News you might have missed

Griffin Lentsch is a name unfamiliar to most of us, I know it was for me. The same might be true for Grinnell College in Iowa, it's an NCAA Division III school. The national spotlight rarely shines on Division III schools, academics rather than than sports at Grinnell.  Last Saturday the school made the news for it's basketball program. 6-4 shooting guard Lentsch set an all-time Division III record as he scored 89 points, yes that was no typo Lentsch scored 89 points. Grinnell trounced it's opponent Principia College (Ill) 145-97. As for records the 89 points scored is the third highest point total by any player in NCAA history.

Big XII versus SEC

The discussion/argument with my friend last week. I conceded this point to her, SEC football is more competitive. At this point I will not speculate as to Mizzou's football future. The basketball, well that's a different matter I really believe Mizzou can compete! Hanging over SEC basketball is the specter of Kentucky and Florida. Both Calipari at Kentucky and Donovan at Florida are coaches who almost always turn out winning programs, as for the other schools that's a slightly different story. Kentucky and Florida can be beaten, it's going to be difficult but possible. As for the other SEC schools everything being equal Mizzou can compete and eclipse Vanderbilt, Alabama, Arkansas and the other schools.

Amazing

There are a significant number of folks who hate Duke basketball and especially Coach Mike Krzyzewski. I happen to not be in that number, I've always admired him and his program because both have been successful. Last week I was witness (via ESPN) when Coach K broke Bobby Knight's all-time record for wins. His record stands at 903-283 a .760 winning percentage. His teams have won four NCAA Tournament Championships, 1991, 1992, 2001 and 2010. A lofty resume but it didn't begin in a promising manner. After win 903 and during the postgame ESPN's Hubert Davis made a statement of note, the road for Coach K didn't begin very smoothly. He was 38-47 his first three years at Duke, wonder how many coaches today would have a job with those kind of numbers? (stats, Wikipedia)

The excuses begin

You've heard this before, "we had a moral victory" or "we played pretty good, we played the number two team in the nation!" These and other excuses were echoed after the Kentucky Wildcats took it to the Jayhawks of Kansas. I don't buy excuses even for my Tigers, you lose you lose it's that simple. KU played pretty well against Kentucky especially the first half they just didn't have the horses to hang with the Wildcats. For the first time in a number of years we are beginning to hear a smattering number of Bill Self complaints, not his coaching but his recruiting efforts. KU has lost several high profile recruits they hoped to sign for 2012, guess what KU nation the sky is not falling. An article in the Kansas City Star and 810 Sports radio discussion revolved around Bill Self's recruiting. I'm unsure why I'm writing this but KU basketball is okay, this might be a down year but it is not the end of the world. The biggest problem Jayhawk nation is spoiled rotten they expect to win every time their team walks onto the court!

Interesting

Recently Harvard University landed power forward Agunwa Okolie. Keep in mind this is the same university that sent Jeremy Lin to the NBA. I am not saying this is Okolie's first step toward the NBA, Harvard will not compete with Kentucky or Carolina for recruits. As for Okolie he is a 6-8 power forward from Ontario Canada, ESPN Recruiting rates him a 3-star recruit. In addition his name shows up on several other recruiting websites, Okolie is not a typical athlete headed to Harvard he's a scholar too.   

"It's difficult at times but try to not fall in love with the sound of your voice."
Larry Laker