1.
Basketball
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Basketball is a non-contact team sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of five players each. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches in diameter and 10 feet high that is mounted to a backboard at each end of the court. The game was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, a team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the basket being defended by the opposition team during regular play. A field goal scores three points for the team if the player shoots from behind the three-point line. A team can also score via free throws, which are worth one point, the team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but additional time is mandated when the score is tied at the end of regulation. The ball can be advanced on the court by passing it to a teammate and it is a violation to lift, or drag, ones pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling. The game has many techniques for displaying skill—ball-handling, shooting, passing, dribbling, dunking, shot-blocking. The point guard directs the on court action of the team, implementing the coachs game plan, Basketball is one of the worlds most popular and widely viewed sports. Outside North America, the top clubs from national leagues qualify to continental championships such as the Euroleague, the FIBA Basketball World Cup attracts the top national teams from around the world. Each continent hosts regional competitions for teams, like EuroBasket. The FIBA Womens Basketball World Cup features the top womens basketball teams from continental championships. The main North American league is the WNBA, whereas the EuroLeague Women has been dominated by teams from the Russian Womens Basketball Premier League, in early December 1891, Canadian Dr. He sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied, after rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto a 10-foot elevated track. Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball and these laces could cause bounce passes and dribbling to be unpredictable. Eventually a lace-free ball construction method was invented, and this change to the game was endorsed by Naismith, dribbling was not part of the original game except for the bounce pass to teammates. Passing the ball was the means of ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but limited by the shape of early balls. Dribbling only became a part of the game around the 1950s
2.
El Paso, Texas
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El Paso is the seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The city is situated in the far corner of the U. S. state of Texas. El Paso stands on the Rio Grande river across the Mexico–United States border from Ciudad Juárez, the region of over 2.9 million people constitutes the largest bilingual and binational work force in the Western Hemisphere. The city hosts the annual Sun Bowl college football post-season game, El Paso has a strong federal and military presence. William Beaumont Army Medical Center, Biggs Army Airfield, and Fort Bliss call the city home, Fort Bliss is one of the largest military complexes of the United States Army and the largest training area in the United States. Also headquartered in El Paso are the DEA domestic field division 7, El Paso Intelligence Center, Joint Task Force North, Border Patrol El Paso Sector, and U. S. In 2010, El Paso received an All-America City Award, El Paso has been ranked the safest large city in the U. S. for four consecutive years and has ranked in the top three since 1997. As of July 1,2015, the estimate for the city from the U. S. Census was 681,124. Its U. S. metropolitan area covers all of El Paso and Hudspeth counties in Texas, the El Paso MSA forms part of the larger El Paso–Las Cruces CSA, with a population of 1,053,267. The El Paso region has had human settlement for thousands of years, the evidence suggests 10,000 to 12,000 years of human habitation. The earliest known cultures in the region were maize farmers, when the Spanish arrived, the Manso, Suma, and Jumano tribes populated the area. These were subsequently incorporated into the Mestizo culture, along with immigrants from central Mexico, captives from Comanchería, the Mescalero Apache were also present. El Paso del Norte was founded on the bank of the Río Bravo del Norte. El Paso remained the largest settlement in New Mexico until its cession to the U. S. in 1848, the Texas Revolution was generally not felt in the region, as the American population was small, not being more than 10% of the population. However, the region was claimed by Texas as part of the treaty signed with Mexico, during this interregnum, 1836–1848, Americans nonetheless continued to settle the region. The present Texas–New Mexico boundary placing El Paso on the Texas side was drawn in the Compromise of 1850, El Paso County was established in March 1850, with San Elizario as the first county seat. The United States Senate fixed a boundary between Texas and New Mexico at the 32nd parallel, thus largely ignoring history and topography, a military post called The Post opposite El Paso was established in 1854. Further west, a settlement on Coons Rancho called Franklin became the nucleus of the future El Paso, a year later, pioneer Anson Mills completed his plan of the town, calling it El Paso
3.
