This week the Dinger’s crew breaks down the series win vs the Buccos and takes a look at the Degens from Upcountry. Also the guys ask: who is Matt Duffy and can we get KB for MVP trending?
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There were some new digs for NY2LA’s annual Swish N’ Dish this past weekend. But so much remained the same.
There were some new digs for NY2LA’s annual Swish N’ Dish this past weekend. But so much remained the same.
For starters –– and this certainly needs to be mentioned during these covid/protocol times –– the event continues to be a well-run operation. When you compare NY2LA events to so many others, well, it’s simply hard to make comparisons when it comes to organization. These events are run so crisp and clean.
While the format was different, what also remained the same was the talent. This has always been the kickoff to the club basketball spring season.
Meanstreets 17U is the best club team in Illinois
There is no question what team is the deepest, most talented club team in Illinois: Meanstreets.
They impressed this past weekend, even with two of their top players not in action. Oak Forest’s 6-8 Robbie Avila and 6-7 Ty Rodgers out of Michigan, a top 100 talent nationally, did not play. But the talent still shined.
Meanstreets boasts the impressive and coveted 1-2 punch of Jalen Washington, a 6-8 forward out of Gary, Ind., and Young’s 6-8 A.J. Casey. Both are two of the top 30 players in the country in the Class of 2022 with high-major offers.
Casey looks the part with his body, dimensions and physical attributes. He’s clearly put in some time to improve his body as his frame is stariting to really fill out. Plus, he has that natural, effortless talent at his size with a nice shooting touch and mechanics. He’s obviously a high-major talent and best prospect in the Class of 2022 in Illinois.
Casey was one of three in-state Meanstreets prospects who stood out, along with Buffalo Grove’s Kam Craft and Glenbrook South’s Nick Martinelli.
Craft, a known commodity in the Chicago area with his shooting prowess and scoring capabilities, remains a shot-making perimeter threat. But he was also competitive and showed some more pop athletically off the floor. When you add those two attributes to his shot-making ability, Craft is that mid-major plus prospect who will attract a lot of eyes during live evaluation time. He was very impressive over the course of the weekend.
Martinelli is a player who simply finds a way. The 6-7 forward will not wow you, but he’s crafty, productive and has an uncanny ability to make plays. If he can continue to show that he can face up and knock perimeter shots down, Martinelli’s stock will rise.
Other Swish N’ Dish thoughts and observations ….
➤ The Meanstreets 16U team looks the part with its size and length. But it struggled at times taking care of the ball and knocking down shots from the perimeter.
The group of 6-8 Donaven Younger, 6-8 Wes Rubin, 6-8 Miles Rubin, 6-6 Prince Adams, 6-5 Daniel Johnson and 6-4 Sam Lewis is a tantalizing one with size, length, tools and raw skills. They are all bonafide Division I prospects. But it’s going to take some time for this collective group to truly make its presence felt.
Jalen Griffith was one Meanstreets 16U player who showed an advanced game. The Simeon point guard is on the small side, but he’s a jitterbug who can make opponents uncomfortable with his wiggle, pull-up and dribble penetration.
➤ Kenwood’s JJ Taylor is an individual highlight reel. The state’s top-ranked sophomore continued to dazzle at times while playing Mac Irvin Fire over the weekend. He finishes acrobatically at the rim with his wiry length and emphatically with loud dunks.
Taylor remains a streaky shooter but improved shot selection will curtail a little of that. The 6-7 wing is a high-major talent.
The Mac Irvin Fire backcourt has a chance to be pretty darn good with former Fenwick star guard Trey Pettigrew and Simeon guard Jaylen Drane.
➤ Three-point shooting has never been more important in the college game than it is today. That’s why Lake Forest’s Asa Thomas will attract college coaches in droves going forward. Now it’s a matter of what level those Division I coaches will be.
