Month: April 2024

Image Courtesy: Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Arkansas officially announced John Calipari as its new head basketball coach on Tuesday. After Eric Musselman left Fayetteville for USC, the Razorbacks’ first basketball coaching search in five years took longer than expected after Ole Miss’ Chris Beard said no to Razorback athletic director Hunter Yurachek. Many people close the program expected Musselman, a San Diego native, to leave if a job opened up in California at some point during his tenure, they just did not know when. Musselman led the Razorbacks to three second weekend appearances in the NCAA Tournament which included back to back Elite 8 appearances in 2021 and 2022 before a Sweet 16 appearance in 2023 during. Three straight second weekend appearances in the NCAA Tournament made Razorback fans very happy and when Musselman took the USC job last week, Razorback fans were disappointed. 2021 was the first year the Razorbacks were back in the second weekend since Nolan Richardson took them to the Sweet 16 in 1996.

Kansas State’s Jerome Tang, Mississippi State’s Chris Jans, and Little Rock’s (and Razorback basketball legend) Darrell Walker were involved in the search. Razorback fans all around the state were so mad. They said things like “Yurachek can’t close a deal and he needs to be fired” and “Our NIL stinks”, but then the AD delivered. Sunday night, FOX16’s Wess Moore was the first to announce that Arkansas had “zeroed in” on polarizing figure in college basketball, John Calipari. Calipari’s success dates back many years, first with UMass, then with Memphis, and most recently in the last fifteen seasons at Kentucky. Calipari led the minutemen to a Final Four in 1996, the tigers to one in 2008 before taking Kentucky four times in 2011, 2012 (won his only national championship), 2014, and 2015. After his last Final Four appearance with the wildcats, his team only appeared in the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament twice, when they made the Elite 8 in both 2017 and 2019. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the “One and Done” era that Calipari first created when he arrived in Lexington has not worked with the transfer portal and NIL making college basketball rosters better overall throughout the country. During that time, Kentucky has only made it to the Round of 32 once, in 2023, when they lost to Kansas State and lost opening round games to fifteen seed Saint Peter’s (2022) and Oakland (2024).

Now that his hiring is finally official, will the new opportunity in Fayetteville allow Coach Calipari to reinvent himself with the big NIL package he is getting from his old friend John Tyson? Will he begin to make transfers in his program like Oscar Tshiebwe and Antonio Reeves become more of a mainstay in his program, this time at a different program in the SEC at Arkansas? We will sure find out the answer to all of these questions as he fills out his roster this off-season and when basketball gets going again in November.

Image Courtesy: Chattanooga Times Free Press

April 6
1.Purdue (33-4) vs. 11.North Carolina State (26-14)
State Farm Stadium (Glendale)
6:09 PM ET, TBS
After becoming the second one seed upset to be upset by a sixteen seed (Fairleigh Dickinson), Purdue is now on the road repeat the run Virginia made in 2019 after suffering the first loss to a sixteen seed in the 2018 Round of 64 to 16.UMBC. Two more wins are required for the Boilermakers to match what the Cavaliers did just five short years ago. The Boilermakers were able to rely on their reigning national player of the year, Zach Edey (40 points, 16 rebounds, and 1 block) to defeat 2.Tennessee in the Midwest Regional final in Detroit. Purdue guards Fletcher Loyer (14 points and 4 assists), Braden Smith (9 points, 7 assists, and 7 rebounds) and Lance Jones (7 points and 4 rebounds) helped their head coach Matt Painter appear in his first Final Four in his career. Their opponent will be NC State, the eleven seed that has won nine elimination games since finishing the regular season at a mediocre 17-14 record. The Wolfpack will appear in their first Final Four since 1983, when they ended up cutting down the nets with the late, great Jim Valvano as head coach. The Wolfpack won the ACC tournament in Washington DC after beating Louisville in the first round, Syracuse in the second round, Duke in the quarterfinals, Virginia in the semifinals, and North Carolina in the finals to lock up the automatic bid out of the ACC into the NCAA Tournament, a bid they would not have received without winning five consecutive games. NC State head coach Kevin Keatts was on the hot seat before his team’s run but because of winning the ACC tournament title, he received a two year extension. Following this high for Keatts’ and his team, the Wolfpack then defeated six seed Texas Tech to open the NCAA Tournament before advancing to the Sweet 16 by defeating tournament Cinderella 14.Oakland who had just upset Kentucky. NC State’s defense helped them upset 2.Marquette in the South Regional Semifinals. The win over the Golden Eagles helped set up a rubber match with instate rival, 4.Duke, in the Elite Eight. Wolfpack star DJ Burns continued his terrific run in the NCAA Tournament, dropping 29 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks in the win over the Blue Devils. Burns gets some help from Wolfpack guard DJ Horne, who scored 20 points in their second win over the Blue Devils this season. The match up between Zach Edey and DJ Burns will be must see TV in the first Final Four match up of 2024 in Glendale. Tennessee allowed Zach Edey to play one on one and that did not work. Will Kevin Keatts’ team use a different strategy? Will they throw forward Mohamed Diarra in addition to Burns at Edey or help with guards like Horne, Michael O’Connell, and Casey Morsell? How NC State defends Edey will determine this game. If they cannot limit him, the Boilermakers will definitely come out victorious. The Wolfpack cannot have any offensive lapses if Edey gets going offensively. I think Purdue wins but NC State will keep it close. Projected Score: Purdue 84, NC State 76

