throwback

Buzzy Caruthers was on 93.7 today - said Breidenbach will not be delayed in arriving in Lincoln because of the injury. He'll go through all of the film study, etc, with the others until he's ready to do the physical stuff. They won't push it with his recovery so they can have him healthy coming out of summer.

You're assuming the bluebirds are making a regional. They have a bit of work to do. NU won't complain about playing anyone, but I don't think we want any part of Arkansas. This feels like it might finally be DVH's year to break through. With the way NU is playing in May, someone else deserves to take that bullet. I nominate Michigan.

Nope, they're not. The way they play, this team is a huge pain in the ass for opponents. Plus they're pretty cocky and good at getting under the opponents' skin. Of course, with no non-con games, who knows what'll happen in the NCAAs. But I would not want to play these guys in a regional. Will be interesting to see how they play things vs Mich. Maybe a few position guys will be getting a day off for a change, they'll give their starting pitchers some shortened pitch counts, etc. Kind of the exact opposite of what happens with a conference tournament. Of course, as hot as they are, the coaches may want to just not change anything and try to keep the momentum going. It's only 3 games, whereas you could play 5 or 6 in a conf tournament, so I might opt to try to stay hot, while keeping starting pitchers a little shorter than usual, around 70-80 pitches. By the way, I saw today Coach Childress is out at Texas A&M. Sounds like a mutual parting, although I know it hasn't been a good relationship for a few years now. I'm sure TAM will be going after far bigger fish than Coach Bolt, so doubt there's anything to worry about there.

NU's magic number with Mich is 2 - so an NU win today AND a Mich loss today would clinch it, or if both of those don't happen today, NU has to win at least 1 vs Mich next week. NU's magic number with Indiana and Maryland is 1 - so NU can eliminate both of them today with a win vs OSU or 1 win next week. Indy & Md play each other next weekend, so they both need a miracle by winning out, Mich losing to Maryland today, NU losing to OSU today, and having Michigan sweep NU next week. Then they'd tie Michigan. Basically, NU's game today doesn't mean anything in the league standings, unless Michigan loses to Maryland. Then an NU win clinches it. Pretty crazy when you think NU was in 2nd place a week ago Friday & it looked like an extremely tight finish. NU put its foot on the gas with 5 straight wins since last Friday (and 7 straight overall, plus 8 of 9 since getting swept at home by Rutgers) while Indiana was dropping 5 of 6 & Michigan went 3-2.

Ugh - at least it's not as bad as it could be. Missing a few weeks early in the summer shouldn't hurt him too much. Feel bad for him that he doesn't get to finish his senior season.

In another month and a half, the NIL will basically make this legal for everyone other than coaches. At least the money changing hands should now occur above board (and be taxable, of course). Going to be a rough time for bag men. They better have their resumes in order. I'm looking at you, school 60 miles to the east.

I know we've been steadily building with players of this caliber, and we just signed an amazing class, so this didn't come out of nowhere, but to have a trio of players like this in together for recruiting visits is mind-blowing. And to have it on the first available weekend after a recruiting pause of a year is equally mind-blowing. Regardless of why they're checking out Lincoln (i.e., visiting older brother), they still chose to stop here first. Understanding we may not sign any of them, this is still crazy. I'll admit it - I never thought NU hoops could potentially recruit at this level. With NIL coming and with NU seemingly at the forefront of helping players with this, who knows how this may turn out?

It certainly doesn't help the player's chances of jumping right into big minutes the following season, but it's tough to tell a player what's actually required to have early success. All new players think they're ready ... then they have their first real practice/scrimmage. It's also tough to convince a young player that any short-term gain of playing in tournaments like this probably will make the long-term gain take longer because they missed the summer with their future teammates. However, no coach is going to tell a player he can't represent his country in these tournaments, or that'll be the last international player he has a chance to recruit. So I guess it's just part of the deal when you're recruiting/signing international players. I guess it's better than the alternative of recruiting international players who aren't good enough to be part of these teams.

World-Herald had a bit of a summer update today - a couple of notes: Players return to campus June 4 Tominaga is trying to qualify for Japan's 3x3 Olympic team, so he'll be a little late getting to campus ... or a lot late if it goes well Kojenets is playing in an international tournament, so he'll be late as well Otherwise, it should be a relatively normal summer in how the players can work out, can use facilities, etc., unlike 2020.

Matt Abdelmassih & Luca Virgilio were in studio for 1 hour-plus at 93.7 today. https://theticketfm.com/2021/05/11/

Don't sell KSU short - it's not just anybody that beats Dalton St & Toccoa Falls in the same season. And they've only lost 43 straight road games, so they've got that going for them.

All of these D-2/D-3 guys getting a chance at the power conference D-1 level owe Duncan Robinson a cut of whatever they earn, whether it's 0, 100K, or something in between.

That Bucs lineup looks like the fantasy lineup I had to run out there after I slept through the draft and my buddies drafted for me ... with my team's best interests in mind, of course. Or so they said.

Apparently you guys didn't hear. Who needs a 5-star player when you can replace him with a Northwest Missouri St sharpshooting transfer who's a huge addition and a perfect fit for the system? #letitfly

I'm not sure the Fran-con alert system goes up to 12, so it may have to be altered. What color does his face turn after purple?

I think it's only fair to their families and friends that they team up in college somewhere that's about equi-distant from their homes. That way no one has to travel too far to watch them play.

Well, I guess that qualifies as a good job for a family member. Since he signed, I'm guessing the six-figure check must have cleared too. Good to see things back to normal at the plantation.

It's certainly possible he could change his mind, but he did commit to Fred & Co without ever meeting them in person. He clearly trusts them. Being that team that identified his talent early on & believed in him immediately should certainly help too. Once he has a chance to visit Lincoln hopefully this summer/early fall & see the facilities, plus get a chance to meet the other players & coaches in person, that hopefully will help to solidify his choice. In this case, it's probably a benefit that he wasn't able to take an official clear back last fall, because now it'll be much fresher in his mind on signing day after he does get to visit this summer or fall. I'm pretty sure his coach said some schools have been asking about him regularly since he committed to NU, so the extra attention shouldn't be new for him either. (The quality of schools providing the attention may change, though.) None of that guarantees he still signs with us, but I'd rather have the verbal at this point and be in the lead than trying to play catch-up like everyone else is doing.

Geez. I can't stand it when guys tease the portal like that.

He may or may not pick NU, but the fact that we get one of his 5 official visits is big - he easily could have visited us on an unofficial and saved the 5 officials for other schools that are farther away. Clearly, we are in the mix. (Hoping he doesn't read this and get any ideas....)

I'm not surprised. At this level, it's pretty common for rookies to hold out for more money. 100K and a good job for dad just don't go as far as they used to in this economy.

I hope the last one to leave the plantation remembers to turn out the lights and puts the thermostat on vacation mode. With all of the hundreds of Ks they're going to have to spend on a new lineup next season, the last thing they need is an out-of-control power bill.

2019 2021

No kidding - Oklahoma / new coach Iowa St / new coach Texas / new coach Texas Tech / new coach Kansas / lifting both middle fingers at the NCAA Lots of movement

It's a good thing he wasn't JPJ and those weren't Big Ten refs, or his highlight tape would've been about 30 seconds long because he'd have been sitting on the bench with all the Ts for looking at opponents the wrong way. Actually, I didn't have a problem with it either - looked like all of the talking was aimed at one team. I have a team I feel that way about too.