The 6-6 Thomas, who plays with the Illinois Wolves, has an effortless stroke from the three-point line. He’s an elite shooter off the catch as a spot-up shooter and can get his shot off with a rather quick release. The next step is successfully attacking closeouts and getting where he needs to get with the basketball. Adding weight and strength as he naturally fills out and matures physically will help with that.
➤ With Max Christie, his Michigan State-bound brother watching both days, Cameron Christie again had his moments in showing why he’s among the City/Suburban Hoops Report’s top prospects in the Class of 2023.
Christie, who helped Rolling Meadows to a perfect 15-0 record this past year, played with both the Illinois Wolves 16U and 17U teams. The 6-5 guard showed again how comfortable he is with his mid-range game, pulling up from mid-range off a couple of dribbles and sticking shots in that 15-18 foot range.
The upside with Christie is easy to see with his body dimensions and shot-making ability. Now the small sample size of success off the dribble will need to be bigger.
➤ Mid-Pro Academy, which features mostly central Illinois players, has an intriguing roster across the board at all ages. And one player who put together a nice weekend was Ethan Kizer of Metamora.
The 6-6 sophomore is one of the better prospects in Illinois in the Class of 2023. Kizer has a mid-major upside due to his ability to shoot the basketball and compete with his athleticism. I like the way he goes about his business on the floor.
➤ Watching Macaleab Rich of East St. Louis made me think back roughly 20 years to Paul McPherson, an athletic freak who went to South Shore and later played at DePaul.
The physical profile between Rich and McPherson is similar, their games resemble one another and their off-the-charts explosiveness opens eyes. Rich is a big-bodied 6-4 wing in the sophomore class who will emerge as soon as he is able to solidify a true position.
➤ The young Illinois Wolves team has a pair of gifted shooters in freshmen Kelton McEwen of Bartlett and Cole Certa of Bloomington Central Catholic.
McEwen impressed all season long for Bartlett as a 5-11 freshman. He averaged 12.5 points and 2.5 assists a game while shooting a sizzling 40 percent from the three-point line. He’s an energizer who can shoot it and score with shot-creating abilities on the perimeter, even at his size.
➤ Yosef Oliff is a fun player to watch. The 6-0 guard from Niles North is smooth and natural when talking about his skill level at the point guard position. He handles it and sees the floor so well. In fact, he’s one of the better natural passing lead guards you will find.
Oliff impressed while playing with his Fundamental U team and has a chance to be a scholarship player at the next level with a big spring and summer.
➤ While it’s not a focus of mine when attending events, I am able to get a glimpse of top out-of-state prospects at events. No one stood out to me more over the two days than Nick Smith of Bradley Beal Elite. The 6-4 guard out of Arkansas is a highly-rated player with endless high-major offers, so the talent and the athletic burst he plays with is undeniable.
But what always opens eyes is when a top talent like that plays as hard as he does and competes at a level that others are trying to reach. With that length, explosiveness and ease he plays with when the ball is in his hands, the competitiveness takes Smith to another level. His winning mentality, along with how he carries himself, stood out.
Sgt. Ker Yang, the Minneapolis police official in charge of training officers on handling crises, became the latest member of the department to take the stand as prosecutors try to prove that Chauvin failed to follow his training when he put his knee on Floyd’s neck.
MINNEAPOLIS — Four years before George Floyd’s death, Officer Derek Chauvin took a 40-hour course on crisis intervention that included training on how to recognize people in crisis and how to use de-escalation techniques to calm them down, the jury at Chauvin’s murder trial was told Tuesday.
Sgt. Ker Yang, the Minneapolis police official in charge of training officers on handling crises, became the latest member of the department to take the stand as prosecutors try to prove that Chauvin failed to follow his training when he put his knee on Floyd’s neck.
Yang said on Day Seven of Chauvin’s trial that officers are taught to make critical decisions in dealing with people in crisis, including those suffering mental problems or the effects of drug use, and then defuse the situation. Prosecutor Steve Schleicher said records show that Chauvin attended a course on the method in 2016.
