ohio State (31)	8.	Notre Dame (44)
9.	Notre Dame (26)	9.	Illinois (39)
10.	Purdue (24)	10.	Purdue (35)
11.	Michigan (21)
12.	Syracuse (20)

Tiny Dancers: Saint Mary's Fails to Secure Another Gael-Force At-Large Win

March 24th, 2023 - 10:16

Prior to coronavirus cancellation three seasons ago, the national tourney in 2020 was expected to be a bonanza year for mid-majors with Dayton (Atlantic 10), Gonzaga (West Coast) and San Diego State (Mountain West) ranked in Top 10. When given an opportunity via an at-large invitation to the Big Dance, members from 11 different mid-major conferences have more than held their own against opponents from elite leagues. The greatest example was Virginia Commonwealth, which defeated members from five different power leagues en route to the 2011 Final Four. COVID-19 prevented VCU from possibility of duplicating at-large success two years ago.

After Saint Mary's dismantled Indiana last year, power-conference setback totals against mid-major at-large entrants since 1992 include: Big Eight/Big 12 (22), Big East (19), Big Ten (16), SEC (15), ACC (13) and Pac-12 (11). Although Saint Mary's failed to duplicate its success this year, the following total of 40 different mid-major at-large entrants went on to win in the NCAA playoffs against a total of 53 different power-conference members (listed in reverse chronological order):

Year	At-Large Entrant	Mid-Major Conference	Power-League Victim(s) in NCAA Tournament
2022	Saint Mary's	West Coast	Indiana (Big Ten)
2019	Houston	American Athletic	Ohio State (Big Ten)
2018	Nevada	Mountain West	Texas (Big 12)
2016	Virginia Commonwealth	Atlantic 10	Oregon State (Pac-12)
2016	Wichita State	Missouri Valley	Vanderbilt (SEC) and Arizona (Pac-12)
2015	Dayton	Atlantic 10	Providence (Big East)
2015	San Diego State	Mountain West	St. John's (Big East)
2015	UAB	C-USA	Iowa State (Big 12)
2015	Wichita State	Missouri Valley	Indiana (Big Ten) and Kansas (Big 12)
2014	Dayton	Atlantic 10	Ohio State (Big Ten), Syracuse (ACC) and Stanford (Pac-12)
2013	Colorado State	Mountain West	Missouri (SEC)
2013	La Salle	Atlantic 10	Kansas State (Big 12) and Ole Miss (SEC)
2013	San Diego State	Mountain West	Oklahoma (Big 12)
2013	Temple	Atlantic 10	North Carolina State (ACC)
2013	Wichita State	Missouri Valley	Pittsburgh (Big East) and Ohio State (Big Ten)
2012	Gonzaga	West Coast	West Virginia (Big East)
2012	Xavier	Atlantic 10	Notre Dame (Big East)
2011	George Mason	Colonial	Villanova (Big East)
2011	Temple	Atlantic 10	Penn State (Big Ten)
2011	Virginia Commonwealth	Colonial	USC (Pacific-10), Georgetown (Big East), Purdue (Big Ten), Florida State (ACC) and Kansas (Big 12)
2010	Brigham Young	Mountain West	Florida (SEC)
2010	Gonzaga	West Coast	Florida State (ACC)
2010	Xavier	Atlantic 10	Minnesota (Big Ten) and Pittsburgh (Big East)
2008	Xavier	Atlantic 10	Georgia (SEC), Purdue (Big Ten) and West Virginia (Big East)
2007	Butler	Horizon League	Maryland (ACC)
2007	Southern Illinois	Missouri Valley	Virginia Tech (ACC)
2006	Bradley	Missouri Valley	Kansas (Big 12) and Pittsburgh (Big East)
2006	George Mason	Colonial	Michigan State (Big Ten), North Carolina (ACC) and Connecticut (Big East)
2006	Wichita State	Missouri Valley	Seton Hall (Big East) and Tennessee (SEC)
2005	Cincinnati	C-USA	Iowa (Big Ten)
2005	Nevada	WAC	Texas (Big 12)
2005	Pacific	Big West	Pittsburgh (Big East)
2005	UAB	C-USA	Louisiana State (SEC)
2005	Utah	Mountain West	Oklahoma (Big 12)
2004	Memphis	C-USA	South Carolina (SEC)
2004	Saint Joseph's	Atlantic 10	Texas Tech (Big 12) and Wake Forest (ACC)
2004	UAB	C-USA	Washington (Pacific-10) and Kentucky (SEC)
2003	Butler	Horizon League	Mississippi State (SEC)
2003	Utah	Mountain West	Oregon (Pacific-10)
2002	Southern Illinois	Missouri Valley	Texas Tech (Big 12) and Georgia (SEC)
2001	Fresno State	WAC	California (Pacific-10)
2001	Saint Joseph's	Atlantic 10	Georgia Tech (ACC)
2000	Pepperdine	West Coast	Indiana (Big Ten)
1999	Miami (Ohio)	Mid-American	Washington (Pacific-10)
1999	Missouri State	Missouri Valley	Wisconsin (Big Ten) and Tennessee (SEC)
1999	New Mexico	WAC	Missouri (Big 12)
1998	Detroit	Midwestern Collegiate	St. John's (Big East)
1998	Rhode Island	Atlantic 10	Kansas (Big 12)
1998	Utah	WAC	Arkansas (SEC), West Virginia (Big East), Arizona (Pacific-10) and North Carolina (ACC)
1998	Western Michigan	Mid-American	Clemson (ACC)
1997	Charlotte	C-USA	Georgetown (Big East)
1997	Louisville	C-USA	Texas (Big 12)
1997	Temple	Atlantic 10	Ole Miss (SEC)
1996	Louisville	C-USA	Villanova (Big East)
1996	Santa Clara	West Coast	Maryland (ACC)
1996	Temple	Atlantic 10	Oklahoma (Big 12)
1996	Utah	WAC	Iowa State (Big 12)
1995	Manhattan	Metro Atlantic	Oklahoma (Big Eight)
1995	Miami (Ohio)	Mid-American	Arizona (Pacific-10)
1995	Saint Louis	Great Midwest	Minnesota (Big Ten)
1995	Tulsa	Missouri Valley	Illinois (Big Ten)
1994	Tulsa	Missouri Valley	UCLA (Pacific-10) and Oklahoma State (Big Eight)
1993	New Mexico State	Big West	Nebraska (Big Eight)
1993	Rhode Island	Atlantic 10	Purdue (Big Ten)
1993	Temple	Atlantic 10	Missouri (Big Eight) and Vanderbilt (SEC)
1993	Tulane	Metro	Kansas State (Big Eight)
1993	Utah	WAC	Pittsburgh (Big East)
1992	Louisville	Metro	Wake Forest (ACC)
1992	Texas-El Paso	WAC	Kansas (Big Eight)
1992	Tulane	Metro	St. John's (Big East)

NOTE: Butler (Big East), Cincinnati (Big East), Louisville (Big East and ACC), Utah (Pac-12) and Xavier (Big East) subsequently joined a power conference.

