Texas Tech Red Raiders basketball
The Texas Tech Red Raiders basketball team represents Texas Tech University in basketball. Texas Tech competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association, as a charter member of the Big 12 Conference, since its first season in 1996; the team competed in the Border Conference and Southwest Conference. The team was founded in 1925, having since won 12 regular season conference championships, 5 postseason conference championships, made 17 appearances in the NCAA Tournament as of the 2018–19 season; the Red Raiders have played their home games at the United Supermarkets Arena since 1999 on the university's campus in Lubbock, Texas. Chris Beard, the team's 17th head coach, has led the Red Raiders since the 2016–17 season. Texas Tech's basketball program was founded the same year the school opened its doors in 1925; the inaugural game was a 37–25 loss to Daniel Baker College. Tech would lose two more games before clinching their first victory—35–21 at Sul Ross University. Grady Higginbotham was the first coach.
Until Pat Knight, Higgenbotham was the only Tech basketball coach to garner an overall losing record during his stay. Following Higgenbotham's departure, Victor Payne led the Matadors from 1927 to 1930, his final tally stood at 20 losses. W. L. Golightly coached only one season. Dell Morgan held the head coaching job from 1931 to 1934, he was followed by Virgil Ballard. Though Ballard coached only a single season, it was during his time that the team won their milestone 100th game, a one-point victory over House of David. Ballard left with a 15–9 record. Berl Huffman was twice the head basketball coach at Texas Tech—first from 1935 to 1942 and from 1946 to 1947. During his total of eight seasons, he garnered a record of 121–67. Polk Robison was the only other person to serve two different times as the head basketball coach at the school; when Huffman left in 1942, Robison took the job. And, when Huffman left a second time in 1947, it was Robison who again filled the position, this time remaining until 1961.
At a total of 18 seasons, his stay is the second longest of any Red Raiders basketball coach, behind Gerald Myers. He departed after leading his teams to 254 wins, 195 losses, the first two NCAA tournaments in school history. Gene Gibson followed Robison into the position. In his eight seasons, he chalked up the second best conference record in Texas Tech history and led the Raiders to a Southwest Conference Championship in 1962. Bob Bass led the program to a 22–15 record over a season-and-a-half before returning to professional basketball coaching duties. Gerald Myers became coach of the Red Raiders mid-year during the 1970/71 season and stayed until 1991, his stay was the longest of any head basketball coach at Tech, several milestones were passed during his tenure, including wins #600, #700, #800, #900. With a Texas Tech career record of 326–261, Myers has more wins with the Red Raiders than any other men's basketball coach in school history. Myers led Tech to 16 winning seasons, two Southwest Conference championships, three SWC tournament titles, four NCAA Tournament berths.
Myers served as the school's athletic director from 1996 to 2011. James Dickey replaced Myers as head coach prior to the 1991/92 season and would remain at Texas Tech until his dismissal at the end of the 2000/01 season. During his 10 seasons at Texas Tech, Dickey amassed a 166–124 win-loss record; the program won its 1,000th game under Dickey—a 71–62 victory at UALR. Dickey took over a Texas Tech program that had finished with a 13–45 combined record over Myers' final two years and led his first team to a winning season and fifth-place finish in Southwest Conference play, after having been picked to finish last in the conference. In his second year as head coach, the Red Raiders won the Southwest Conference tournament championship, the school's fourth, to secure the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Texas Tech finished the 1994/95 season with a 20–10 record, sharing the SWC regular season championship with Texas and earning a berth in the 1995 National Invitation Tournament. In the SWC's final season, Dickey's 1995–96 Red Raiders produced the most successful season in school history and one of the more memorable seasons in the history of the conference, finishing 30–2 overall and undefeated in conference play, winning both the SWC regular season championship and the conference tournament title, advancing to the "Sweet Sixteen" in the NCAA Tournament, finishing #8 in the AP Poll and #10 in the Coaches' Poll.