UTEP Miners basketball
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UTEP Miners is the name given to the sports teams of the University of Texas at El Paso. They are informally referred to as the Miners, UTEP, or Texas–El Paso, UTEP was a member of the Western Athletic Conference from 1967 to 2005, when they joined Rice, Tulsa, and SMU in leaving the WAC for Conference USA. The UTEP Miners are best known as the team in Texas to win a NCAA Mens Basketball Championship. UTEPs colors are orange and blue and the mascot is a miner named Paydirt Pete, the athletic director for the Miners is Bob Stull. A member of Conference USA, UTEP sponsors teams in six mens and ten womens NCAA sanctioned sports, NOTE, playing their first game in 1914, the UTEP Miners football team currently competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The team plays its games in the Sun Bowl Stadium, and head coach Mike Price recently retired from his 9th, the winner of the UTEP vs. New Mexico State University football game receives a pair of traveling trophies, The Silver Spade, the first spade used for this purpose was an old prospectors shovel dug up from an abandoned mine in the Organ Mountains near Las Cruces, New Mexico in 1947. This was the symbol of victory, and the spade was given to the winner of the game between the Miners and Aggies each year. The idea of the present Silver Spade was from UTEP student Don Henderson, in 1955 Henderson secured the present spade and each year the score of the game is engraved on the blade. This game is commonly known as The Battle of I-10. UTEP was a member of the Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association, from 1941-1961, the football team won a conference championship in 1956. As Texas Western, the Miners won the 1966 NCAA Mens Division I Basketball Tournament, the 72–65 victory over Kentucky at The University of Marylands Cole Field House in College Park, Maryland is considered one of the most important games in the history of college basketball. It marked the first time that a team started 5 African-American players in a title game, at this time, Kentucky had no African-American players. The impact of the game was primarily because it occurred during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. The team was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, in June,2013, the Miners rifle team became a charter member of the Patriot Rifle Conference. UTEPs sports programs have won a total of 21 NCAA Division I national championships, UTEP is currently tied for 10th overall among schools in Mens Sports Division I championships. Mens basketball,1 Mens cross country,7 Mens indoor track & field,7 Mens outdoor track & field,6 UTEP students and alumni participated in track and field events. Don Haskins Center, seating capacity 12,000, was built in 1976 and is used by the mens and womens basketball teams
4.
Basketball positions
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The five basketball positions normally employed by organized basketball teams are the point guard, the shooting guard, the small forward, the power forward, and the center. While these position names are used, most modern teams use a point guard. The rules of basketball do not mandate them, and they are not used. Typically, the point guard is the leader of the team when on the court and this position requires substantial ball handling skills and the ability to facilitate the team during a play. The shooting guard, as the name implies, is often the best shooter and they are probably capable of shooting accurately from longer distances. Generally, they also have good ball-handling skills, the small forward often has an aggressive approach to the basket when handling the ball. The center is typically the larger of the two, during the 1980s, as team strategy evolved, more specialized roles developed, resulting in the five position designations utilized today. Team strategy and available personnel, however, still dictates the positions used by a particular team, for example, the Dribble drive motion offense and the Princeton offense utilize four interchangeable guards and one center. The point guard, also known as the one, is typically the teams best ball handler and passer, therefore, they often lead their team in assists and steals. They are often quick and are able to hit shots either outside the three-point line or in the paint, point guards are looked upon as the floor general or the coach on the floor. They should study the game and game film to be able to recognize the weaknesses of the defense, good point guards increase team efficiency and generally have a high number of assists. They are often referred to as dribblers or play-makers, in the NBA, point guards are usually the shortest players on the team and are mostly 6 feet 5 inches or shorter. The shooting guard is known as the two or the off guard. Along with the forward, a shooting guard is often referred to as a wing because of its use in common positioning tactics. As the name suggests, most shooting guards are good shooters from three-point range, besides being able to shoot the ball, shooting guards tend to have good ball handling skills and the ability to drive the ball to the basket, often creating their own shots off the dribble. A versatile shooting guard will have good passing skills, allowing them to point guard responsibilities known as combo guards. In the NBA, shooting guards usually range from 6 feet 4 inches to 6 feet 7 inches, the small forward is considered to be perhaps the most versatile of the main five basketball positions. Versatility is key for small forwards because of the nature of their role and this is why the small forward and shooting guard positions are often interchangeable and referred to as wings
5.