College Exam: Day #13 For One-and-Only NCAA Tournament Trivia Challenge

March 24th, 2023 - 9:31

Unless you're busy hoarding toilet paper to wipe George Soros flunky/New York AG Alvin Bragg's butt, seeking translator to try to understand Plagiarist Bidumb or cowering in fetal position from college basketball version of Orson Welles' War of the Worlds, it's your opportunity to start taking online tests for 23 quarantined days symbolic of normal time frame from Selection Sunday to Monday evening championship contest.

We need something to occupy our minds during quarantine from much of the invective-infected #MessMedia. Emphasizing a "one-and-only" theme for a "one-and-only" event, here is Day 13 of a treasure-trove of tantalizing NCAA Tournament trivia questions from CollegeHoopedia.com tracking the only coach, conference, player or school to be linked to a distinguished or dubious achievement (click here for answers or conduct research digesting historical morsels in CollegeHoopedia.com's year-by-year highlights):

1. Who is the only team-leading scorer of a Final Four team to go scoreless when the school was eliminated from championship contention at the national semifinals? Hint: He was a center who along with four teammates averaged between 11 and 12.5 points per game.

2. Who is the only player to twice lead the nation in scoring average while playing for teams advancing to the Final Four? Hint: He is the only team-leading scorer to twice be more than 10 points below his season scoring mark when his school was eliminated at the Final Four.

3. Name the only school to lose two national championship games by at least 18 points after leading the finals at halftime. Hint: The two opponents, 17 years apart, combined to win 66 of 68 games those seasons.

4. Name the only school to make as many as eight consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from the year it participated in the event for the first time. Hint: The school's last playoff victory wasn't during this streak, but it later handed UCLA its first West Regional defeat in 14 years.

5. Name the only school to lose as many as 15 opening-round games in the NCAA Tournament. Hint: The university also lost a first-round game in 1984 after winning a qualifying round contest when playoff field was 53 teams.

6. Who is the only athlete to collect more than 3,000 major league hits, including 465 homers, after playing the entire basketball game for a school when it appeared in the NCAA Tournament for the first time. Hint: The outfielder appeared in 12 All-Star Games and two World Series after never playing in minors.

7. Who is the only player to have a single-digit point total in a national semifinal game and then increase his output by more than 20 points in the championship game? Hint: The center for two years between two three-time consensus first-team All-Americans shot just over 40% from the floor for the season entering title game where he had a game-high and career-high point total.

8. Who is the only player to have a decrease of more than 25 points from his national semifinal game scoring total to his championship game output? Hint: He was a member of the first undefeated NCAA champion and subsequently became an NBA first-round draft choice.

9. Name the only school to defeat two eventual Final Four teams by double-digit margins in their conference tournament. Hint: The school was handily eliminated in the NCAA playoffs by one of the two Final Four teams it decisively defeated in their league tourney.

10. Name the only school to reach the NCAA championship game in back-to-back seasons it was defeated by double-digit margins in its conference tournament. Hint: The school swept its home-and-home series in regular-season conference competition against the teams defeating it in league tourney.

Answers (Day 13)

Bumpy Ride: Arkansas' 23-Point Tourney Loss Wasn't Most Lopsided For Hogs

March 23rd, 2023 - 21:17

It was a jolt to Indiana fans when the Hoosiers were smothered by Saint Mary's, 82-53, in the first round of the 2022 East Regional. But their ardent followers could take some solace in fact that 13 other former champions lost an NCAA Tournament game by as many points over the years. The Hoosiers' previous most numbing tourney reversal was by 25 points against St. John's in 1999.

On the other end of the setback spectrum, is a traditional blueblood other than Connecticut, Duke, Georgetown, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, UCLA or Villanova the only former national kingpin never to lose an NCAA playoff game by fewer than 15 points? No, but the ex-champ holding this distinction boasts school colors of Blue and Gold. It's La Salle, the 1954 titlist which subsequently lost three separate tourney games by 14 points.

Ohio State is the lone power-conference member in this group never to incur an NCAA playoff setback by at least 20 points. Arkansas departed in a one-sided result this year but the Razorbacks previously were eliminated by an even wider margin. Former NCAA champions Wyoming (49 points) and UConn (47) sustained the worst reversals on the following list of most-lopsided losses in NCAA Tournament competition among the 37 former titlists:

Previous Champion	Largest Margin	Opponent(s)	Most-Lopsided NCAA Tournament Loss(es)
Arizona	39	#1 seed Louisville	103-64 in 2009 Midwest Regional semifinal
Arkansas	35	Cincinnati	97-62 in 1958 Midwest Regional third-place contest
Baylor	20	#7 South Carolina	70-50 in 2017 East Regional semifinal
California	20	Ohio State/#1 Connecticut	75-55 in 1960 national final/74-54 in 1990 East Regional second round
Cincinnati	24	#5 Illinois	92-68 in 2004 Atlanta Regional second round
City College of New York	15	Holy Cross	60-45 in 1947 national semifinal
Connecticut	47	Duke	101-54 in 1964 East Regional final
Duke	30	#1 UNLV	103-73 in 1990 national final
Florida	23	#3 Michigan	108-85 in 1988 West Regional second round
Georgetown	24	#1 Massachusetts	86-62 in 1996 East Regional final
Holy Cross	39	#1 Oregon	91-52 in 2016 West Regional first round
Indiana	29	#5 Saint Mary's	82-53 in 2022 East Regional first round
Kansas	34	#6 Southern California	85-51 in 2021 West Regional second round
Kentucky	24	Western Kentucky	107-83 in 1971 Mideast Regional semifinal
La Salle	14	San Francisco/Columbia/#9 Wichita State	77-63 in 1955 NCAA final/83-69 in 1968 East Regional first round/72-58 in 2013 West Regional semifinal
Louisville	23	#1 North Carolina	97-74 in 1997 East Regional final
Loyola of Chicago	19	Western Kentucky	105-86 in 1966 Mideast Regional first round
Marquette	33	#2 Kansas	94-61 in 2003 national semifinal
Maryland	35	#3 Indiana/#6 UCLA	99-64 in 1981 Mideast Regional second round/105-70 in 2000 Midwest Regional second round
Michigan	34	#11 Loyola Marymount	149-115 in 1990 West Regional second round
Michigan State	20	#1 Duke/#1 Kansas	81-61 in 2015 national semifinal/90-70 in 2017 Midwest Regional second round
North Carolina	27	Purdue	92-65 in 1969 national semifinal
North Carolina State	21	#2 Texas	75-54 in 2006 Atlanta Regional second round
Ohio State	18	#7 Georgetown	70-52 in 2006 Minneapolis Regional second round
Oklahoma State	24	Kansas State	68-44 in 1951 West Regional final
Oregon	21	California	70-49 in 1960 West Regional final
San Francisco	26	UNLV	121-95 in 1977 West Regional first round
Stanford	23	#1 Kansas/#9 Mississippi State	86-63 in 2002 Midwest Regional second round/93-70 in 2005 Austin Regional first round
Syracuse	29	#4 Kansas	87-58 in 2001 Midwest Regional second round
Texas-El Paso	25	Indiana	78-53 in 1975 Mideast Regional first round
UCLA	27	#2 Indiana	106-79 in 1992 West Regional final
UNLV	23	#3 Seton Hall	84-61 in 1989 West Regional final
Utah	31	#1 Kentucky	101-70 in 1996 Midwest Regional semifinal
Villanova	26	#3 Purdue	87-61 in 2019 South Regional second round
Virginia	37	#3 Michigan	102-65 in 1989 Southeast Regional final
Wisconsin	30	#1 Maryland	87-57 in 2002 East Regional second round
Wyoming	49	UCLA	109-60 in 1967 West Regional semifinal

Transferring Talent: Five All-Americans Started Careers at Other DI Schools

March 23rd, 2023 - 14:22

"Stepping onto a brand new path is difficult, but not more difficult than remaining in a situation which is not nurturing." - Maya Angelou

Whether schools are simply filling out a roster with a backup or chasing a pot of gold at the end of a Larry Bird-created rainbow jumper, they seem to be looking around every corner and under every rock for a transfer. Bird left a potential powerhouse at Indiana but never played for the Hoosiers before becoming national player of the year with Indiana State. Kansas State failed to duplicate Oklahoma State's feat in 2004 of having two transfer All-Americans help school advance to the Final Four.