The Raiders moved to the Big 12 for the 1996/97 season, appeared to pick up right where they left off with a solid 19–9 season. For all intents and purposes, Dickey's tenure ended on the first day of the inaugural Big 12 basketball tournament. During the Raiders' first-round game, it was discovered that that two players had played the entire season while academically ineligible. Hours after that game, Texas Tech announced that it was withdrawing from postseason consideration and forfeiting its entire conference schedule; the Raiders had lost that game, would have had to forfeit it if they had won. A subsequent investigation revealed massive violations dating back to 1990 in men's basketball and nine other sports; as a result, the NCAA stripped Tech of its two NCAA tournament wins in 1996 and docked it nine scholarships over four years. Dickey was unable to recover from the lost scholarships, his Red Raiders finished with four consecutive losing seasons, during which they only won a total of 18 games in Big 12 play.
He was fired after his 2000/01 team prod
Oscar Robertson Trophy
The Oscar Robertson Trophy is given out annually to the outstanding men's college basketball player by the United States Basketball Writers Association. The trophy is considered to be the oldest of its kind and has been given out since 1959. USBWA College Player of the Year was started in 1959, which makes it the oldest running trophy for the college player of the year; the USBWA annually selects a player of the year and All-America teams for both men and women in college basketball. The USBWA men's player of the year award is now called the Oscar Robertson Trophy; the USBWA selects a national coach of the year for men and women, with the men's award named after legendary coach Henry Iba. It was renamed after the college and professional legend Oscar Robertson in 1998. Five nominees are presented and the individual with the most votes receives the award during the NCAA Final Four; the Oscar Robertson Trophy known as the Player of the Year Award, was renamed in 1998 because of Robertson’s outstanding career and his continuing efforts to promote the game of basketball.
He averaged 32.6 points per game in his sophomore year at Cincinnati. List of U. S. men's college basketball national player of the year awards "Oscar Robertson Trophy". Sportswriters.net. United States Basketball Writers Association. Retrieved March 12, 2011
NABC Player of the Year
The NABC Player of the Year is an award given annually by the National Association of Basketball Coaches to recognize the top player in men's college basketball. The award has been given since the 1974–75 season to National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I basketball players; the association added awards for Division II and Division III players in 1983, for National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and junior college players in 2008. The awards have been sponsored by State Farm Insurance. In Division I, Duke has the most all-time winners with six, their rival, North Carolina, as well as Kansas are tied for second with four winners. There have been three ties for NABC Player of the Year, only two players have won the award multiple times. In Division II, Virginia Union has four winners, the most all-time, is followed by Kentucky Wesleyan which has three. Only one tie has occurred. In Division III, Potsdam State has the most all-time winners with three, while six other schools are tied for second with two winners apiece.
There have been four repeat winners. At the NAIA level, there is a distinction between NAIA Division NAIA Division II winners. Since the awards began in 2008, no school or individual player has received the award multiple times. In junior college, every winner has been a sophomore and has gone on to play at an NCAA Division I school after their community college careers have ended. For the 2007–08 season, Ryan Fiegi, a senior point guard at Oregon Tech, was named the player of the year. Beginning in 2008–09, the NAIA began awarding players of the year for Divisions I and II. Since community college players only attend for two years, these players are only either freshmen or sophomores. Afterwards, they move on to a four year university to finish their last two seasons of NCAA eligibility; the "University" column reflects which team these players would play for following their JuCo careers. List of U. S. men's college basketball national player of the year awards Official website
Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball
Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team represents the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus. The Golden Gophers have played in the Big Ten since the conference began sponsoring basketball in 1905 and play their home games in Williams Arena; the Gophers had great success in the early years of basketball, but have been overshadowed by other programs since the end of World War I. In total, the Gophers have won nine Big Ten championships, but only four since 1919. College basketball research organizations have retroactively awarded Minnesota national championships in 1902, 1903, 1919; the team has had several instances of NCAA sanctions on the program that have affected performance and recruiting. In the 1970s, the Gophers were in a violent brawl with the Ohio State Buckeyes and were barred from post-season appearances for two seasons after an incident involving the illegal resale of tickets. Still more severe was the mid-1990s academic scandal under then-coach Clem Haskins that resulted in the forfeit of a Final Four appearance.