Western Texas College
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Western Texas College is a community college founded in 1971 and located in Snyder in Scurry County, Texas. In addition to the campus there are two downtown Snyder locations. College on the Square focuses on adult and continuing education, the Opportunity Center focuses on workforce training and job skills improvement. As defined by the Texas Legislature, the official Western Texas College service area encompasses Borden, Dickens, Fisher, Jones, Kent, Mitchell, Nolan, Runnels, Scurry, hour requirements for Associate of Applied Science Degree will vary with program. Students may also earn certificates of completion in less than two years for several Career and Technical programs and this academic program seamlessly transfers to the Wind Energy Program at Texas Tech University. Western Texas College is part of the Western Junior College Athletic Conference, renamed The Coliseum, the 3, 400-seat arena received a facelift thanks to a $500,000 donation from wind energy company, Invenergy. In addition to all college basketball games played on Invenergy Court, The Coliseum is host to many annual events, including the Western Swing Festival. Home of the Lady Westerners softball team and host to tournaments for high schools, home of the Westerner baseball squad and local and regional baseball tournaments, including the annual Snyder High School tournament. The Westerners had their first winning season in the 10-11 year posting a 37-17 record, the WTC Soccer Complex includes a full size regulation soccer field and three practice fields. Plans include adding a 400-meter track to the complex, in addition to home games for the WTC Mens and Womens soccer teams, the field hosts many local soccer events for Snyder schools. The WTC campus expanded by nearly 100 acres after Texas clothing and this property currently houses the WTC Soccer Complex, Cavender Energy Field lab, and a rugged outdoor Cross Country track used for local and regional cross country track events. J. D. Sheffield, physician and medical director in Gatesville and a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from Coryell County, began his higher education at WTC
6.
Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball
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The Tulsa Golden Hurricane mens basketball team represents the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, in the U. S. state of Oklahoma. The team participates in the American Athletic Conference, the Golden Hurricane hired Frank Haith from Missouri on April 17,2014 to replace Danny Manning, who had resigned to take the Wake Forest job after the 2013–14 season. The team has long been successful, especially since the hiring of Nolan Richardson in 1980, many big-name coaches previously worked at Tulsa, like University of Kansas coach Bill Self and Minnesota coach Tubby Smith. The Hurricane have been to the NCAA Tournament 14 times in their history, in addition, they have won two National Invitation Tournaments, in 1981 and 2001, and one CBI tournament. In 2005, Street & Smiths named the University of Tulsa as the 59th best college basketball program of all time, Clarence Iba, brother of Henry Iba, helped to springboard Tulsa to success when named the head coach in 1949. He coached at the school for 11 years, the longest tenure of any Tulsa coach and he became the first coach in NCAA history to win 50 games in his first two seasons. In the 1990s and 2000s, a succession of Tulsa coaches went on to big name programs across the country, including Tubby Smith, Buzz Peterson, the team remained successful throughout the string of coaches. Doug Wojcik, coach from 2005 to 2012, is the all-time winningest coach at the school with 140 wins, notable assistants in the programs history have included Billy Gillispie, Flip Saunders, Kevin O’Neill, Tom Izzo, Mike Anderson and Ron Jirsa. Tulsa has had a series of players at the program. Among those who did make it to the NBA, James King, who came back to coach the program after his NBA career, and Bingo Smith had the greatest success. King was selected to the 1968 NBA All-Star Game, and Smith scored more than 10,000 points in his career, bergen in 1907, when the school still went by the name Kendall College. It went 1–1 in its first season, following the 1908–09 season, the team went on hiatus for several years before restarting for the 1913–14 season under Harvey Allen. The team hit hard times and achieved occasional modest success until the arrival of Clarence Iba in 1949, of special note is the 1942–1943 winless squad under Mike Milligan, whose team went 0–10. Under Iba, Tulsa reached the post-season for the first time in the 1953 NIT, in 1955, Iba led the Golden Hurricane to their first Missouri Valley Conference title and NCAA tournament appearance. Joe Swank succeeded Iba in 1960 and it was under Swank that the color barrier was broken in the Tulsa basketball program. Swank had some winning seasons, but the program would be without real success until the arrival of Nolan Richardson, Nolan Richardson’s hiring helped to usher in a new era of success at Tulsa that has remained fairly consistent since then. He led the team the NIT Championship in the 1980–1981 season, Richardson also won two MVC regular season and two MVC tournament championships in his five season tenure. His flamboyant personality made him popular, his teams adopted McFadden & Whiteheads Aint No Stopping Us Now as their theme song during the Richardson years
7.
Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball
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The Arkansas Razorbacks basketball team represents the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States in NCAA Division I mens basketball competition. The schools team competes in the Southeastern Conference. The team last played in the NCAA Division I Mens Basketball Tournament in 2017 and they lost in the second round to the University of North Carolina. The basketball team plays its games in Bud Walton Arena on the University of Arkansas campus. Under the coaching leadership of Nolan Richardson, the Hogs won the championship in 1994, defeating Duke, and appeared in the championship game the following year. The Razorbacks have made NCAA Final Four appearances in 1941,1945,1978,1990,1994, Arkansas had a relatively late start in basketball, it did not field its first team in the sport until 1924. Francis Schmidt coached the Razorbacks from the 1924 season until the 1929 season, in the 1930 season, Charles Bassett took over as head coach. He would coach until the 1933 season, Arkansas finished first in the Southwest Conference during his first year, but would not finish above third place for the rest of his reign. After 4 seasons, his record was 62-29. Glen Rose took over in the 1934 season and would leave after the 1942 season, the Razorbacks took first place in the Southwest Conference outright three times and tied for first twice more during this nine-year run. In the 1941 season, Rose led Arkansas to the NCAA Final Four, eugene Lambert took the helm for the 1943 season and would last until the 1949 season. During these four seasons, Arkansas tied for first place of the Southwest conference twice, Arkansas was selected for the NCAA tournament in the 1944 season, but had to withdraw after two of their players were involved in a car accident. The next year they were selected again and would make it to the Final Four and they would not make the tournament again, however until the 1949 season when they reached the NCAA Regional. Presley Askew would take over in 1950 and would only last until 1952, Arkansas would tie for first place in the Southwest conference in his first season, but would get progressively worse. The Razorbacks would not make the NCAA tournament during this tenure, glen Rose would take back over in 1953 and would last until 1966. Roses overall record for his time at Arkansas was 325-204, duddy Waller would become head coach for the 1966-67 season, but only lasted until the 1970-71 season. His overall record during his 4 seasons was 31-64, which was the worst overall winning percentage, at 0.326, Waller was replaced by Lanny Van Eman, who lasted from the 1970-71 season through the 1973-74 season. Van Eman finished his career at Arkansas with a 48-56 record, Arkansas failed to finish above second place under during the tenure of these 2 coaches, and would not receive any invitations to the NCAA tournament
8.