How many All-Americans actually played varsity basketball for two different four-year schools? The average was about one every two years until the transfer portal yielded five such A-As each of the past two campaigns. Duke and Kansas, two of the five schools with the most All-Americans in history, had their first transfer in that category during the previous decade - Duke guard Seth Curry (Liberty) and KU center Jeff Withey (Arizona). Of course, the premier player in this category in 2021-22 was Kentucky center Oscar Tshiebwe, who transferred from West Virginia after averaging 10.6 ppg and 8.9 rpg for the Mountaineers in 2019-20 and first semester of 2020-21. Tshiebwe became the first transfer ever to become national player of the year after competing in games with another four-year school. He was the first player to average more than 15 rpg since Alcorn State's Larry Smith in 1979-80 (15.1). UK lost five players who became A-As elsewhere including one of five such transfers at Gonzaga.

Mississippi State lost a transfer All-American when Ben Hansbrough departed for Notre Dame but the Bulldogs had their own player in this category earlier this century after Lawrence Roberts left Baylor. In an era when transfers have almost become an obsession for various reasons, there was a modest uptick in the ratio with seven All-Americans in this category in a six-year span from 2000 through 2005 before Louisville's Luke Hancock (George Mason) became Final Four Most Outstanding Player. Tshiebwe and four additional transfers - Keyontae Johnson, Tyler Kolek, Markquis Nowell and Jalen Pickett - joined the following alphabetical list of A-As who began their collegiate career at another four-year school:

Transfer All-American	Pos.	Original School	All-American School
James Akinjo	G	Georgetown 19-20/Arizona 21	Baylor 22
Courtney Alexander	G	Virginia 96-97	Fresno State 99-00
Elgin Baylor	F	College of Idaho 55	Seattle 57-58
Vince Boryla	F-C	Notre Dame 45-46	Denver 49
Michael Bradley	F-C	Kentucky 98-99	Villanova 01
Charley Brown	G	Indiana 56	Seattle 58-59
Art Bunte	C-F	Utah 52-53	Colorado 55-56
Frank Burgess	G	Arkansas-Pine Bluff 54	Gonzaga 59-61
Reggie Carter	G	Hawaii 76	St. John's 78-80
Brandon Clarke	F-C	San Jose State 16-17	Gonzaga 19
Seth Curry	G	Liberty 09	Duke 11-13
Dan Dickau	G	Washington 98-99	Gonzaga 01-02
Toney Douglas	G	Auburn 05	Florida State 07-09
Larry Fogle	F	Southwestern Louisiana 73	Canisius 74-75
Ricky Frazier	G-F	St. Louis 78	Missouri 80-82
Eric "Hank" Gathers	F-C	Southern California 86	Loyola Marymount 88-90
Gerald Glass	F	Delta State (Miss.) 86-87	Mississippi 89-90
Joey Graham	F	Central Florida 01-02	Oklahoma State 04-05
*Harvey Grant	F	Clemson 85	Oklahoma 87-88
*Ed Gray	G	Tennessee 94	California 96-97
Al Green	G	North Carolina State 76-77	Louisiana State 79
Quentin Grimes	G	Kansas 19	Houston 20-21
Ben Hansbrough	G	Mississippi State 07-08	Notre Dame 10-11
William "Red" Holzman	G	Baltimore 39	City College of New York 41-42
Keyontae Johnson	F	Florida 19-21	Kansas State 23
Wesley Johnson	F	Iowa State 07-08	Syracuse 10
Johnny Juzang	G	Kentucky 20	UCLA 21-22
Walker Kessler	C	North Carolina 21	Auburn 22
Greg "Bo" Kimble	F-G	Southern California 86	Loyola Marymount 88-90
Tyler Kolek	G	George Mason 21	Marquette 22-23
Jim Krivacs	G	Auburn 75	Texas 77-79
Dedric Lawson	F-C	Memphis 16-17	Kansas 19
John Lucas III	G	Baylor 02-03	Oklahoma State 04
Kyle Macy	G	Purdue 76	Kentucky 78-80
Billy McCaffrey	G	Duke 90-91	Vanderbilt 93-94
Bob McCurdy	F-C	Virginia 72	Richmond 74-75
Mark McNamara	C	Santa Clara 78-79	California 81-82
Chris Mills	F	Kentucky 89	Arizona 91-93
Davion Mitchell	G	Auburn 19	Baylor 21
JD Notae	G	Jacksonville 18-19	Arkansas 21-22
Markquis Nowell	G	UALR 19-21	Kansas State 22-23
James "Scoonie" Penn	G	Boston College 96-97	Ohio State 99-00
Jalen Pickett	G	Siena 19-21	Penn State 22-23
Lawrence Roberts	F-C	Baylor 02-03	Mississippi State 04-05
Carlos Rogers	C	UALR 91	Tennessee State 93-94
Marshall Rogers	G	Kansas 73	Pan American 75-76
Clifford Rozier	C-F	North Carolina 91	Louisville 93-94
Kevin Stacom	G	Holy Cross 71	Providence 73-74
Dan Swartz	C	Kentucky 52	Morehead State 54-56
Oscar Tshiebwe	C	West Virginia 20-21	Kentucky 22-23
Brandon Joel "B.J." Tyler	G	DePaul 90	Texas 92-94
Bill Uhl	C	Ohio State 52	Dayton 54-56
Jarrod Uthoff	F	Wisconsin 12 (redshirt)	Iowa 14-16
Win Wilfong	F	Missouri 52-53	Memphis State 56-57
Nigel Williams-Goss	G	Washington 14-15	Gonzaga 17
Kyle Wiltjer	F	Kentucky 13	Gonzaga 15
Jeff Withey	C	Arizona 09	Kansas 10-13
Leon Wood	G	Arizona 80	Cal State Fullerton 82-84
Andre Woolridge	G	Nebraska 93	Iowa 95-97

*Attended junior college between four-year school stints.
NOTES: Burgess was an Air Force veteran. . . . Kolek, Nowell and Pickett increased the total to 16 of All-Americans who began their careers attending a mid-major or non-Division I school.