The Gophers team formed without any organized coach. L. J. Cooke took over the team in 1897. Cooke was put on the University payroll on a part-time basis in early 1897 and full-time by the fall. Cooke remained the coach of the Gophers for 28 seasons, his.649 winning percentage is the second highest in school history. Dave MacMillan, who coached the team from 1927 to 1942 and 1945 to 1948, had the second longest tenure as coach at 18 seasons. John Wooden succeeded McMillan as Gophers head coach; the Gophers have had several NBA coaches grace the sidelines. John Kundla took over as Gophers head coach. George Hanson was assistant coach under both Kundla and Fitch and was head coach for the 1970-71 season. Bill Fitch and Bill Musselman both coached the team for a couple seasons before departing for the NBA and ABA where each had success and coached for many years; the program has had a fair degree of stability with their coaching staff. Tubby Smith became the 16th head coach in Gopher basketball history when hired in 2007.
Five coaches led the team for more than 10 seasons: Cooke, McMillan, O. B. Cowles, Jim Dutcher, Clem Haskins. On March 25, 2013, Tubby Smith was fired after failing to reach the Sweet Sixteen again; the Gophers hired Richard Pitino on April 3, 2013. The Golden Gophers have had many successful players come through the program throughout its history. In the early years of basketball, when the Gophers had success, they recruited some of the best players in the country. George Tuck was a dominant center, the first All-America for the Gophers in 1905. Frank Lawler was another early star: he led the Big Ten in scoring in 1911 and was named to the All-America team, helped the Gophers to a contested conference title. In 1950, Lawler was named the greatest player in Gopher basketball history, but the subsequent decades of Gopher basketball have forgotten his legacy. Hall of Fame coach John Kundla was a Gophers star and helped lead the team to its 1937 Big Ten Championship. With the decline of the stature of the Gophers program, fewer elite players have joined the team.
The diminished reputation has not, prevented some superior athletes from coming to the Minneapolis campus. Lou Hudson had his number retired. Baseball Hall of Famer Dave Winfield played for the Gophers in the early 1970s, he played at the same time as star post player Jim Brewer. Mychal Thompson was the first overall pick in the 1978 NBA Draft. Among Thompson's teammates were former Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards head coach Flip Saunders, as well as basketball hall of fame forward Kevin McHale. Trent Tucker led the 1982 squad to the Big Ten Championship. Voshon Lenard was a key player for the Gophers in the early 1990s and went on to play more than a decade in the NBA. Willie Burton once scored 53 points in an NBA game with the Philadelphia 76ers. Other former Gophers with long NBA careers include Randy Breuer, Mark Olberding, Archie Clark, Jim Petersen, Ray Williams. Five players from the 1997 Final Four team played in the NBA: Bobby Jackson, Sam Jacobson, Quincy Lewis, John Thomas, Trevor Winter.
No former Gophers play in the NBA. Jamal Abu-Shamala, a Jordanian-American, plays internationally for the Jordan national basketball team; this roster is current for the 2018–19 men's basketball season. The precise founding of the Gophers men's basketball program at the University of Minnesota is somewhat nebulous. Unlike many other universities with foundations, the team did not form as a conscious act of the campus administration; the University's student newspaper at the time, the Ariel, reported on basketball throughout 1895 as the sport was introduced to the campus from a rival school, Minnesota A&M in St. Paul incorporated into the larger University of Minnesota Twin Cities. In 1896, a team from the school began to participate in a league with the Agriculture school, YMCA teams, other local associations; the establishment of the Armory on-campus gave the team a new place to play. In February 1897, L. J. Cooke, a director of the Minneapolis YMCA, was hired on a part-time basis to coach the basketball program, became the full-time coach and director of physical education by the fall of that year.