“When we talk about fast-evolving situations … a lot of the time we have the time to slow things down and reevaluate and reassess and go through this model,” Yang said.
Chauvin, 45, is charged with murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death May 25. The 46-year-old Black man was pinned to the pavement outside a neighborhood market after being accused of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill for a pack of cigarettes.
Floyd’s treatment by the white officer was captured on widely seen bystander video that sparked protests around the U.S. that descended into violence in some cases.
Floyd, who had taken drugs, frantically struggled with officers who tried to put him in their squad car, saying he was claustrophobic. Prosecutors said Chauvin continued to kneel on Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds, after he was handcuffed behind his back and lying on his stomach, even though Floyd said 27 times that he could not breathe.
Chauvin’s lawyer, Eric Nelson, has argued that Chauvin “did exactly what he had been trained to do over his 19-year career” and that it was Floyd’s use of illegal drugs and his underlying health conditions — not the officer’s knee — that killed him.
Nelson has further argued that police at the scene were distracted by what they perceived as a growing and increasingly hostile crowd of onlookers.
Instead of protecting a fellow officer in what is sometimes called the “blue wall of silence,” some of the most experienced members of the Minneapolis force – including the police chief and the head of the homicide division — have taken the stand to openly condemn Chauvin’s treatment of Floyd.
On Monday, Police Chief Medaria Arrondondo, who called Floyd’s death “murder” soon after it happened, testified that Chauvin had clearly violated department policy on a number of counts and used excessive force.
Arrondondo said continuing to kneel on Floyd’s neck once he was handcuffed behind his back and lying on his belly was “in no way, shape or form” part of department policy or training, “and it is certainly not part of our ethics or our values.”
Arradondo, the city’s first Black chief, fired Chauvin and three other officers the day after Floyd’s death.
When we say Raoul Peck’s four-part HBO hybrid documentary/drama series “Exterminate All the Brutes” is all over the place, we mean that on so many levels, and mostly in a good way — though there are a few times when the shift in tone and approach is so swift and radical it’s more jolting than resonant.
In the first episode alone, Peck tells us, “There are three words that summarize the whole history of humanity: civilization, colonization, extermination”; delivers relatively brief but visually stunning and enlightening lessons derived from the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the “discovery” of America and the Vietnam War; introduces Josh Hartnett, who will portray various imperialist characters throughout the series; shows modern-day footage of white supremacist groups gathering and marching in a number of nations, including the United States; features clips from films ranging from “Apocalypse Now” to “Shoah” to “The Legend of Tarzan,” and closes with a series of graphic-novel images of African men terrorizing and assaulting white women while “Machine Gun” by the Commodores blasts on the soundtrack, for no easily discernible reason.
There’s a LOT of material packed into each one-hour episode. More often than not, Peck (director of “I Am Not Your Negro”) does a remarkably effective job of weaving all these disparate parts into a narrative about the blood-soaked history of Western nations and peoples invading countries and territories and wiping out civilizations in the belief they were the superior race and were taking their rightful place in the world.
Early on, Peck introduces to a Seminole Nation woman who looks into the camera as he says, “Her story goes deep into the history of this continent.” We then flash-frame to an image of the woman being scalped, as Peck continues, “Her story reminds me of my mother.” Next thing we know, we see the woman on location with a film crew who are wearing masks and practicing social distancing, and Peck tells us the Seminole woman is being “played by Caisa Ankarsparre, a Swedish actress of both Colombian and Native American ancestry.” Moments later, we’re in a movie-within-the movie. Josh Hartnett as an American soldier approaches the woman and a group of Seminoles and slaves and says, “I do not want to spill Seminole blood, kill Seminole children. … Give us back the American property you stole … and I’ll let you move to the Indian territory the U.S. government has provided for your people.”
“What kind of species are you?” she asks.
“This kind,” he says, as he draws his gun and kills her.