College Exam: Day #12 For One-and-Only NCAA Tournament Trivia Challenge

March 23rd, 2023 - 8:21

Unless you're busy hoarding toilet paper to wipe butt of George Soros butt boy New York AG Alvin Bragg, trying to help Supreme Court Justice define a woman or cowering in fetal position from college basketball version of Orson Welles' War of the Worlds, it's your opportunity to start taking online tests for 23 quarantined days symbolic of normal time frame from Selection Sunday to Monday evening championship contest.

We need something to occupy our minds during quarantine from much of the invective-infected #MessMedia. Emphasizing a "one-and-only" theme for a "one-and-only" event, here is Day 12 of a treasure-trove of tantalizing NCAA Tournament trivia questions from CollegeHoopedia.com tracking the only coach, conference, player or school to be linked to a distinguished or dubious achievement (click here for answers or conduct research digesting historical morsels in CollegeHoopedia.com's year-by-year highlights):

1. Who is the only championship team player to have a season scoring average of less than six points per game entering a Final Four but tally more than 30 points in the national semifinals and final? Hint: He is the only player with a single-digit season scoring average to score more than 25 points in an NCAA championship game.

2. Who is the only player to score at least 25 points in eight consecutive NCAA playoff games? Hint: He is the only player to rank among top five in scoring average in both NCAA Tournament and NBA playoffs. He was denied a championship ring in his only Final Four appearance when a player who would become an NBA teammate tipped in decisive basket in the closing seconds.

3. Name the only Final Four Most Outstanding Player who wasn't among the top five scorers on his team. Hint: The only other player to earn the award who wasn't among top four scorers on his team attended same university.

4. Who is the only individual to be named the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player and NIT Most Valuable Player? Hint: As a freshman, he shared one of the awards with a teammate.

5. Who is the only U.S. Congressman to become chairman of the House Judiciary Committee after playing in the NCAA Tournament championship game? Hint: Starting out as a Democrat, he became a 12-term Republican Congressman from Illinois.

6. Who is the only individual to be named Final Four Most Outstanding Player and NBA Finals Most Valuable Player in back-to-back seasons? Hint: He holds the NBA Finals single-game record for most points by a rookie.

7. Name the freshman who had the highest season scoring average for a team to reach the NCAA Tournament championship game until Carmelo Anthony achieved the feat for 2003 champion Syracuse. Hint: The word "Boss" is tattooed to his chest for a good reason because he also led his team in assists as freshman.

8. Who is the only freshman to score more than 30 points in a national semifinal or championship game before failing to score more than half that total in his next four playoff outings? Hint: He didn't score more than 15 points in any of his next four NCAA playoff games, all defeats, and averaged a modest 8.2 points per game in an eight-year NBA career with an all-time pro season high of 11.4 ppg and game high of 28.

9. Who is the only freshman on a Final Four team to score more than 20 points in as many as four tournament games? Hint: He did not play in the national championship game and his school lost in the NCAA playoffs to opponents with double-digit seeds each of four seasons before he arrived.

10. Name the only season-leading scorer of a titlist to be held more than 14 points below his average in the NCAA championship game. Hint: He was named national player of the year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. He is one of four Final Four Most Outstanding Players held scoreless in their NCAA Tournament debuts in a previous season. He is also the only individual to become a member of three NCAA titlists after playing one season in junior college.

Answers (Day 12)

Harry Experience: Combes Recruited Striking Number of A-As for Illinois

March 22nd, 2023 - 19:27

In an era of deity Dr. Fraudci covid manipulation and spewing of nonsense from father/son duo Lanny/Seth Davis, let's see if you genuinely want to be guided by data. Only seven individuals have coached more than 15 All-Americans with one major college. Ten years ago, retired Duke icon Mike Krzyzewski broke a tie with Kentucky's Adolph Rupp and moved atop this list.

In one of the most overlooked achievements in NCAA history current Champaign bench boss Brad Underwood should know about, Harry Combes amassed 16 different All-Americans in his first 19 of 20 seasons as Illinois' mentor from 1947-48 through 1966-67. No other coach accumulated more than 13 All-Americans in his first 20 campaigns with a single school - North Carolina's Dean Smith (13 in first 20 seasons), Indiana's Bob Knight (12), Krzyzewski (12), Rupp (12), Indiana's Branch McCracken (11), Arizona's Lute Olson (11), UCLA's John Wooden (10) and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim (eight) - until former Illini mentor Bill Self (Kansas) bypassed them several years ago. No definitive word regarding how many of the A-As arrived donning Adidas gear via suspicious Self-less circumstances investigated by NCAA. Recruiting the Chicago metropolitan area isn't a panacea for the Illini, which should remember how 22 different major-college All-Americans in less than 30 years in an earlier era came from Illinois high schools located in towns featuring populations smaller than 20,000.

As a means of comparison, keep in mind inactive NCAA Division I national coaches of the year P.J. Carlesimo, Perry Clark, Tom Davis, Eddie Fogler, Jim Harrick, Marv Harshman, Clem Haskins, Maury John, Jim O'Brien, George Raveling, Charlie Spoonhour and Butch van Breda Kolff combined for 17 All-Americans in a cumulative 251 years coaching at the major-college level. Moreover, prominent active coaches Tommy Amaker, Mike Anderson, Randy Bennett, Brad Brownell, Mick Cronin, Ed DeChellis, Travis Ford, Jim Larranaga, Fran McCaffery and Dan Monson have combined for fewer All-Americans than both Combes and Self. John Calipari collected 12 different A-As in his first 14 campaigns with Kentucky. Following is list of the seven coaches with most different All-Americans at one university:

Coach	All-Americans With Single Division I School	School Tenure With Most All-Americans
Mike Krzyzewski	35 All-Americans in 42 seasons with Duke	1980-81 through 2021-22
Adolph Rupp	23 in 41 seasons with Kentucky	1930-31 through 1971-72 except for 1952-53
Dean Smith	22 in 36 seasons with North Carolina	1961-62 through 1996-97
Bill Self	21 in first 21 seasons with Kansas	2003-04 through 2022-23
John Wooden	18 in 27 seasons with UCLA	1948-49 through 1974-75
Bob Knight	17 in 29 seasons with Indiana	1971-72 through 1999-00
Harry Combes	16 in 20 seasons with Illinois	1947-48 through 1966-67

NOTE: Respected retired mentors Gale Catlett, Mike Deane, Bill Henderson, Shelby Metcalf, Stan Morrison, Bob Polk, Charlie Spoonhour and Ralph Willard never had an All-American despite at least 18 seasons coaching at the major-college level.

Mere One NCAA DI Player Averaged > 30 PPG in Single Season This Century

March 22nd, 2023 - 9:42

Need an example showing how scoring is down in college basketball? Disregard the freak set of circumstances in 2008-09 when eventual NBA MVP Stephen Curry went scoreless against Loyola (Md.). Unsure if it is a byproduct of doomed civilization stemming from eco-fascist climate change, but only one NCAA Division I player averaged in excess of 30 points per game in the 21st Century (since LIU's Charles Jones in 1996-97). He was Campbell's Chris Clemons, who achieved the feat four seasons ago (30.1 ppg).

