Chattanooga hires Foster as its women’s coach (The Associated Press)
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — Chattanooga has hired a future hall of famer as its next women’s basketball head coach. The university announced Thursday the hiring of Jim Foster, who will be inducted in less than a month into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. The former St. Joseph’s, Vanderbilt and Ohio State coach has a 783-307 record and ranks 11th in NCAA history in career wins. Foster and Rutgers women’s coach C. Vivian Stringer are the only men’s or women’s college basketball coaches at any level to win at least 200 games at three different schools. Foster, 64, was fired by Ohio State after going 18-13 this season, the only time in his 11-year tenure with the Buckeyes that they won fewer than 20 games and failed to reach the NCAA tournament. Foster is replacing Wes Moore, who took over North Carolina State’s program last month after making nine NCAA tournament appearances in 15 years at Chattanooga. ”Chattanooga has always been one of our favorite…
Ohio State gets its rings for a 12-0 season (Dr. Saturday)
Nobody has celebrated a division championship in college football quite like this.
Ohio State won the Leaders Division in the Big Ten last year with a 12-0 record, but as we all know, they couldn’t play for the conference title or a bowl game because of NCAA sanctions.
Ohio State’s Blueprint to Take Next Step and Become an NCAA Title Favorite
The Ohio State basketball team entered the 2012-13 season with high hopes and a Top Five ranking, but it never really felt like it was a legitimate threat to win the national championship…
BracketRacket: A quiz, a thought and Peeps (The Associated Press)
Welcome to BracketRacket, your one-stop shopping place for all things NCAA. For our first Sweet 16 edition, we’ve got a geography quiz by Shockers and Explorers, a coach in rarified air, a former Ohio attorney general rooting for Michigan State and Jim Larranaga’s thought for the day. All that and some Bracket Bits that include all of Dunk City’s postseason dunks and, in honor of Easter, Peeps. — GEOGRAPHY QUIZ Who says academics go by the wayside during the NCAA tournament? La Salle and Wichita State took a geography quiz at the West Regional in Los Angeles, and the Shockers passed. Belying their name, the Explorers need to brush up a little. Here’s an excerpt of how it went from AP Sports Writer Beth Harris: Question: Where is La Salle located? Answer: ”Philly, right? I believe it’s Philly,” Shockers guard Malcolm Armstead said. Correct. Question: Where is Wichita State located? Answer: ”What state is it in?” asked La Salle guard Ramon Galloway. And it went downhill from there. ”I saw a store down here called Which…
Rick Reilly Asks Aaron Craft Why He’s so ‘Annoying,’ Craft Trolls Back
He’s just throwing it out there. If you don’t like it, just throw it on back. ESPN reporter Rick Reilly knifed through the veil of civility at Wednesday’s post-practice press conference with the…
Defensive stoppers Craft & Johnson to meet in West Region
Ohio State’s Aaron Craft and Arizona’s Nick Johnson are among the rarest type of college basketball players. They’re defensive stoppers – and they’ll be on the same court together Thursday night. That’s when Craft and the Buckeyes meet Johnson and the Wildcats in the NCAA tournament’s West Region semifinals at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Craft’s game is more on the floor, where his quick feet and superb anticipation lead to steals and 5-second violations by opposing guards. Johnson’s game is a more high-flying, his athleticism allowing him to jump into passing lanes and soar in from behind to swat away shots from unsuspecting shooters. It should be quite a show within what should be one of the best games of the NCAA’s second week.
Best and worst of NCAA tournament’s 1st weekend (The Associated Press)
Florida Gulf Coast was the breakout star of the weekend, alley-ooping its way on to the national stage to capture everyone’s attention. You probably watched the Eagles crash the round of 16 like everyone else. Well, there were 63 other teams playing last weekend, too. La Salle broke through as well. Bluebloods such as Duke and Michigan State were big winners as well. So the next round will have something for everyone. Now the Eagles, and the rest of the country, get to take a deep breath before we get going again on Thursday. So here is a look at some of the highs and lows from a memorable first weekend. — -BEST PLAY: Brett Comer to Chase Fieler vs. Georgetown. The exclamation on Florida Gulf Coast’s emphatic introduction to the masses. It was brazen not only for the casual nature with which Comer flipped the ball practically over his head to a soaring Fieler, but also in its timing. The Hoyas were …
Hoosiers, Buckeyes survive to reach NCAA Sweet 16 (The Associated Press)
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Khalif Wyatt patted his chest twice, acknowledging that his incredible game wasn’t going to be quite enough. Across the court, the Hoosiers’ heartbeats could finally slow down. No. 1 Indiana had barely escaped the big upset. The Hoosiers finally figured out a way to stop Wyatt – bump him, shadow him, deny him the ball – and used a closing 10-0 run to beat Temple 58-52 on Sunday at the University of Dayton Arena, sending them into the round of 16 for the second year in a row. ”That was a relief,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said. Tell Ohio State about it. The second-seeded Buckeyes also advanced with a pulsating finish, beating Iowa State 78-75 on Aaron Craft ‘s 3-pointer with a half-second left. Ohio State is in the round of 16 for a school-record fourth year in a row, the last high seed remaining in the tournament’s most busted bracket – the Wild West. ”The moment is definitely bigger than me,” said Craft, who won it with his only 3-pointer of the game. Now, the…
Which Big Ten team has best NCAA odds?
The Big Ten has a team alive in every regional. While Minnesota and Illinois fell by the wayside in the Round of 32, the conference improved its overall tournament record to 10-3. But the tests will get tougher from here, as legit opponents await all four survivors. Which Big Ten team has the best chance of advancing to Atlanta? Give your answer (and more questions) in SportsNation.
Craft plays forward, saves OSU at end
DAYTON, Ohio — With less than 5 seconds left in a tied game, perhaps the best pure scorer in the country came off a pair of screens that did exactly what they were designed to do: get him open. Deshaun Thomas called for the ball — screamed for it, waved his hands high above the 6-foot-7 inch frame that had made him essentially unguardable for the first 39 minutes and 55 seconds of his team’s second-round NCAA tournament thriller — but the pass never came.
