Speechless

Unless you have been living under a rock that doesn't get ESPN you now know that GMU has beaten Witchita State for the 2nd time and beaten UConn to be the first true mid major team to advance to the Final Four. Sure other teams that are now midmajors have advanced to the Final Four or even won the title (like Indiana State and Texas Western and Charlotte) However this was before games were on national TV and there was such a huge disparity between athletic budgets. Things have changed since the 60's and the 70's but it appears that midmajordom has finally proven itself. Now it's only a matter of time before Delaware State advances. Look for Delaware State vs. Southern Final Four matchup in 2040. It should be a doozy.

Well our dirty little secret that we play some of the best basketball in the nation right here in Wilmington and Norfolk and Hempstead and Fairfax and so on and so forth has finally been uncovered by the national media. Hey we are better than one of the Final Four teams, and possibly others. How about that. Logically we are at least one of the top 3 teams in the country. How about that. Wish I could be in Indianapolis. But instead

CBS
6ish #3 Florida vs. #11 GMU
830ish #2 UCLA vs. #3 LSU
Saturday Evening.

Thank You Coach B

Note: I sent this letter to Coach B due to the various rumors that he may be moving onto another school due to his visits to Ball State and Wright State this week.

Dear Coach Brownell,

Before I begin I would like to congratulate you on the tremendous season that you guided our team to this year. I felt priviledged to watch this team play from the very first exhibition team. Every player on this team tried harder to make the team win than any other group I have ever seen on any team. The only complaint I have about this season was the lack of out of conference home games, but that's another issue. I have never seen a team that was easier to cheer for and that relates directly to the coaching staff. The players on the court define the individual game but without a top notch coaching staff a team could not have the type of season that they had this year. I hope you will pass this letter on to Coach Jones as well. I want him to know how much we appreciated having him at this school. And I and the rest of the students wish him the best of luck in Kansas City.

The last couple of days there has been numerous stories about you interviewing at Ball State University and Wright State University. I understand that you have to do what is best for you and your family and I applaud the fact that the success you have had here is making numerous oppurtunities open up for you. That makes me and everyone here happy to know that your work is being appreciated all over the country. However I hope that you would like to stay here in Wilmington and help us continue to build a successful basketball program that you have helped push into its prime.

You know better than I, as a UNCW student from the Triangle Area, how beautiful and great of a community Wilmington is. And you of course know how great of an institution UNCW is. You have been the face of this schol in the national media as this school and the CAA has burst onto the national scene. As you have stated many times before the rest of the country is just figuring out what we already knew. That UNCW has a great basketball program that plays in a great conference. And if I can find some solace in the First Round loss to George Washington it is that George Mason is in the Final Four. I know that I would just be preaching to the choir if I pointed out that we have a better team than they do. This run to the Final Four is of course great news for George Mason but it is also great news for UNCW as well as the rest of the CAA. Their tournament success is going to have far reaching implications in terms of national exposure, recruiting, and of course how much money we receive which is the biggest handicap for a mid major school and a mid major conference.

I can only hope that you will be around in the future to see exactly how far this program can go and I would like nothing more than to have you be the face of this program in the future. Becuase you have helped bring this program into the limelight and you deserve credit for it in the future. You have helped the conference and the rest of the country see what great, hard working, and classy basketball we play here at UNCW.

I can only hope that everything is being done by the administration to help you understand how important you are to this school. And I know for a fact that the students here appreciate just as much as the students that you coach. No matter what your decision is or how the chips fall in the future, I would just like to thank you for helping me increase my love of basketball and giving the students so much to cheer for. Even when the team has not been successful they have been easy to cheer for because of how well coached they are and how they play. This of course must be heavily influenced by you and your work ethic. I can assure you that if you did leave my biggest heart break in my basketball consciousness would be that. I know most fans would be just as heartbroken as you and the rest of the UNCW community were when Drew Nicholas' shot dropped and when Beckham Wyrick's shot did not.

But once again I would like to thank on behalf of the UNCW students for everything you have done for this school so far. And hopefully you will be here to share our future success with us. (We need to show George Mason and the rest of the country next year just who is the best team in this conference.)

Sincerly,
Terry Hobgood

See for Yourself

A-10's St. Josephs and Big 12's Nebraska know that Hofstra is for real.

MAAC's Manhattan and Big 12's Colorado know that ODU is for real.