Eight years ago, Eastern Washington's Tyler Harvey (23.1 ppg) finished with the lowest average for the national scoring leader since Yale's Tony Lavelli posted 22.4 ppg in 1948-49. As a means of comparison to an era when scorers flourished, an average of 36 players annually posted higher scoring marks than Harvey in a six-season span from 1967-68 through 1972-73, including a high of 44 in 1969-70 when LSU's Pete Maravich nearly doubled Harvey with 44.5 ppg despite the absence of the three-point field goal.

Glenn Robinson Jr. (30.3 ppg for Purdue in 1993-94) was the only player from a power six league to pace the country in scoring in a 41-year span from 1971-72 through 2011-12 (South Carolina was independent in 1980-81 and TCU was SWC member in 1994-95). Cheated out of passing Pistol Pete or not in all-time scoring while managing modest 15 points against both of power-league foes this year (Boston College and Washington State), Detroit's Antoine Davis joined the following list citing the high and low games for players during the season when they led DI in scoring average:

Year	Leading NCAA DI Scorer	School	Avg.	High Game	Low Game
1936	Hank Luisetti	Stanford	14.3	31 (Utah State)
1937	Hank Luisetti	Stanford	17.1	unavailable
1938	Chester Jaworski	Rhode Island State	21.0	unavailable
1939	Chester Jaworski	Rhode Island State	22.6	unavailable
1940	Stan Modzelewski	Rhode Island State	23.1	40 (Connecticut)
1941	Stan Modzelewski	Rhode Island State	18.5	unavailable
1942	Stan Modzelewski	Rhode Island State	21.4	unavailable
1943	George Senesky	St. Joseph's	23.4	44 (Rutgers-Newark)	4 (Elizabethtown PA)
1944	Ernie Calverley	Rhode Island State	26.7	48 (Maine)
1945	George Mikan	DePaul	23.3	53 (Rhode Island State)
1946	George Mikan	DePaul	23.1	37 (Indiana State)
1947	Bob Brown	Miami (Ohio)	19.9	39 (Evansville)
1948	Murray Wier	Iowa	21.0	34 (Illinois)	5 (Purdue)
1949	Tony Lavelli	Yale	22.4	52 (Williams MA)	8 (Stanford/Villanova)
1950	Paul Arizin	Villanova	25.3	41 (Seton Hall)
1951	Bill Mlkvy	Temple	29.2	73 (Wilkes PA)
1952	Clyde Lovellette	Kansas	28.4	44 (St. Louis)	13 (Iowa State)
1953	Frank Selvy	Furman	29.5	63 (Mercer)	15 (Manhattan)
1954	Frank Selvy	Furman	41.7	100 (Newberry SC)	25 (Newberry SC)
1955	Darrell Floyd	Furman	35.9	67 (Morehead State)	20 (Newberry SC/Washington & Lee VA)
1956	Darrell Floyd	Furman	33.8	62 (The Citadel)	18 (Davidson)
1957	Grady Wallace	South Carolina	31.2	54 (Georgia)	14 (North Carolina State)
1958	Oscar Robertson	Cincinnati	35.1	56 (Seton Hall/Arkansas)	16 (Drake)
1959	Oscar Robertson	Cincinnati	32.6	45 (NYU)	13 (Houston)
1960	Oscar Robertson	Cincinnati	33.7	62 (North Texas)	13 (Duquesne)
1961	Frank Burgess	Gonzaga	32.4	52 (UC Davis)
1962	Billy McGill	Utah	38.8	60 (Brigham Young)
1963	Nick Werkman	Seton Hall	29.5	42 (St. Francis PA)	11 (Boston College)
1964	Howard Komives	Bowling Green State	36.7	50 (Niagara)	25 (Toledo)
1965	Rick Barry	Miami FL	37.4	59 (Rollins FL)	17 (Florida State)
1966	Dave Schellhase	Purdue	32.5	57 (Michigan)	23 (UCLA)
1967	Jimmy Walker	Providence	30.4	47 (Holy Cross)	5 (Villanova)
1968	Pete Maravich	Louisiana State	43.8	59 (Alabama)	17 (Tennessee)
1969	Pete Maravich	Louisiana State	44.2	66 (Tulane)	20 (Tennessee)
1970	Pete Maravich	Louisiana State	44.5	69 (Alabama)	20 (Georgetown/Marquette)
1971	Johnny Neumann	Mississippi	40.1	63 (Louisiana State)	17 (Louisiana State)
1972	Dwight "Bo" Lamar	Southwestern Louisiana	36.3	51 (Louisiana Tech/Lamar)
1973	William "Bird" Averitt	Pepperdine	33.9	57 (Nevada-Reno)	10 (Clemson)
1974	Larry Fogle	Canisius	33.4	55 (St. Peter's)	18 (South Carolina)
1975	Bob McCurdy	Richmond	32.9	53 (Appalachian State)
1976	Marshall Rogers	Texas-Pan American	36.8	58 (Texas Lutheran)
1977	Freeman Williams	Portland State	38.8	71 (Southern Oregon)	11 (Gonzaga)
1978	Freeman Williams	Portland State	35.9	81 (Rocky Mountain MT)	14 (New Mexico)
1979	Lawrence Butler	Idaho State	30.1	41 (SDSU/Boise State/UNLV)	12 (Georgia)
1980	Tony Murphy	Southern	32.1	50 (Mississippi Valley State)
1981	Zam Fredrick	South Carolina	28.9	43 (Georgia Southern)
1982	Harry Kelly	Texas Southern	29.7	51 (Texas College)
1983	Harry Kelly	Texas Southern	28.8	60 (Jarvis Christian TX)
1984	Joe Jakubick	Akron	30.1	42 (Illinois-Chicago)	unavailable
1985	Xavier McDaniel	Wichita State	27.2	44 (West Texas State)	13 (Ohio University)
1986	Terrance Bailey	Wagner	29.4	49 (Brooklyn)	15 (Fairleigh Dickinson)
1987	Kevin Houston	Army	32.9	53 (Fordham)	18 (Holy Cross)
1988	Hersey Hawkins	Bradley	36.3	63 (Detroit)	17 (Tulsa)
1989	Hank Gathers	Loyola Marymount	32.7	49 (Nevada)	22 (Pepperdine)
1990	Greg "Bo" Kimble	Loyola Marymount	35.3	54 (St. Joseph's)	21 (UNLV/Gonzaga)
1991	Kevin Bradshaw	U.S. International	37.6	72 (Loyola Marymount)
1992	Brett Roberts	Morehead State	28.1	53 (Middle Tennessee State)
1993	Greg Guy	Texas-Pan American	29.3	38 (Jacksonville)	13 (Lamar)
1994	Glenn Robinson Jr.	Purdue	30.3	49 (Illinois)	15 (Wisconsin)
1995	Kurt Thomas	Texas Christian	28.9	45 (Illinois-Chicago)	13 (Virginia Tech)
1996	Kevin Granger	Texas Southern	27.0	unavailable
1997	Charles Jones	Long Island	30.1	46 (St. Francis PA)	16 (UAB)
1998	Charles Jones	Long Island	29.0	53 (Medgar Evers NY)	16 (Mount St. Mary's)
1999	Alvin Young	Niagara	25.1	44 (Siena)	3 (Iona)
2000	Courtney Alexander	Fresno State	24.8	43 (UAB)	11 (Wisconsin)
2001	Ronnie McCollum	Centenary	29.1	44 (Northwestern State)	14 (Louisiana State)
2002	Jason Conley	Virginia Military	29.3	42 (Western Carolina)	17 (Eastern Mennonite VA)
2003	Ruben Douglas	New Mexico	28.0	43 (Wyoming)	12 (Pepperdine)
2004	Keydren Clark	St. Peter's	26.7	39 (Hofstra)	17 (Loyola/BSC/Niagara)
2005	Keydren Clark	St. Peter's	25.8	43 (College Of Charleston)	14 (Tennessee Tech/Rider)
2006	Adam Morrison	Gonzaga	28.1	44 (Loyola Marymount)	11 (San Diego)
2007	Reggie Williams	Virginia Military	28.1	45 ((Virginia Intermont)	9 (Army)
2008	Reggie Williams	Virginia Military	27.8	43 (Southern Virginia)	10 (Richmond)
2009	Stephen Curry	Davidson	28.6	44 (Oklahoma/North Carolina State)	0 (Loyola MD)
2010	Aubrey Coleman	Houston	25.6	38 (Tulane)	10 (Texas-San Antonio)
2011	Jimmer Fredette	Brigham Young	28.9	52 (New Mexico)	13 (Creighton/Fresno Pacific)
2012	Reggie Hamilton	Oakland	26.2	41 (Valparaiso)	11 (Arkansas)
2013	Erick Green	Virginia Tech	25.0	35 (Virginia/Wake Forest)	12 (Brigham Young)
2014	Doug McDermott	Creighton	26.7	45 (Providence)	7 (George Washington)
2015	Tyler Harvey	Eastern Washington	23.1	42 (Idaho)	9 (Sacramento State)
2016	James Daniel III	Howard University	27.1	39 (William & Mary)	15 (Norfolk State)
2017	Marcus Keene	Central Michigan	30.0	50 (Miami OH)	12 (Miami OH)
2018	Trae Young	Oklahoma	27.4	48 (Oklahoma State)	11 (Kansas)
2019	Chris Clemons	Campbell	30.1	48 (Hampton)	14 (Hampton)
2020	Markus Howard	Marquette	27.8	51 (Southern California)	6 (Maryland)
2021	Max Abmas	Oral Roberts	24.5	41 (Western Illinois)	8 (Southwestern Christian)
2022	Peter Kiss	Bryant	25.2	37 (Sacred Heart)	9 (Houston)
2023	Antoine Davis	Detroit	28.2	42 (IUPUI/Milwaukee)	14 (Oakland)

