The stage is set for the sweet sixteen in the Midwest Louisville  faces Arizona and Michigan State plays Kansas.  In the East it’s Pitt vs Xavier and  Villanova vs Duke.  In the West it’s Connecticut vs Purdue and Missouri vs Memphis. In the South North Carolina plays Gonzaga and Syracuse plays Oklahoma.  The Big East has five teams in the sweet sixteen.  So the stage is set and it appears to be an interesting field. At this point  any team can beat another on any given night.

All bets are off of who will prevail at this point  the fortunate will hold up the trophy, that is  the team that make  less mistake, takes care of the ball to limit turnovers, hit all their free throws and shoot for a decent percentage from the floor while getting on the offensive and defensive glass.  The team that capilizes of the other teams mistakes, will more than likely advance.

Being an East Tennessee State University graduate I have to say the their performance against  Pittsburgh was excellent. Consider both teams shot under 40% for the game and committed numerous turnovers this was without a doubt one of the most interesting and hard fought games of the tournament. The score does not give justice to East Tennessee’s effort to become the first number 16 seed to win over a  number  1 seed in the history of the tournament. The final score was Pitt 72-62.

The game was in doubt  all the way to the 1:50 mark.   East Tennessee, a small college located in the Hills of Northeast Tennessee gave the Panthers all they could want before pulling away for the win.

Pitt will need to play  much better if it expect to advance  to the title game.

Western Kentucky has a superb team. To me they are the sleeper in this NCAA tournament. Western has an up tempo game with shooters who are solid. They also play in your face defense and they are quick. The have one player Mendez-Valdez who can literally light it up from downtown. They are not shy about putting up the “trey” and they are currently giving Illinois all they can handle in the first round of the South regional.

This is not entirely a surprise as Western took Louisville to the woodshed early in the season and handed the Cardinals an embarrassing defeat. From the looks of things with 3:39 left in the first half, Western may give Illinois unexpected defeat. At the half Western led Illinois 37-28.

In the end Western Kentucky won the game 76-72

Rick Pitino’s mission was to win the Big East Tournament Championship when the Cardinals joined the Big East in 2004-2005 season. It was a lofty goal for the Cards and Pitino who had just left Conference USA. It was also a step up. The Cards made the lift finally in the fourth year of conference affiliation in the Big East. Not only did they win the regular season championship, but they also won the Big East Championship last night. Now the cards are on the verge of accomplishing still another milestone; a number on seed in the NCAA Championship. Even though many of the older Big East members do not think they deserve it, but the Cards in fact deserve it and earned it by winning both the regular season championship and the Big East Tournament Championship. Look for the Cards to make a strong run at the Final Four and if they get there possibly a national championship.

Colleges and universities are exploring new possiblities for sponsorships as an incremental revenue stream. Because of the faltering economy and the need to create new revenue streams this is seen as  a new opportunity for many in the athletic arena of higher education. College Athletics have long been a cash cow, but to continue to top year over year revenue is becoming increasingly difficult.

Here’s an interesting story of the NBA’s Michale Beasley. Insider say he is a head case and the Pat Riley will have his work cut out for him. Check out the link below.

http://www.examiner.com/x-426-Sports-Examiner

Rick Barnes is on our radar screen as a big-time recruiter and a developer of NBA players- check out the results over the last few years.

With the Selection of D.J Augustine by the Charlotte Bobcats with the 9^th pick, Texas continues to attract top talent and NBA ready player. La Marcus Aldridge was selected with the number pick in 1996 by the Chicago Bulls. In 2006 P.J. Tucker was selected 35th overall pick by Toronto and Daniel Gibson 42nd overall pick by Cleveland. In 2007 Kevin Durant was selected number 2 in the NBA draft by the Seattle Sonics. Durant went on to win the NBA Rookie of the Year honors. PJ. Ford was the No. 8 pick by Milwaukee in the 2003 Draft. Barnes has produced four NBA Lottery Picks- Chris Mihm, T. J. Ford, LaMarcus Aldridge, DJ Augustine, and Kevin Durant.

So Barnes knows talent and has a knack for developing it. Barnes a North Carolina Native has guided Texas to nine straight NCAA tournament appearances. And eight straight 20 wins seasons- a school best. Barnes made coaching stops at George Mason, Providence College, Clemson and now Texas. He is a native of Hickory, North Carolina.. He served as an assistant coach at Alabama and Ohio State. Barnes overall coaching record is 418-220 over 20 years.

College coaches continue to make the big bucks. In addition to their huge contracts. Huge incentives, shoe contract, television shows, uniform contracts and incentives for winning. A Division I college coaching job is not at all a bad proposition.

College basketball is a big time business. Especially for the major Division I institutions where the rich just keep getting richer. The one and done athletes continually select the large top ten schools for their one year of college basketball sabbatical; someplace where they can get great exposure and raise their draft position.

It is winning a proposition for College coaches at the power Division I colleges, because not only do they have an excellent chance at going to the big dance; but they have a great shot at winning it all. To do so means an incentive bonus for the coach and a huge payday for them school.

To hire a well known coach is like hiring a marketing brand in itself like. Roy Williams, Bill Self, Ben Howland, Lute Olsen, Rick Pitino, John Calipari, all are big time coaches that are tremendous draws. The blue chip college athlete is more than likely to choose their school. What that means is usually a cash bonanza for both the coach and the school.

While the coach and the school make out the one and done blue chip athlete makes out even better. Where does it leave the other less talented players? They do get scholarships and a four year college education; if they take advantage of the opportunity. Lute Olsen after losing California High Schooler Brandon Jennings possibly to European Professional Basketball, has vowed that he will never again recruit one and done players. Olsen calls the rule that requires a high school player to not enter the NBA draft until they turn 19 years of age, a farce. Most elect to attend one year of college.