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At times Peck employs more traditional documentary narratives, with maps and time-lapse graphics and news footage, home movies and animation — but even those segments are intercut with the likes of references to Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness,” a clip from Leni Reifenstahl’s “Triumph of the Will,” a scene from “Jurassic Park 3,” even the “Prehistoric Man” musical number from 1949’s “On the Town.” (The series doesn’t feature any talking-head interviews, and as much as I admire and appreciate the legions of experts who appear in most documentaries, it’s a welcome and refreshing break to see this wide-ranging, centuries-spanning story told without this particular device.) The animated graphics are particularly stunning and effective, e.g., when a time-lapse shows the steady move westward of tribes disappearing from America, or the number of captives sent from Africa to the Americas, with the tally reaching the thousands and eventually 12 million.
Peck also takes us through his personal journey, including his childhood in Haiti through his time as a student in Germany, and introduces us to collaborators including Sven Lindqvist (who died in 2019), author of the 1992 book with the same title as this documentary. The juxtaposition of historical re-creations set in a myriad of locales throughout history with incongruous pop songs, e.g., Joe Cocker’s “Cry Me a River,” can be dizzying and borderline wearying; there are moments when we yearn for Peck to stick to a particular narrative a while longer and not be so fast with the edit button.
But there’s no denying the power of Peck’s storytelling abilities, as he consistently ties the distant past to the recent past to the very recent past and has us wondering if the world will ever truly change. As we see photos of certain current and former world leaders, Peck laments, “The absence of any trace of empathy and genuine humanity is unbearable. The nightmare is buried deep in our consciousness. So deep that we do not recognize it at first. … In times of despair, fear and insecurity, people are looking for saviors. Any kind will do … but a complex world calls for complex responses.” The approach Peck takes in “Exterminate All the Brutes” is a thought-provoking and worthwhile and, yes, complex response.
Seven people were wounded during a fight that escalated into a shootout Monday night in Englewood on the South Side.
Gunfire broke out during a “physical altercation” about 11:10 p.m. on the sidewalk in the 6800 block of South Justine Street, Chicago police spokeswoman Kellie Bartoli said.
There were multiple shooters who exchanged gunfire, but no one was arrested and no guns were recovered by Tuesday morning, Bartoli said.
A woman was seriously wounded by gunfire, while six men were listed in fair or good condition. The victims were between 18 to 44 years old.
At the scene of the shooting, police noted gunfire damage to at least two cars and a street light, Bartoli said.
The victims were:
Area One detectives were investigating the shooting.
Police have responded to at least two other shootings in the last month with more than a half dozen victims each. On March 26, a man was killed and seven others hurt at a “pop-up party” in the Wrightwood neighborhood on the Southwest Side.
On March 15, a shooting wounded 15 people, 2 fatally, at another impromptu party in Park Manor on the South Side. That shooting was the most violent attack in terms of the number of victims since last July when 15 people were shot outside a Gresham funeral home.
7 wounded in Englewood shootouton April 6, 2021 at 2:37 pm Read More »
While talking with Porter Moser last Wednesday night, there was clearly something different in our conversation. Maybe he didn’t notice or recognize it with all that was going on in his rollercoaster moment, but it was different.
And it went beyond Moser taking a phone call roughly every six minutes and then pacing back and forth while he talked, similar to what you see on the sideline during Loyola games.
Over the years we have talked hours and hours about basketball coaching jobs and, at times, even potential ones for him. That’s just inevitable. It’s the nature of the business in the college basketball world, and it’s especially true when he has elevated Loyola into relevancy and a national storyline since leading the Ramblers to the 2018 Final Four.
Loyola, of course, followed that up with another NCAA Tournament run this past March, which included a monumental win over No. 1 seed Illinois to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. Moser’s name was mentioned or linked with virtually every job opening in the country.
But in my eyes, last Wednesday night’s colloquy with Moser was different than other conversations we’ve had about any job. While he didn’t divulge at that time if the job was his to take or not, there was certainly intrigue and interest in all things OU.