NOTE: Leaders are unofficial from 1935-36 through 1946-47.

College Exam: Day #11 For One-and-Only NCAA Tournament Trivia Challenge

March 22nd, 2023 - 8:46

Unless you're still busy hoarding toilet paper to wipe woeful New York AG Alvin Bragg's butt, wondering how many translators are required for world leaders to try to understand Plagiarist Biledumb or cowering in fetal position from college basketball version of Orson Welles' War of the Worlds, it's your opportunity to start taking online tests for 23 quarantined days symbolic of normal time frame from Selection Sunday to Monday evening championship contest.

We need something to occupy our minds during quarantine from much of the invective-infected #MessMedia. Emphasizing a "one-and-only" theme for a "one-and-only" event, here is Day 11 of a treasure-trove of tantalizing NCAA Tournament trivia questions from CollegeHoopedia.com tracking the only coach, conference, player or school to be linked to a distinguished or dubious achievement (click here for answers or conduct research digesting historical morsels in CollegeHoopedia.com's year-by-year highlights):

1. Who is the only one of the 60 or so two-time consensus first-team All-Americans since 1946 never to participate in the NCAA Tournament or the NIT? Hint: His school was a total of 10 games over .500 in Big Ten Conference competition in his junior and senior seasons. He never played on a team to win playoff series in his nine-year NBA career.

2. Who is the only player to score more than 20,000 pro points yet never reach the conference finals in the NBA playoffs after playing at least two seasons of varsity basketball at a major college and never participating in the NCAA Division I playoffs? Hint: The college he attended made its NCAA Tournament debut the first year after he left school early to become third pick overall in NBA draft.

3. Who is the only coach since the tourney field expanded to at least 48 teams to take two different universities to the playoffs when the schools appeared in the tournament for the first time? Hint: His last name begins with a "F" and he no longer is Division I head coach.

4. Name the only school with a losing record to secure an automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs by winning a regular-season conference title. Hint: The league started a postseason tournament two years later and the school in question has lost all six times it reached conference tourney championship game.

5. Name the only major university to have two graduates score more than 17,000 points in the NBA after playing at least three varsity seasons in college and failing to appear in the NCAA Tournament. Hint: The school has had three other players score more than 10,000 points in the NBA after never appearing in NCAA playoffs.

6. Name the only former titlist to have an all-time playoff record 10 games below the .500 mark. Hint: Longtime network broadcaster Curt Gowdy played in the tournament for the school.

7. Name the only state with three schools to compile tournament records at least nine games below .500. Hint: The three institutions from same state are members of different conferences.

8. Who was the only player shorter than Bobby Hurley, Duke's 6-0 guard, to play for a championship team and be selected as the Final Four Most Outstanding Player? Hint: There was another Final Four MOP who was also shorter than 6-0, but he played for a national third-place finisher in the mid-1950s.

9. Who is the only individual to play in an NCAA Tournament championship game and later coach his alma mater to a final? Hint: He served as an assistant to the coach with the most NCAA playoff victories and a college teammate is one of the winningest coaches of all time.

10. Name the only one of the schools with multiple national titles to have two teams participate in the NCAA playoffs as defending champions but lose their opening-round game. Hint: Both of the opening-round setbacks for the school when it was defending champion occurred in East Regional.

Answers (Day 11)

Playing Race Card: Timme Among 8 Caucasian A-As for Zags This Century

March 21st, 2023 - 15:00

Since MJ couldn't handle him one-and-one, heaven knows how Daddy Ball Game would treat average white player. If not a generous dose of humility, "Slow" Hoops Daddy Lavar Ball probably needs a history lesson. The hoop lowdown might not rise to the level of aggressive African-American commentary on Donald Trump or previous POTUS #AudacityofHype lecturing Christians rather than unprincipled marauders. Nonetheless, it could be time to proclaim white players matter after Gonzaga supplied two white NCAA consensus All-Americans. Many white-privilege provocateurs, who should seek reparations of their own for being exposed to race hustlers such as "Not So" Sharpton clamoring for "R-E-S-P-I-C-T," seem to care as much about the basketball topic, however, as far-left zealots are outraged about Muslim terrorists murdering saints and believers. Perhaps they should dwell a mite more on how in hell giving $1,400 to jailed prisoner helped with COVID-19 relief.