Many coaches don’t see it the same way as Olsen. Tim Floyd Head Coach at USC , who signed OJ Mayo to what turned into a one year contract, said his one year with Mayo did wonders for his program and for the school.

Tubby Smith says who wouldn’t want to coach the best talent available even if it is for one year.

But something is inherently wrong when colleges place so much emphasis on cash cow sports and not enough on making sure all students both athlete and non-athlete have a real chance in life, by making sure that they receive a college education.

The Cost of attending a four year college; both state and private has skyrocketed to the point, that the average student would be hard pressed to fund a college education and it would be harder for the parents as well. As it stands now colleges are in the middle of misguided rules set up by the NBA and it is affecting everyone; coaches, players and their families, and not to mention involving unscrupulous agents as soon as high school player hit the recruiting radar screen

Loose Balls- The short wild life of the American basketball Association is without a doubt my all

time favorite basketball book.

This is a book of interviews from the GM, Owners, coaches, and players who were a part of the ABA from it’s inception in 1967 to the last league championship game in 1975. The ABA was Showtime with a capitol “S” and it was also a proving ground for Innovative rules that are a lasting part NBA today of our game even today. The most famous rule carryover from the ABA is the three point shot. The NBA adopted this rule from the ABA and it has been a fixture in both the college game and the pro game for many years.

The ABA was a league of Mavericks and some of the games most notorious players, played in this league and they were characters. Let see there was, John Brisker, who became a mercenary in Africa, following his ABA career. He was killed in Africa, following this occupation. He was a tough, take no prisoner Forward. Then there were interesting characters like Marvin ‘Bad New” Barnes, the 6-9 Power forward from Providence, who in seventies terms was a player. He rarely practiced and it was no big deal for him to show up to a game with two ladies hanging on his arms. Barnes played for the Spirit of St. Louis.

Warren Jabali was the leagues bad guy, only a 6-2 guard, but he was tough as nails and intimidated nearly half the league until someone clocked him one day. These were the characters, the interesting stories, but there were some who could really play the Game George Mc Ginnis for one. He played one year for the Indiana Hoosiers, before turning pro with the Indiana Pacer, then part of the ABA. I w=once saw McGinnis score 51 points in a high school all-star game, he was a man among kids. McGinnis went onto team with Julius Ervin on Philadelphia in the NBA after the ABA folded.

Dan Issel, was a power forward from the University of Kentucky, who played under Adolph Rupp, without a doubt . Issel was a player and played for the Kentucky Colonels and the Denver Nuggets in the ABA. He was an all-star forward and after the league folded he remained with the Nuggets as part of four ABA franchises that switch to the NBA. The others were the Indiana Pacer, San Antonio Spurs and the New Jersey Nets. All four of the former ABA teams have prospered in the NBA as well. David Thompson made a name for himself in the ABA. The Skywalker was known for leaping out of buildings with his jumping ability, while playing along side, Dan Issel in Denver.

The most famous ABA player and an ambassador even now for the league is ABA alumnus, Julius Erving . It was in the ABA where the Legend of Doctor J was born. In the five season that Erving played in the ABA He averaged 28 points per game, pulled down an average of 12.1 rebounds and shot 50% from the field.. He won the League MVP award three times, sharing the final award with George McGinnis in 1975.

Erving was a magician on the floor, he could literally do things that no one ever dreamed possible. Doctor J gave us what was the most memorable dunk that was ever in the first ever ABA Slam Dunk Contest. By the way the ABA created what is now the NBA Slam-dunk contest. The NBA like the idea so much that they adopted it and it is now a huge attraction during All-star weekend. The ABA held it’s first Dunk contest in 1972 and Julius Irving won it with a full court take off from the top of the foul line dunk., at the time this dunk had never been done before. Many have done it since. But Doctor J is the original to first to ever do it. and I might add no one has top the where Erving took off from the foul line. His dunk remains the longest ever.

You must understand this was like seeing a man jump from a standing position on earth and land on the moon. It was unheard of for any basketball player to accomplish such a thing. But Erving did it. The NBA quickly adopted the NBA slam dunk contest to is a stellar event even today particularly the elaborate dunks that were so much a part of that league.

There were man other stars in the ABA like Indiana’s Roger Brown, Miami’s Mack Calvin, Charlotte’ Joe Caldwell, Wilt Chamberlain, briefly Coach for the San Diego franchise. Rich Mount, Louie Dampier and Artis Gilmore were big draws for the Kentucky Colonels. The ABA was a Showtime league, with great entertainment and great stars like Travis “Machine Gun” Grant, the former star of the Kentucky State, who could light it up from anywhere on the court. As could, World B. Free and Ron Boone.

Be sure to purchase a copy of the book Loose Balls, by Terry Pluto. It is a fabulous history of the American Basketball Association. If all else fails you can get a copy of the book at your local library.

om Crean will have Indiana basketball on the road to recovery in no time flat. He has recruited Indiana making him very familiar with the basketball landscape.

Crean is a proven winner and will bring the attitude of a winner to Assembly Hall. Crean comes to Indiana after fighting wars in Big East, which is one of the country’s tougher basketball conferences.

Marquette’s yearly battles with Louisville were legendary and they were battles where Crean competed fearlessly. He proved to be a great rival. Crean will be a winner in the Big Ten and He will bring Indiana Basketball back to the status enjoyed when Bobby knight worked the sidelines with his antics.

Crean is a different type of coach, but he fits the Hoosier style mystic that the state is known for. Crean recruited Dewayne Wade, so enough said about that. That is the type of coach and winner that he is. He recruits clean cut kids and kids who know how to win. Just like he returned Marquette basketball to elite status, he will do the same in Indiana.