Cooke was one of the first full-time professional coaches in all of college basketball and would remain at the program for 28 seasons. Cooke began to
Adolph Rupp Trophy
The Adolph F. Rupp Trophy was an award given annually to the top player in men's Division I NCAA basketball until 2015; the recipient of the award was selected by an independent panel consisting of national sportswriters and sports administrators. The trophy was presented each year at the site of the Final Four of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship; the Adolph F. Rupp Trophy was administered by the Commonwealth Athletic Club of Kentucky, a non-profit organization with a primary mission of honoring the legacy of University of Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp. Three winners of the award have been freshmen: Kevin Durant of Texas in 2007, John Wall of Kentucky in 2010 and Anthony Davis of Kentucky in 2012. List of U. S. men's college basketball national player of the year awards Official site
Steve Donahue
Steve Donahue is an American college basketball coach the head coach of the Penn Quakers men's basketball team. He is the former head coach of Boston Cornell. Donahue is a native of Pennsylvania and a former player at Ursinus College. Prior to becoming the head coach at Cornell University, Donahue began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Springfield High School, Monsignor Bonner High School, Philadelphia University, The University of Pennsylvania. Donahue had been the head coach at Cornell from September 2000 until April 6, 2010. Cornell struggled early under Donahue, but he turned the program around. A March 1, 2008 defeat of the Harvard Crimson gave Cornell the Ivy League championship for the first time since 1988 and just the second title in program history. On March 6, 2009, with Princeton's loss to Columbia, Cornell clinched the Ivy League Championship for a second consecutive year, it was the first time in 50 years that any team other than Penn or Princeton had won consecutive Ivy League titles in basketball.
One year on March 6, 2010, Donahue's Cornell team defeated the Brown Bears to clinch its third consecutive title and fourth in team history. This guaranteed an automatic bid for Cornell in the 2010 NCAA basketball tournament, in which Cornell was given a 12-seed in the East region. Cornell went on to win two games in the tournament, defeating 5-seed Temple and 4-seed Wisconsin, both victories by double digit margins, to advance to the Sweet 16, the first Ivy League team to advance this far since 1979. There they fell to the 1-seed Kentucky Wildcats; this team featured several lauded seniors, including point guard Louis Dale, who finished as the third highest scorer and top assist man in Cornell history. Donahue received the Clair Bee Coach of the Year Award for his accomplishments during the 2009–10 season. On April 7, 2010, Boston College announced that Donahue had been hired as the head coach of its basketball program, replacing coach Al Skinner. Donahue led the Eagles to the second round of the NIT his first year.
Donahue's second year was less successful, as the Eagles won only 9 games and lost to Harvard for the fourth year in a row. Donahue led the Eagles to a 16-17 season in his third year. Despite going 16-17, the Eagles lost to two top ten teams by one point. On February 19, 2014, Donahue achieved what is considered his biggest win at BC by beating #1-ranked Syracuse on the road in the Carrier Dome, 62-59 in overtime; the upset was one of the few bright spots of Donahue's fourth and final year, which saw the Eagles finish with an 8-24 record. On March 18, 2014, Boston College terminated Donahue, he failed to reach the NCAA tournament. On March 16, 2015, Donahue was named the 20th head coach in Penn basketball history, replacing Jerome Allen. Donahue served as an assistant coach for the Quakers from 1990 to 2000. Following Donahue's hiring as head coach, Mike Krzyzewski, Duke University and USA National Team head coach, stated, “Steve Donahue is a terrific basketball coach, is more impressive off the court," adding, "This is an outstanding hire by the University of Pennsylvania.”
Penn's 2017–18 team won the 2018 Ivy League Tournament qualifying for their 1st NCAA Tournament since 2007. As the 16th seed for the Midwest bracket of the 2018 NCAA Tournament, they played number 1 seed Kansas; the Quakers jumped out to a 21–11 lead with 8:01 left in the 1st half. However, the Jayhawks finished the half on a 22–5 run taking a 33–26 lead into half-time; the Jayhawks never trailed again and outscored the Quakers 43–34 in the 2nd half, causing the Quakers to lose 60–76. Penn profile Cornell profile
Brad Stevens
Bradley Kent Stevens is an American professional basketball coach and former collegiate player, the head coach of the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association Born and raised in Zionsville, Stevens starred on the Zionsville Community High School basketball team, setting four school records. After high school, he attended DePauw University, where he played basketball and earned a degree in economics, he was a three-time Academic All-America nominee. He transitioned into coaching after quitting his job at Eli Lilly and Company, joining the basketball program at Butler University as a volunteer prior to the 2000–01 season, he was promoted to a full-time assistant coach the following season. After five seasons in the role, he assumed the position of head coach on April 4, 2007, after Todd Lickliter left to coach the Iowa Hawkeyes. In his first year, Stevens led Butler to 30 wins, becoming the third-youngest head coach in NCAA Division I history to have a 30-win season. In 2010, his third year as head coach, Stevens broke the NCAA record for most wins in a coach's first three years, exceeding the previous record by eight wins.
