throwback

I guess 2 years ago now qualifies as a classic. Just a heads-up on broadcasts: BTN will show 2014 Wisconsin at NU: *Thur 6/23 at 8 am *Fri 6/24 at 3:30 am And 2014 NU at Michigan St *Sat 6/25 at 7 am I hope we win (again).

Maybe some in the pre-WWII era? Some of those guys played 3 sports I'm sure. Can't really think of an NU baseball player in the last few decades who would've been able to contribute in hoops, but Strickland could've gone from basketball to baseball at the D-1 level successfully.

Great news! Great to have all the key performers back for the 2016-17 NU/Coach Miles sideshow!

And if I came across as damn him for doing so, I was not. I will be looking at all options if I were, well, 21, tall, quick, skilled at basketball and well you get the point. In the end, I understand he is going to do what he feels is best for him. You didn't - I was just agreeing with you. How many 3-pt shooting specialists are on the list of those left to declare?

He's absolutely looking for a reason to go, but that's been the way he has approached this from the start. So that's no surprise. And he may have a team that has told him, if Players A & B go back to school, you're next on our board. So he may be waiting for Players A & B to decide. I'm just not sure why he told the newspapers he'd announce Tuesday - I could've gotten more sleep last night if he had just not said anything about a decision date, because I assumed from the start this would go to 10:58 pm CT Wednesday. That's kind of his deliberate style after all.

That's all well and good. But who's your source?

This may very well mean he has decided to turn pro regardless if it's the NBA or Europe. But then I would think he would've hired an agent by this point. I would have to think it's difficult to receive a favorable deal in Europe without an agent. Or this may mean that he's all in on the attempt to be a NBA draft pick, as he said initially he was going to be. In other words, he's planning on being drafted until the evidence says otherwise. Which is exactly what I would expect him to do. If he doesn't go into this expecting to be drafted and giving it full effort, then there isn't much point. He's a confident player, so I would imagine that he fully expects to have some great workouts, impress a team (it only takes one), and be a draft pick. And he's going to have that mindset until the evidence tells him otherwise. He may well have decided to turn pro no matter what. But I read this more as a player who is confident that he's going to have a great workout somewhere and be drafted, so he's not planning to return to school. That's far different than having decided not to return to school.

Ok question here. So does that date mean anything? I mean, can't he just decide on a school a couple days before classes start, enroll there and go? Or is it different for incoming freshman versus transfers where we see a guy like Andrew White wait and wait and wait before he decides? Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. It's just a date. He technically doesn't ever have to sign a letter of intent - he could just show up at a school on the first day of fall semester or enroll for summer classes. Although he'd be taking a chance at that point, hoping the school he's considering doesn't get tired of waiting for him and fill all of its scholarships. All the letter does is bind him to the school and guarantee the scholarship, I believe. Enrolling at a particular school before signing makes the letter unnecessary, like a football player graduating early and enrolling before signing day in February. It's possible that the end date for the spring period has some significance in the NCAA by-laws, but I don't know what it would be. I'm not sure how getting thru the NCAA clearing house would work if a player doesn't sign a letter of intent. And he'd have to be accepted by the school academically, although he could apply to any school he wants at any time, just like any non-athlete student. Early enrollee football players deal with it, so I'm sure it's not that tough to work around. Not saying that Jordy deciding after May 18 will happen here, but he hasn't been in any hurry thru any of this, so it could happen. (Hopefully he just does the smart thing and picks NU at some point soon. I have 3 p.m. May 16 in the pool. )

Saw him play a couple times this season - had 10+ blocks and 10+ rebounds in both games, but he definitely was not featured on offense and rarely touched the ball in the offensive flow. Did a nice job blocking shots without fouling and holding his own on the defensive block, even though he doesn't weigh much. Of course he was playing vs kids several inches shorter in the games I saw. He definitely moved better and was more athletic than I was expecting, but, like most big kids, has a long ways to go. Can't teach 6-10, 6-11, or even 6-9 3/4 so worth keeping an eye on with 2 years of HS ball remaining. UNO was smart to offer him early.

It's a match made in heaven then.

Me too. Never mind.

I'm not sure he looked around at other schools all that much, as I believe he committed to being a preferred walk-on for NU pretty early before his senior year. He'd have a shot at UNO I think. He sees the floor well enough that he can create for others. Jump shot would need some work. UNO isn't too interested in playing defense, so no concern there. Just from watching him in high school, he seemed to be at his best in transition, playing a fast-paced game, finding teammates and driving, which UNO wants to do constantly. So I think he'd have a shot to play at UNO. Would need to make the most of the redshirt/transfer year, especially in developing his 3-pt shot.

Wingett named 2nd team Super State by LJS - first team and captain of C-2 all-state team http://journalstar.com/sports/high-school/basketball/boys/boys-super-state-all-state-basketball-teams/article_9f0fff23-9484-5442-8a9e-eab048369c5b.html

LJS names Chang 2nd team Super State and 1st team Class A - only soph among 15 Super State players http://journalstar.com/sports/high-school/basketball/boys/boys-super-state-all-state-basketball-teams/article_9f0fff23-9484-5442-8a9e-eab048369c5b.html

Arop named captain of the LJS Super State team - he's the only jr on the first team Feature story: http://journalstar.com/sports/columnists/rj-hambleton/super-state-arop-finds-the-right-touch-during-big-year/article_99f0b7c6-b6f1-55c9-bad3-0e81ce95381f.html List: http://journalstar.com/sports/high-school/basketball/boys/boys-super-state-hoops-the-tradesmen/collection_6b91dfab-3a37-527e-a646-65bdfa16b8d6.html

So you distrust our coaches enough that you're pining for Dana Altman, yet you trust who they choose to start as evidence that Watson is a "middle to bottom third" PG in the B1G? Uh-huh. I think you were closer to reality when you said that we fans just have to "decide that we're tired of not watching our team in the NCAA Tournament" and everything will be fixed.