A milestone didn't trigger White History Month during the previous decade, but 2013 marked the first time in 34 years at least half of the list of NCAA consensus first- and second-team All-Americans were white players. From 1980 through 2012, less than one-fifth of the NCAA consensus first- and second-team All-Americans were Caucasian. Struggling as much as Marxist BLM founder purchasing luxury homes in white neighborhoods, Plagiarist Biledumb ascending Stair Farce One, #MSLSD's "Resist We Much" RevAl and #JoylessReid plus confused Congresswoman #(Mad)Maxine Waters may consider this repulsive racist research. However, they probably should be more concerned about paying fair share of taxes on filing deadline day, candor about hacked computer and concocting conspiratorial claptrap more worthy of April Fool's Day about CIA planting drugs in the hood.

All of America needs more critical thinking than critical race theory. Unless there are some closet Rachel Dolezals in the identity mix or Jussie Smollett's air-head attorney is accurate about an outbreak of white-face escapades, Gonzaga (Dan Dickau, Blake Stepp, Adam Morrison, Kelly Olynyk, Kyle Wiltjer, Corey Kispert, Drew Timme and Chet Holmgren) was alone boasting the most white consensus All-Americans thus far in 21st Century with eight. It might be accurate-but-unacceptable information to cancel-culture leftists indoctrinating students in public schools with critical race theory, but the Zags in each of the last two seasons are the first school to feature a set of white consensus All-Americans in same season since Missouri's Steve Stipanovich and Jon Sundvold in 1982-83.

It might not reign purple important as a photograph of Prince in a junior high basketball uniform to African-American Studies majors but we could be in the midst of a modest resurgence for the white player represented each year thus far this century. After all, Duke was the nation's only school to supply a white first-team All-American in a nine-year span from 1987-88 through 1995-96 (Danny Ferry in 1989, Christian Laettner in 1992 and Bobby Hurley in 1993). For those monitoring such identity demographics or who might be a dues-paying member of an alternative version of NAACP (National Association for Advancement of Caucasian Players), following is a list of white NCAA consensus first- and second-team All-Americans since Indiana State's Larry Bird was unanimous national player of the year in 1979:

Year	Ratio	White NCAA Consensus All-Americans
1979	6 of 12	Indiana State's Larry Bird (1st), Duke's Mike Gminski (1st), North Carolina's Mike O'Koren (2nd), Dayton's Jim Paxson (2nd), Duke's Jim Spanarkel (2nd) and Notre Dame's Kelly Tripucka (2nd)
1980	3 of 10	Duke's Mike Gminski (2nd), Kentucky's Kyle Macy (1st) and North Carolina's Mike O'Koren (2nd)
1981	4 of 11	Brigham Young's Danny Ainge (1st), Virginia's Jeff Lamp (2nd), Notre Dame's Kelly Tripucka (2nd) and Utah's Danny Vranes (2nd)
1982	1 of 10	Notre Dame's John Paxson (2nd)
1983	4 of 14	Notre Dame's John Paxson (2nd), Missouri's Steve Stipanovich (2nd), Missouri's Jon Sundvold (2nd) and Indiana's Randy Wittman (2nd)
1984	2 of 11	Brigham Young's Devin Durrant (2nd) and St. John's Chris Mullin (2nd)
1985	3 of 11	Southern Methodist's Jon Koncak (2nd), St. John's Chris Mullin (1st) and Georgia Tech's Mark Price (2nd)
1986	2 of 11	Indiana's Steve Alford (1st) and Michigan State's Scott Skiles (2nd)
1987	1 of 10	Indiana's Steve Alford (1st)
1988	2 of 11	Duke's Danny Ferry (2nd) and Brigham Young's Michael Smith (2nd)
1989	2 of 11	Duke's Danny Ferry (1st) and Stanford's Todd Lichti (2nd)
1990	0 of 12
1991	1 of 10	Duke's Christian Laettner (2nd)
1992	2 of 10	Duke's Christian Laettner (1st) and UCLA's Don MacLean (2nd)
1993	3 of 12	Duke's Bobby Hurley Jr. (1st), Vanderbilt's Billy McCaffrey (2nd) and North Carolina's Eric Montross (2nd)
1994	1 of 11	North Carolina's Eric Montross (2nd)
1995	0 of 10
1996	1 of 11	Utah's Keith Van Horn (2nd)
1997	2 of 10	Kansas' Raef LaFrentz (1st) and Utah's Keith Van Horn (1st)
1998	2 of 10	Notre Dame's Pat Garrity (2nd) and Kansas' Raef LaFrentz (1st)
1999	2 of 10	Northwestern's Evan Eschmeyer (2nd) and Miami of Ohio's Wally Szczerbiak (2nd)
2000	2 of 12	Texas' Chris Mihm (1st) and Notre Dame's Troy Murphy (1st)
2001	3 of 10	Villanova's Michael Bradley (2nd), Stanford's Casey Jacobsen (1st) and Notre Dame's Troy Murphy (1st)
2002	3 of 10	Gonzaga's Dan Dickau (1st), Duke's Mike Dunleavy (2nd) and Stanford's Casey Jacobsen (2nd)
2003	2 of 10	Kansas' Nick Collison (1st) and Creighton's Kyle Korver (2nd)
2004	2 of 10	Oregon's Luke Jackson (2nd) and Gonzaga's Blake Stepp (2nd)
2005	2 of 11	Utah's Andrew Bogut (1st) and Duke's J.J. Redick (1st)
2006	3 of 12	North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough (2nd), Gonzaga's Adam Morrison (1st) and Duke's J.J. Redick (1st)
2007	2 of 10	Nevada's Nick Fazekas (2nd) and North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough (1st)
2008	3 of 11	North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough (1st), Notre Dame's Luke Harangody (2nd) and UCLA's Kevin Love (1st)
2009	2 of 11	North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough (1st) and Notre Dame's Luke Harangody (2nd)
2010	3 of 11	Kansas' Cole Aldrich (2nd), Notre Dame's Luke Harangody (2nd) and Duke's Jon Scheyer (2nd)
2011	2 of 11	Brigham Young's Jimmer Fredette (1st) and Notre Dame's Ben Hansbrough (2nd)
2012	2 of 10	Creighton's Doug McDermott (1st) and North Carolina's Tyler Zeller (2nd)
2013	5 of 10	Creighton's Doug McDermott (1st), Gonzaga's Kelly Olynyk (1st), Duke's Mason Plumlee (2nd), Kansas' Jeff Withey (2nd) and Indiana's Cody Zeller (2nd)
2014	2 of 11	Creighton's Doug McDermott (1st) and Michigan's Nik Stauskas (2nd)
2015	3 of 11	Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky (1st), Northern Iowa's Seth Tuttle (2nd) and Gonzaga's Kyle Wiltjer (2nd)
2016	2 of 11	Utah's Jakob Poeltl (2nd) and Iowa's Jarrod Uthoff (2nd).
2017	1 of 10	Duke's Luke Kennard (2nd).
2018	1 of 11	Saint Mary's Jock Landale (2nd).
2019	1 of 10	Wisconsin's Ethan Happ (2nd).
2020	2 of 10	Iowa's Luka Garza (1st) and Oregon's Payton Pritchard (1st).
2021	4 of 10	Iowa's Luka Garza (1st), Gonzaga's Corey Kispert (1st), Michigan's Hunter Dickinson (2nd) and Gonzaga's Drew Timme (2nd).
2022	2 of 11	Gonzaga's Chet Holmgren (2nd) and Drew Timme (2nd).
2023	3 of 10	Purdue's Zach Edey (1st), Gonzaga's Drew Timme (1st) and Arizona's Azuolas Tubelis (2nd)

Lords of No Rings: Purdue's Keady & Painter on Luminary List of Zero Final 4s

March 21st, 2023 - 11:15

The Final Four missing-in-action microscope in recent years has focused on a pair of pilots from Indiana universities - Notre Dame's Mike Brey and Purdue's Matt Painter - as the most prominent active power-league coaches participating in more than a dozen tourneys never to reach the national semifinals. Brey and Painter are in same AWOL category with all-time greats John Chaney, Fran Dunphy, Lefty Driesell, Gene Keady and Norm Stewart - retired luminaries failing to advance to the national semifinals in a total of 81 NCAA Tournaments before Dunphy returned to coaching ranks at his alma mater (La Salle). "It's so difficult not being able to make that final step," said Chaney, who lost five regional finals with Temple.