They will play each other for the 3rd time tomorrow night at 7:00 on ESPN2 in NYC. (Not at The Garden but at Hofstra arena.)

Hofstra took the matchup in Norfolk easily and won the game in NYC on a buzzer beating 3. ODU is looking for revenge but Hofstra is still holding onto the 2nd longest home winning streak in the nation. This is turning into the biggest matchup for ODU besides VCU, and maybe GMU. So even though the bracket's are terrible making ODU and Hofstra meet in the round of 8 instead of the semi's or the championship, at least 1 will go. And we have a postseason matchup on national television between 2 conference opponents. Are you watching nation?

ACC's North Carolina and Big 10's Michigan State know that Mason is for real. They get a rematch with Witchita State in the Sweet 16. This time the game is on a "neutral" court in DC. All I know is that DC is a lot closer to Fairfax than it is to Witchita. At least 1 midmajor team will be in the Elite 8. Too bad they are meeting now, it would be interesting to have a shot at 3. Bradley plays Memphis so it could still be 2.

GMU's win helps UNCW. UNC winning would not have. Get that into your heads everybody. UNC would just have had another accomplishment to hang over our heads by winning. We are already deep enough under their shadow. GMU's wins help the CAA as whole. Credibilty, national exposure and $$$$$$$$$. UNCW gets a share of that money, this is a revenue sharing conference. Everyone gets a slice of the big payday that comes with getting to the tourney and the bigger one that comes with advancing. The conference is still getting a boost from our win over USC back in 2002. Mason has 2 wins this year plus we had 2 teams with bids. And we have the knowledge that we had GWU. We are better than Mason. We split regular season, they lost in the conference semi's after a poor quarterfinals showing. They had the marquee win, Hofstra and UNCW did not. Both teams needed the auto bid in the committee's eyes. UNCW dominated through every round and Hofstra beat Mason for the 2nd time in 10 days. Mason was the 3rd best team in this conference and they have proven themselves as one of the best 16 teams in the nation. If they win they will be one of the best 8 teams in the nation. Just remember we are better then them. They got the breaks in the tourney but we are better. They just got better results. We are better and they are on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Patriots vs. Shockers RD. 2 Friday night let's say 7:30ish.

..........

Still recovering. Can't make myself write about the game, or have the heart to do a season wrapup.

Congrats Mason. Take out the Heels tomorrow. Show them how we do things in the CAA.

Good job Hofstra. Take out St. Josephs in Philly.

Gary Williams remembered why he didn't scheduled midmajor teams. Because he got "embarassed" by Manhattan in College Park. ODU thanks you for the present. They get another senior day in Norfolk against Manhattan. If Hofstra and ODU both win they will meet in NYC for the round of 8 game.

Congrats to Bradley, Northwestern State, Witchita State, Montana, UW Milwaukee, and Bucknell (again).

Anything you would like to add Billy Packer?

I'm Trying

I'll try to get back to more updates soon. And hopefully not as sporadic and short. But for now a few things to ponder.

UNCW's path to the Sweet 16 will most likely run through a top 15 team and the #1 team. And that's with a 9 seed.

ODU knocked off Colorado in Boulder pretty easily tonight in the first round of the NIT. Hofstra plays Nebraska in NYC tomorrow.

Some thoughts from Pat Forde on Best and Worst Case Scenarios for UNCW:

UNC Wilmington
Best case: Smart, experienced, skilled Seahawks handle George Washington, then finally get a shot at Duke. Two-time Colonial Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Year John Goldsberry does what almost no one else can do: limits fatigued J.J. Redick to nightmare shooting game and UNC-W has the upset. School isn't just called off for a day; they cancel the rest of the semester and go to the beach.

Worst case: GW gets on the offensive glass and in the paint at will off the dribble, exploiting its athletic advantage to beat UNC-W in the first round. Students unilaterally take the rest of the semester off and go to the beach.

BTW Joe Lunardi is picking us to beat GWU and then to lose to Duke. So hopefully we can make at least half of that come true.

Tune in tomorrow on CBS at 7:10. And then at 9:40 to hopefully find out who our opponent will be.

Interesting

UNCW #9 vs. #8 George Washington? (#6 in the nation in the latest polls) And the game is in Greensboro. Top player for GWU is out. That adds to seed lowering. He better stay out. Or else that is complete crap to give us a 9 seed against a 26-2 team.