Sorry, but no way. It simply was not going to happen at that time. Our esteemed AD was too busy being booed on big screens across the state - he was in full time CYOA mode. He couldn't even put together the support for a deal to fire Collier. And besides, Altman was not leaving his job at the time - in August no less - to work for that buffoon in that toxic environment. He's too smart for that .... the pig sooey incident being the outlier of course.

Man, the line between "gotta be real", pessimism and trolling is so blurry... But you're right he didn't start over Benny. When he started, he started over Tai Webster, the team's third leading scorer, who averaged more than 10 points a game. Watson also initiated the offense most of the time when he was on the floor, regardless of whether Benny was on the floor or not, improved dramatically as a defender over the course of the season. I don't know if he's a top third PG in the Big Ten, but he's not bottom third, I'm confident in saying that. Good points - and the reason Glynn didn't start early is because his defense was a mess, which shouldn't be a surprise for a true frosh. I'm still having nightmares watching him try to chase NW's guards in the game in Lincoln. Ugh. But he improved throughout the season on that end, so that's a good sign that he bought into what the coaches told him. He's still not a lock down defender, but he's more than passable now, especially for someone who provides so much on the offensive end. And for a true freshman to have his limited number of turnovers was impressive. Get him in the weight room this off season, and he's poised for a nice jump forward. I'll admit being skeptical when he arrived about how much he'd be able to get done at NU. I'll also admit I was pretty clueless for thinking that way. He's definitely deserves to be ranked in the upper half of the B1G at PG in 2016-17, and depending on who leaves/comes back, top 1/3 isn't a stretch.

Good point. The bluebirds were more than happy to see him take his show out of town at the time. Apologies if my early response got this going in a bad direction. But I will admit the 'what if' thought has crossed my mind a few times this season with Oregon's success. And to clarify, I'm not bitter/angry Altman wasn't hired a decade-plus ago. There's just no point in being angry about it - the people who made those decisions are long gone from NU. At this point I prefer thinking about the 'what if' scenario of NU signing a couple of big men for 2016-17 and thinking about playing Oregon in next season's Elite Eight.

Two turnovers and a layup that doesn't draw iron in the last 19 seconds. I guess Wisky used up all its magic last week. And there goes our streak of seasons where we beat a team that reached the Final Four. (Yes, 2 seasons qualifies as a streak.) MSU & Wisky really let us down this year.

I'm always impressed how they are consistently able to play great defense without fouling. Especially with the way the game is called these days. I mean when we got into the double bonus against them in the 2nd half in the B1G Tourney, I was thinking their coach might stop the game and ask for a recount.

I can remember going to one of the NU-bluebird games in the mid-2000s after the new arena opened in Omaha, thinking while walking out after a loss that our next coach was sitting on the bluebird bench, once Collier was inevitably fired. When the job finally did open, I'm not sure how much it was that we couldn't hire a bluebird coach as it was another couple of Fs on AD Pedey's lengthy report card. Pedey of course didn't have the political capital to fire Collier when he should have at the end of the 2006 season, so he gave him another year as a complete lame duck. But Collier did the smart thing for himself and left on his own a few months later. There's no way Altman was coming to NU in August and walking into that complete mess. Pedey was lucky to find Doc, I thought. But the bigger factor from what I heard at the time was that Altman wanted no part of the circus Pedey had turned NU's athletic department into, so he wasn't coming to NU at any point with Pedey in charge. NU's window to hire Altman was between Nee and Collier. Not sure why he wasn't considered more by Byrne then, as he had really just started getting things rolling in Omaha. I'd say Altman's resume at the time was comparable to Collier's resume, probably better when you include his time at K-State. I think he would've taken it if offered. Would've been interesting to see how it turned out.

Happ, Brown, and Hayes combined for 38 pts and 19 reb per game ... on a team that averaged less than 70 ppg. That's pretty good in my book. True, none of those guys is a big bruiser with a huge wingspan like a Stone, Bryant, Hammons, etc, but they were plenty effective as a group inside. Especially Happ as a freshman.

I guess I look at it from the defensive point of view. If I'm playing good enough half court defense to prevent you from getting a good shot for 35-40 seconds, I should be rewarded for it, rather than letting you continue to pass the ball around the perimeter. In college basketball, the home team forcing a shot clock violation can be a big momentum turner, almost as much as a great offensive play. I'm old enough to remember when college basketball didn't have a shot clock, and I wasn't a fan of the shot clock when it was enacted. But I was wrong. It has made for a much more enjoyable game to watch. Players and coaches adapted quickly. The move to a 30 second clock this season has barely been an afterthought after a lot of concern in the off season. At the HS level, it might be ugly at times at first, but kids/teams are great at adapting, and it will make the game better in the long run.

Maryland had better be ready for its opening game. For a team that likes to play disinterested a lot of the time, S Dak St is not a good match-up. Maryland can dominate inside, but who knows if they'll actually have the patience/attention span to do so.