Talks with Oklahoma had begun earlier in the week. Those talks progressed to the point where Oklahoma’s director of athletics Joe Castiglione flew to Chicago on Thursday to meet with Moser.
The get-to-know-you talks and negotiations continued and by last Friday afternoon an agreement had been made with news breaking that Moser would be headed to Norman.
When it comes to coaching searches and jumping into the coaching carousel, Moser is a little more out of the ordinary than his colleagues. Who doesn’t immediately try and parlay a Final Four run into the next job? History has told us this. The job-hopping and money-grab opportunities each spring for college coaches is the norm. But it clearly hasn’t been for the 52-year-old Moser.
Moser has had opportunities to take other jobs. In other instances he listened to overtures but simply didn’t dive in. He was particular about any opportunity that arose. He was never going to take just any job that was considered a step up from Loyola and the Missouri Valley Conference.
In my 25 years of dealing with college coaches, talking with them every day and building relationships and even great friendships, I would like to think my BS-meter is strong in an industry where BS is pretty much routine. When Moser talked Loyola, there was no BS involved.
The guy truly loved his job at Loyola, and it wasn’t just coaching-rubbish and bunk he spewed. This was the place — and the people in charge — that allowed him to flourish on his time and provided him that time to establish his culture and winning ways.
Moser constantly talked about the people at Loyola, the players he’s coached and building a legacy in the city he proudly has so much affection for and a connection to.
Those closest to him would always wonder if he would ever leave Loyola and Chicago?
This program was something that he truly built, raising Loyola basketball into a legitimate mid-major power while moving up to the Missouri Valley Conference after just two years in the Horizon League.
It’s very rare any mid-major can establish any type of a brand. But Loyola did that. That meant something to Moser, who gave everything to the job for 10 years. Who would have ever imagined Loyola would ever be on the national basketball map?
When it came to the push-pull theory — factors that ultimately determine if you move or stay somewhere — Loyola, his players and the city of Chicago were always pulling Moser back.
There was a time or two in past talks where Moser would break down a potential landing spot. It’s no secret he’s had opportunities to leave Loyola, particularly following his Final Four run a few years back. But leading up to massive decision-making time, there was always hesitancy in his voice.
Even with the positives of any potential move, there were always “buts” and “I don’t knows” and “what about this?” in the conversation about the job.
Simply put, there was never convincing excitement in his voice. In the end, nothing ever made as much sense to him as staying put at the place where he was happy — at Loyola, continuing to believe in what was transpiring there and all the comfort that came with it.
But you never know what might come your way next. And recent talks about Oklahoma with Moser were different.
That may sound odd to some in Chicago, but it’s what it was with Porter Moser. And that’s all that really matters. There wasn’t a hesitancy. When talking about the job and all that it had to offer, there was more emotion. Again, there needed to be something that blew Porter Moser away.
It was never going to be easy to leave Loyola, but so many of the areas of the OU coaching job ideally lined up for Moser.
Anyone close with Moser knows his mind is always pushing forward. He will analyze to the nth degree. But that’s part of what has led to his success. There would always be certain criteria a job would have to meet for Moser to make the jump and actually pull the trigger and leave Loyola.
And if you look closely and really examine the Oklahoma basketball job, it met so many of them. Those factors are what should help Loyola fans and college basketball fans across Chicago understand Moser’s move.
? Athletic success and program stability.
Athletic Director Joe Castiglione is one of the most highly respected leaders in his profession. Castiglione, who has been at Oklahoma since 1998, has built an athletic powerhouse at OU that stretches across so many sports.
The Sooners have won 18 national championships since his arrival. That’s the exact type of winning culture, stable foundation and tradition any coach would want heading into a new job.
There is no doubt the presence of the impressive Castiglione played a part in Moser feeling comfort in leaving Loyola. That type of coach-AD relationship and mutual respect are hard to find. Moser had it at Loyola with Steve Watson, and he wanted it again if he were ever to move.