In the NCAA Tournament, Stevens coached Butler to the first Final Four in school history, while becoming the second-youngest head coach to make a NCAA National Championship game, losing 61–59 to Duke. With the following season's team making the Final Four, Stevens became the youngest coach to go to two Final Fours. Stevens coached the Bulldogs in their second consecutive national championship game on April 4, 2011, where the team again lost, this time to the Connecticut Huskies. Stevens was named a finalist for Horizon League Coach of the Year award, winning twice, was a nominee for both the Hugh Durham Award and Jim Phelan Award in every year of his college career; this success garnered him a job with the NBA's Boston Celtics in 2013, when he signed a six-year, $22-million-dollar contract to become head coach. After undertaking a rebuild early in his career, Stevens has led the Celtics to the NBA Playoffs every year since 2015, won a division championship, appeared in the Eastern Conference Finals in each of his last two seasons.
He has gained a reputation as one of the NBA's best coaches, with his motion offense and stingy defense earning plaudits from fans and players, drawing comparisons to John Wooden. Stevens grew up in Zionsville, where he developed his love for basketball. Starting at age five, Stevens would watch taped basketball games "before he went to afternoon kindergarten", his father drove him to Bloomington to watch Indiana Hoosiers games. "It's hard not to be when you're a kid growing up in Indiana", Stevens said. For his eighth birthday, Stevens received a new basketball hoop. "It’s so much fun to dream in your driveway," he remarked. "That's where I hung out. It was a lot of fun to grow up in that era." When a friend, Brandon Monk, had a basketball court installed in his back yard, Stevens "appeared instantaneously." He was so dedicated to the game that he would bring the unprepared ingredients for grilled cheese sandwiches to Monk's house so that he would not waste time waiting for the sandwiches to cook.
Monk's court soon became a gathering place, where kids from Zionsville and the surrounding areas would hold pickup games. These games helped develop Stevens's competitive streak. Besides playing basketball, the young Stevens enjoyed solving puzzles, a skill he applied to analyzing opposing teams to find their weaknesses. Stevens attended Zionsville Community High School, he wore No. 31 in high school in honor of Indiana Pacers guard Reggie Miller. During his freshman year, he got up early to practice shooting at a local gym before school; the hard work paid off. By the time his high school career was complete, Stevens had set school records for career scoring, assists and three-point field goals; as of 2017, he still holds the records for career points per game average, total career points and steals, as well as the single-season points record. Stevens was named to the all-conference team three times. In 1995, he was the leading scorer in state sectional play. Stevens made the academic all-state first team and received the Straight A Gold Medal Award all four years.
He was a member of the National Honor Society, graduating seventh in his class of 165. He earned three letters in basketball, three in track, one in baseball during his days at Zionsville. During summers, he traveled the country playing AAU basketball. Despite his strong passion for the game, Stevens realized that his basketball skills were modest and not to get him far, he chose to attend academically oriented DePauw University, where he played in all 101 DePauw games, earning four varsity letters. He earned multiple all-conference and academic all-conference awards, was a three-time Academic All-America nominee, he was a team captain his senior year, averaged more than 8 points per game three of his four years. His career highs were 8 rebounds in a game. After his senior year, Stevens received the Coaches’ Award. Coach Bill Fenlon described Stevens as "one of the most selfless, team-oriented person I've been around."At DePauw, Stevens was a member of the Management Fellows Honors Program and the DePauw Community Services’ Sports Night executive board.
He was a brother of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. During summer vacations, Stevens spent time teaching at Butler basketball camps, he was named to the Dean's list and graduated in 1