Driesell made 11 NCAA playoff appearances with Davidson and Maryland from 1966 through 1986. "I always wanted to get to the Final Four, but not as much as some people think," said Driesell, who lost four regional finals. "I'm not obsessed with it."

Only four schools - North Carolina, Duke, Georgetown and Syracuse - supplied more NCAA consensus first- and second-team All-Americans from 1982 through 1992 than Stewart-coached Missouri (seven). It was particularly frustrating for Mizzou fans when the Tigers compiled a 4-8 NCAA tourney worksheet in that span.

Some mentors never will receive the accolades they deserve because of failing to reach the Promised Land. Exhibit A is Purdue, where Keady and Painter have combined for 32 NCAA tourney appearances without advancing to national semifinals. There were 100,000 reasons Sean Miller joined this dubious list after dismal first-round loss against Buffalo in 2018 despite bringing freshman phenom Deandre Ayton to Arizona in some form or fashion (cause or no cause). Miller needed a safe space on campus to curl up in fetal position stemming from eventual fallout from FBI probe prior to returning to Xavier, but the following "Generation Hex" list includes prominent coaches without a Final Four berth on their resume despite more than 10 NCAA Tournament appearances:

Coach	NCAA Tourneys	Playoff Record (Pct.)	Closest to Reaching Final Four
Gene Keady	18	19-18 (.514)	regional runner-up with Purdue in 1994 and 2000
John Chaney	17	23-17 (.575)	regional runner-up with Temple five times (1988-91-93-99-01)
Fran Dunphy	17	3-17 (.150)	won three opening-round games with Penn and Temple (1994, 2011 and 2013)
Norm Stewart	16	12-16 (.429)	regional runner-up with Missouri in 1976 and 1994
Mike Brey	15	15-15 (.500)	regional runner-up with Notre Dame in 2015 and 2016
Matt Painter	14	17-15 (.531)	regional runner-up with Purdue in 2019
Jamie Dixon	13	14-13 (.519)	regional runner-up with Pittsburgh in 2009
Lefty Driesell	13	16-14 (.533)	regional runner-up four times with Davidson and Maryland (1968-69-73-75)
Steve Alford	12	11-12 (.478)	Sweet 16 on four occasions (once with Southwest Missouri State and three times with UCLA)
Sean Miller	12	21-12 (.636)	four regional final losses (with Arizona previous decade)
Dave Bliss	11	8-11 (.421)	regional semifinals with Oklahoma in 1979
Pete Carril	11	4-11 (.267)	won two games with Princeton in 1983
Gale Catlett	11	7-11 (.389)	regional semifinals with West Virginia in 1998
Tom Davis	11	18-11 (.621)	regional runner-up with Boston College in 1982 and Iowa in 1987
Mark Gottfried	11	10-11 (.476)	regional runner-up with Alabama in 2004
Tom Penders	11	12-11 (.522)	regional runner-up with Texas in 1990

College Exam: Day #10 For One-and-Only NCAA Tournament Trivia Challenge

March 21st, 2023 - 8:30

Unless you're busy hoarding toilet paper to wipe butt of dimwit New York AG Alvin Bragg, wondering if Plagiarist Biledumb is male version of bike-riding witch stealing Toto in Wizard of Oz or cowering in fetal position from college basketball version of Orson Welles' War of the Worlds, it's your opportunity to start taking online tests for 23 quarantined days symbolic of normal time frame from Selection Sunday to Monday evening championship contest.

We need something to occupy our minds during quarantine from much of the invective-infected #MessMedia. Emphasizing a "one-and-only" theme for a "one-and-only" event, here is Day 10 of a treasure-trove of tantalizing NCAA Tournament trivia questions from CollegeHoopedia.com tracking the only coach, conference, player or school to be linked to a distinguished or dubious achievement (click here for answers or conduct research digesting historical morsels in CollegeHoopedia's year-by-year highlights):

1. Who is the only All-American to coach three different schools in the NCAA playoffs? Hint: He was the leading scorer for an NCAA champion.

2. Who is the only coach to take three different schools to a regional final in a 10-year span? Hint: He is the only individual to meet two different schools in the playoffs he had previously coached to the Final Four. He had a chance to become the first coach to guide three different universities to national semifinals, but retired and turned reins over to his son.

3. Who is the only seven-foot player to lead a Final Four in scoring and win a conference high jump title in the same year? Hint: He is the only player to lead the NBA in rebounds and assists in same season.

4. Of the total of 10 different teams in the 1980s to defeat a school twice in a season the opponent eventually won the national title, name the only one of the 10 to fail to win its NCAA Tournament opener. Hint: The team had the misfortune of opening playoffs on home court of its opponent.

5. Of the Final Four teams in the last several decades to have standouts whose high school coach was reunited with a star player as a college assistant, name the only school to win a national championship. Hint: The high school coach who tagged along with his prep All-American as a college assistant was also first minority player to play for his alma mater.

6. Who is the only coach to take a team more than two games below .500 one season to the national title the next year? Hint: He is the only championship team coach to finish his college career with a losing record. He is also the only major-college coach to stay at a school at least 25 seasons and finish with a losing career record at that institution.

7. Who is the only coach to reach the national semifinals of the NCAA Tournament and NIT at least five times apiece? Hint: Of the coaches to win basketball championships at every major level (the NCAA, NIT and Summer Olympics), he is the only one to capture the "Triple Crown" in a span of less than 10 years.

8. Of the players to score more than 225 points in the playoffs and/or average in excess of 25 points per tournament game (minimum of six games), who is the only individual to score more than 22 points in every postseason contest? Hint: He is the only player from group to have a single-digit differential between his highest-scoring game and his lowest-scoring game.

9. Who is the only one of the first 20 players to accumulate at least 235 points in NCAA playoff competition to fail to score at least 25 points in a tournament game? Hint: He is the only one of the more recent Most Outstanding Players to score fewer than 28 points in two Final Four games and his highest-scoring playoff performance couldn't avert a defeat in the only one of his four years he didn't participate in Final Four.

10. Among the all-time leading scorers in NCAA Tournament history, who is the only player in this group to go scoreless in a playoff game? Hint: He scored less than 10 points in six consecutive tournament games before averaging 20 points per game in his last 11 playoff outings.

Answers (Day 10)