? Basketball success and history
Very quietly and somewhat overlooked, Oklahoma basketball has had a ton of success since Billy Tubbs arrived in the 1980s. There have been three different coaches — Tubbs, Kelvin Sampson and Lon Kruger — who have led the Sooners to the Final Four during that time.
Overall, there are only four schools that have had more than four coaches take teams to the Final Four: Kansas, North Carolina, Kentucky and UCLA. Oklahoma is next, tied with Michigan, with a total of four coaches.
In this century alone, now 21 seasons in, Oklahoma has reached the Elite Eight four times and played in two Final Fours. And in that time they’ve had three consensus All-Americans in Blake Griffin, Buddy Hield and Trae Young.
? Resources
Playing in a major power conference and having a football power among the top handful in the country, Oklahoma’s resources are tremendous and obviously dwarf anything Loyola can offer.
According to official NCAA finances, Oklahoma athletics brought in $163,126,695 in 2018-19. That was eighth among all public university athletic programs at the Division I level in the country. As a comparison, Southern Illinois — like Loyola, another Missouri Valley Conference program — generated $22,507,927.
As a result, the Oklahoma athletic budget ranks among the highest in college athletics. That leads to large recruiting budgets, the ability to pay top assistant coaches and support staff while also providing life-changing money for its head coach.
? Facilities
With the type of resources at Oklahoma’s disposal, Sooners basketball, thanks to a large donation from NBA star and former Sooner Blake Griffin, has been able to recently open the 18,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art Griffin Family Performance Center.
This facility, in addition to the OU practice gym, meets the needs of strength performance for its basketball players at an extremely elite level. The facility is a game-changer in recruiting and for the basketball student-athlete.
? Chance to regularly play in NCAA Tournament
As good as Loyola has been over the past four years, the truth of the matter is the Missouri Valley Conference is more or less a one-bid league when it comes to the NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately in most years one slip up in the MVC Tournament can derail any NCAA Tournament hopes for the league champ.
Coaches are inherently ultra-competitive with what is a healthy professional ego. When they get a taste of what the NCAA Tournament is like and experience a tournament run, it’s something they want to regularly do.
A team finishes among the top five or six in the Big 12 Conference and chances are they are likely playing in the NCAA Tournament in March. And Oklahoma is considered to be among the top three or four jobs in the Big 12.
In the last 38 years, Oklahoma has gone to the NCAA Tournament an impressive 29 times.
? Less pressure than other high-major jobs
Oklahoma wants to win. And they want to win big. The aforementioned high-level success warrants that.
However, this job isn’t one that instantly ruins one’s quality of life as so many over-the-top, high-pressured head coaching jobs with outlandish expectations can do.
The OU basketball coach will never, ever be the BMOC. Porter Moser will never rival Sooners football coach Lincoln Riley. But he will also never feel the type of heat Riley will receive if things take the slightest dip.
Simply put, Oklahoma has a bit of a lethargic fan base. Fans and boosters care more about football recruiting than the actual basketball season. That may seem like a negative, but in the basketball coaching world it can often be a sense of relief.
In the last 45 years Oklahoma has fired just one basketball coach — Jeff Capel. And that came after a NCAA investigation led to a lack of recruiting prowess and left the program in limbo.
As one head coach recently said to me, “What’s nice about Oklahoma basketball is that there aren’t a bunch of different cooks in the kitchen.” Which means everyone knows their place and the head coach is in complete control.
? The Jordan Brand
Oklahoma is a Jordan Brand school. Yes, it may seem trivial. But the iconic brand is a boon to any college basketball program. It’s a huge basketball recruiting tool.
? Strike when its hot
For Moser, he undoubtedly should feel fortunate that a perfect match for him did pop up when he was arguably the hottest name on the coaching market. Oklahoma was the match for him. Timing is everything.