GMU #11 vs. #6 Michigan State. Not sure how Mason got in over Hofstra. But at least we got another in.

NIT

Hofstra and ODU in. Both with byes. ODU @ Colorado. Hofstra hosts Nebraska.

What a crazy night. More about all of this later. Including CAA tourney.

Lay Back and Relax

We're in. More later.

More fun stuff on espn.com:

Recap and highlights.

And another article from one of my new favorite espn.com columnists Pat Forde.

Even though the Hofstra students that I met at the tournament were complete morons who don't deserve to be happy I still hope they get in as well as GMU. I know at least one of them will. Let's hope for both.

Thank you espn.com

UNCW is in the finals. So is Hofstra. GMU is a lock for the tourney and out. I have a hard time believing the selection committee will give us 3 bids so we need to pull this out. Delaware really hurt our RPI.

But all is not lost. I get on espn.com this moring on the CAA is on the front page of the collge basketball webpage. They are saying we deserve 3. Let's Craig Littlepaige feels the same way.

Stories the on to Richmond:

Barea gets frustrated by Goldsberry again. Elbows him in the chin. Talks junk. Doesn't get tossed. He's not the Player of the Year for nothing.

Tony Skinn punches Loren Stokes below the belt (suprise, suprise). Skinn gone for next game on coaches orders instead of CAA or NCAA orders. I gain more respect for Jim Larranaga.

Espn.com

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Pat Forde:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=2355875

And also a story about Skinn's cheap shot:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2355822

Also this from espn.com page 2:

"PHYS. ED.

Redick and Morrison will both be starring in NBA video games soon. John Goldsberry will not be. All he wants is to get back to where he was three years ago. This is his last chance.

Goldsberry is a gutty player on both ends of the floor. (AP Photo/Scott K. Brown)On Friday night, March 21, 2003, the 11th-seeded UNC Wilmington Seahawks faced sixth-seeded Maryland, the defending national champions, in an NCAA first-round game in Nashville. I was there to cover it -- it was my first NCAA Tournament. And Wilmington was expected to give the Terps a good challenge, led by their star perimeter scorer, Brett Blizzard.

Well, Wilmington gave Maryland more than that. But Blizzard wasn't the star. Freshman guard John Goldsberry, who averaged 4.9 points per game that season, had the night of his life. He took eight 3-point shots. And he sank every last one of them -- an NCAA Tournament record. Thanks in large part to him, with five seconds left in the game, Wilmington led by one, 73-72.

Maryland had the ball -- the Terps had to go the length of the court. Drew Nicholas received the inbounds pass, started flying up court, and at the buzzer threw up a one-legged prayer from about 30 feet away. The shot went in, a miracle that made Maryland a winner, and Goldsberry's performance a footnote.
"I've thought about that game so many times," says Goldsberry. "It seems like yesterday."

Unfortunately, Goldsberry and his Seahawks have never been able to get back to the Dance. But this year, they have a good chance. UNC Wilmington is 22-7, and its 15-3 record in the Colonial Athletic Association gave the Seahawks a share of the CAA regular-season title along with George Mason. The Seahawks got the top seed in the CAA tournament via tiebreaker, so they'll play a quarterfinal game Saturday afternoon vs. either Delaware or Drexel. And they should receive strong at-large consideration if they lose in the conference tournament.

Unlike three years ago, Goldsberry comes in as the star of this team. The 6-foot-3 senior is the Seahawks' second-leading scorer at 11.4 points per game, while also averaging 4.9 assists and 4.0 rebounds. He also was last season's CAA defensive player of the year and will likely retain that title this year.
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"He doesn't wow you with his stats, but he's the toughest player I've ever coached," says UNC Wilmington coach Brad Brownell. "Floor burns, face burns, dislocated shoulders, beat-up ankles, bruised knees, broken fingers ... he plays every day like it's his last."

As a freshman, Goldsberry never dreamed that his first NCAA Tournament game might be his last. "I didn't know how hard it would be to get back," says Goldsberry. "It would mean a whole lot to get back there."
So if you're looking for an underdog to root for this Championship Week and beyond, then John Goldsberry just might be your man. He's already proven he can put on a good show in the Big Dance.
Maybe this time, he'll be the one to pull off a miracle."

Thank you once again.