1.Connecticut (35-3) vs. 4.Alabama (25-11)
State Farm Stadium (Glendale)
8:49 PM ET, TBS
Alabama was not expected to get to Glendale. Nate Oats’ lost all three of his assistants to head coaching jobs following last season, which included being the top overall seed in the NCAA tournament and a Sweet 16 appearance, the farthest he had led the Crimson Tide up to that point. Oats retooled his team with returnees, including All-SEC First Team point guard Mark Sears (23 points against 6.Clemson in the Elite Eight) and Nick Pringle (16 points), transfers like Grant Nelson (24 points, 12 points, and 5 blocks in Sweet 16 win over 1.North Carolina) and Aaron Estrada (10 points against Clemson), and freshmen Rylan Griffen (19 points against North Carolina) and Jarin Stevenson (19 points against Clemson) among others. Not much was expected from Alabama during the 2023-2024 season but they were in position to win the SEC regular season title in early March before falling to the eventual champions, Tennessee who joined the Crimson Tide as SEC teams in the Elite Eight. The Crimson Tide avoided upsets against 13.Charleston in the Round of 64 and 12.James Madison in the Round of 32 before upsetting 1.North Carolina in the first West Regional Semifinal. Then, Alabama avenged a loss to Clemson they took in the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge back in the first half of the season. The Crimson Tide started out 1/13 shooting the three before exploding like they did against North Carolina in the previous round, finishing 16-36 from range. 1.Connecticut has been one of the three best teams in the country all season long as they look to become the first back to back national champions since Florida in 2006 and 2007. The Huskies have only lost two games since December 20 (Seton Hall in their Big East opener on 12/20 and Creighton three months later on 2/20 on the road in Omaha). Point guard Tristen Newton (17 points and 4 assists against 5.San Diego State in the Sweet 16), wing Cam Spencer (18 points), and guard Stephon Castle (16 points), wing Alex Karaban (8 points and 7 rebounds), and big man Donovan Clingan (22 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 blocks against 3.Illinois in the Elite Eight) make up a balanced roster in Storrs. They have been the most dominant team in this tournament for the second consecutive postseason, leading against all four opponents they have faced in the NCAA Tournament so far by at least thirty points. The Huskies dominated every opponent they have faced in the tournament including 16.Stetson (Round of 64), 9.Northwestern (Round of 32), 5.San Diego State (Sweet 16, National Championship rematch), and 3.Illinois (Elite Eight). The Huskies went on a 30-0 run against the Fighting Illini, who have one of the best offenses in the country. The respect I have for head coach Dan Hurley to put together a defense that can stop an offensive like Illinois to sustain a 30-0 run is as impressive as anything this UConn team has done during their impressive two year run. The Huskies have won every tournament game they have played in the last two years by double digits. That will not change on Saturday night. Alabama’s defense has been better in the tournament but this UConn team is a buzzsaw. The Huskies will move a step closer to back to back national championships. Projected Score: Connecticut 85, Alabama 71