Why Porter Moser couldn’t say no to Oklahomaon April 6, 2021 at 2:36 pm Read More »
Loyola promoted assistant Drew Valentine to head coach on Monday, hoping he can build on the success the Ramblers experienced under Porter Moser.
The 29-year-old Valentine helped Loyola make two deep NCAA Tournament runs in four seasons as an assistant. He gets his first head coaching job with Moser taking over at Oklahoma after a 10-year run that included a Final Four in 2018 and a Sweet 16 appearance this year.
In a statement, Valentine called the promotion “an absolute honor” and called Moser “one of the biggest mentors and role models in my life.”
“The impact that he has made on this entire university will not forgotten,” Valentine said. “We will continue to do things the right way, with character and passion! The vision and standard that Coach Moser established will forever remain a part of the culture.”
Valentine played a big role in Loyola’s rise. The Ramblers went 99-36 overall and 56-16 in the Missouri Valley Conference the past four years, winning three regular-season league championships.
He was Loyola’s de facto defensive coordinator the past two years. That group ranked among the best in the country this season.
“Over the course of his career as both a player and as a coach, Drew had proven that he’s a winner who does things the right way,” athletic director Steve Watson said in a statement. “We are extremely proud of the recent success of our program and Drew has played a key role in those accomplishments. He is the perfect person to lead us as we continue to build upon that success as we begin the next chapter of Loyola basketball.”
Before arriving at Loyola, Valentine played at Oakland and was a graduate manager at Michigan State under Tom Izzo. He then returned to his alma mater as an assistant from 2015 to 2017. Valentine is the older brother of Bulls guard and former Spartans star Denzel Valentine, and his father, Carlton, starred for the Spartans in the 1980s and became a successful high school coach.
Moser, who takes over for the retired Lon Kruger at Oklahoma, was 188-141 in 10 years at Loyola. He has a 293-242 record in 17 seasons as a college head coach, with stops at Arkansas Little Rock (2000-03) and Illinois State (2003-07).
The Ramblers went 26-5 in their fourth straight year with 20 or more wins and returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since their stunning Final Four appearance.
They went 32-6 that season and charmed the nation in an unexpected run buoyed by one last-second shot after another. Along the way, their team chaplain, Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, became a celebrity, with bobbleheads and athletic apparel and national TV interviews.
Loyola, with the nation’s stingiest scoring defense, made another run this year. The Ramblers earned their first AP Top 25 ranking since March 1985 and won the MVC Tournament for the second time in four years.
Sister Jean, 101 years old and fully vaccinated against COVID-19, was on hand for the NCAA Tournament. She watched in Indianapolis as the Ramblers beat Georgia Tech and dominated top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Illinois in the second round before falling to Oregon State.
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez is retiring after a three-decade run in which he transformed the university’s football team and later guided the Badgers to their greatest all-around sports success in school history.
The 74-year-old Alvarez said Tuesday he would retire on June 30.
“It has been an honor to be a part of Wisconsin athletics and I take great pride in all we have accomplished over the last three decades,” Alvarez said in a statement. “From championships, to improvements on campus, to impacting thousands of student-athletes, it’s been a great ride.”
Alvarez arrived at Wisconsin in 1990 as football coach and turned one of the Big Ten’s weakest programs into one of its strongest. He became athletic director in 2004 and briefly served in a dual role before stepping down as football coach after the 2005 season.
Wisconsin’s football team went a combined 9-36 in the four seasons before his arrival. Alvarez led the Badgers to three Rose Bowl titles and made them regular Big Ten contenders by emphasizing a strong defense and rushing attack.
Alvarez coached Wisconsin from 1990-2005 and set a program record for career coaching victories. His 119-74-4 mark includes his record over 16 years plus a 1-1 mark as an interim coach in bowl games that capped the 2012 and 2014 seasons.
He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010.
Other Wisconsin programs had similar success during his stint as the Badgers’ athletic director.
Wisconsin teams won 16 national titles under Alvarez, though five of those came in women’s lightweight rowing, a sport whose championships aren’t sanctioned by the NCAA.
Those national titles were in six different sports (women’s lightweight rowing, men’s cross country, men’s hockey, women’s hockey, men’s indoor track, men’s rowing). Wisconsin’s most recent national title came in women’s hockey this year.
The Badgers also have won a total of 74 conference, regular-season or tournament championships with Alvarez as athletic director. Fourteen different teams have won conference titles during his regime.
Wisconsin finished in the top 30 in the Directors’ Cup 15 times in his first 18 seasons as athletic director.
“His work here has positively impacted the lives of countless student-athletes who have come through our doors,” Wisconsin chancellor Rebecca Blank said in a statement. “His leadership has also lifted our university and our state. Barry’s legacy will live on whenever Badgers take the field.”
Alvarez emerged as a national leader in college athletics. He was named a chair of the NCAA’s football academic enhancement group in 2008 and was on the College Football Playoff selection committee for three years. He was named the Under Armour athletic director of the year in 2017-18.
The 2021 NFL Draft is right around the corner, and the Chicago Bears may still receive a bit of help on their quest for a quarterback.
Recent trades have shaken up the draft in a big way, and after the first big deal went down, it appeared as though the Bears were going to be on the outside looking in at the first-round quarterbacks.
When the San Francisco 49ers dealt for the Miami Dolphins’ pick at number three overall, the assumption was that there will now be three quarterbacks selected over the first trio of picks. Monday, that assumption grew even stronger when the New York Jets traded Sam Darnold to the Carolina Panthers.
Now, it’s almost guaranteed to go Trevor Lawrence at no. 1, Zach Wilson at no. 2 and — well, one of three names at the third pick to San Francisco.
After the three quarterbacks go back-to-back-to-back, we’re probably going to see some combination of LSU wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, Florida tight end Kyle Pitts and Oregon offensive lineman Penei Sewell go next. That would bring us to the seventh overall pick, held by the Detroit Lions.
Will the Lions go quarterback there, even after taking on the Jared Goff contract? Or will they look to add something they desperately need like a wide receiver or someone on the defensive side of the ball — pick a position.
That number eight pick could be up for grabs and might just hold a quarterback for the Bears. However, Chicago may not have to trade for Carolina’s no. 8 pick for a couple of reasons.
The Panthers won’t go quarterback at pick eight, so let’s move on for the sake of this argument. At number nine overall, the Denver Broncos are definitely a team to watch out for in the quarterback market. But, maybe they don’t draft a quarterback there.
Instead, an idea proposed by NBC Sports’ Mike Florio is that the Broncos instead trade for Teddy Bridgewater to compete with Drew Lock.
“In Denver, former Vikings assistant G.M. George Paton is looking for a Drew Lock upgrade. Bridgewater was on the brink of a breakout in 2016 in Minnesota, before a fluke knee injury. Paton could be intrigued by the possibility of giving Bridgewater a chance to grow into the job with the Broncos while otherwise looking for a long-term fix — if they need one. (Bridgewater is still only 28.).”
If the Panthers traded Bridgewater to the Broncos, we could then move on to pick number 10 where the New York Giants would have a decision to make. Do they commit to Daniel Jones for one more season? They’ve certainly surrounded him with a talented arsenal.
All of this goes to say that the Bears may not have to trade up as high as some people think. The previously mentioned teams could pass on quarterback while going for other first-round talents like Devonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle, Micah Parsons or Patrick Surtain Jr.
There is no guarantee the Bears are going to miss out on a quarterback even at pick no. 20. However, if they wanted to best shot at one, they should look at trading up into the early teens — assuming we saw Bridgewater go to the Broncos.
If the Broncos dealt for Bridgewater, that could drastically change the outlook of the draft for Chicago. It would give the fan base just a bit more hope that, just maybe, the team would make a move for one of the top quarterbacks in this year’s class.