Tulsa Shock
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The Tulsa Shock were a professional basketball team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, playing in the Western Conference in the Womens National Basketball Association. The team was founded in Detroit, Michigan before the 1998 WNBA season began, the team was owned by Tulsa Pro Hoops LLC, which is led by Bill Cameron and David Box. On July 20,2015, Cameron announced that the franchise would move to Arlington, the Shock qualified for the WNBA Playoffs in their final year in Tulsa in 2015. In 2003,2006,2007, and 2008, the Shock went to the WNBA Finals, they won in 2003,2006 and 2008, beating Los Angeles, Sacramento and they lost in 2007 to Phoenix. The Shock were one of the first WNBA expansion teams and began play in 1998, the Shock quickly brought in a blend of rookies and veterans. The team only qualified for the once in its first five years of existence. The Shock went through two coaches before hiring former Detroit Pistons legend Bill Laimbeer, there were rumors the Shock would fold after the teams awful 2002 season. Laimbeer convinced the owners to keep the team for another year, after massive changes to the roster, Laimbeer predicted before the 2003 season that the Shock would be league champions, and his prediction would unbelievably come true. The Shock finished with a 25-9 record and winning the one seed by seven games. In the playoffs, the Shock defeated the Cleveland Rockers and the Connecticut Sun to reach the WNBA Finals, despite the achievements, the Shock were viewed as huge underdogs to the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Sparks. The Shock emerged victorious in the series, winning a game three which drew the largest crowd in WNBA history. Detroit became the first team in history to go from last place one season to WNBA champions the very next season. After coming up short in 2004 and 2005, the 2006 Shock finished 23-11 record, the Shock defeated the Indiana Fever and the Connecticut Sun to advance to the Finals again, where they faced the defending champion Sacramento Monarchs. The Shock won the series 3-2, and claimed their second WNBA title, in 2007, the Shock again advanced to the Finals but were defeated by the Phoenix Mercury in five games. The 2008 Shock posted a 22-12 regular season record, the best record in the East yet again, in the Finals, the Shock faced the San Antonio Silver Stars, who had not lost to an Eastern Conference team all season. Surprisingly, Detroit swept San Antonio, capturing their third championship in franchise history, the Shock were named favorites for 2009, but they had a rough road getting there. Bill Laimbeer resigned as coach early in the season. However, interim coach Rick Mahorn and the Shock bounced back in the half of 2009
9.
Panama national basketball team
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The Panama national basketball team are the basketball side that represent Panama in international competitions. Guillermo Vecchio –2006 Scroll down to see more, during the late 1970s and early 1980s, various Panama players played their college basketball in the United States at NAIA school Briar Cliff College as part of head coach Ray Nackes Panama Pipeline. Some of the members included national team members Rolando Frazier, Ernesto Tito Malcolm, Mario Butler, Eddie Warren, Reggie Grenald, and Mario Galvez. These players helped Briar Cliff to many NAIA Regional Championships, National Tournament appearances, Panama has gone to 4 preolympic tournaments,5 pre-world championships, one world championship in 2006, and one youth basketball olympics since the year 2000. The local program is based in neighborhood leagues that collect talent and this symbiotic philosophy produces back the talent for the National Team. 2015, Nike Latinbasket. com - Panama Men National Team
10.
Mexico national basketball team
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The Mexico national basketball team is the side that represents Mexico in mens international basketball competitions. The governing body of the team is the Asociación Deportiva Mexicana de Básquetbol, in 2013, Mexico won the FIBA Americas Championship, its greatest accomplishment so far. 19481967199120111983 Fourth Place,1955195919711975198719651975201419912001201619872003 Fourth Place. 196719891997200420062013 Fourth Place.20152006200720092013 Fourth Place,2015 Until the late 1960s, team Mexico was a major force at the world stage. The team won the medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics, finished 4th at the 1948 event. At the FIBA Americas Championship 2009 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Mexico finished 7th, ahead of Panama, Venezuela, on individual performances, Gustavo Ayon finished among the tournaments top performers in steals, blocks and minutes per game. Both Eduardo Najera and Earl Watson expressed their interest in representing Mexico internationally, however, neither received permission by their NBA teams to participate at the FIBA Americas Championship 2009 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Mexico took part in the FIBA Americas Championship 2013 to replace Panama, to the surprise of many they beat hosts Venezuela in their opening game and advanced to the second round with wins over Paraguay and the Dominican Republic. They later finished top of the second round group and a semi-final win over heavy favourites Argentina saw them through to the final. On 11 September 2013, they beat Puerto Rico 91-83 in the Gold medal game to win the FIBA Americas Championship, inside player Gustavo Ayon was voted as the tournaments Most Valuable Player. The surprising gold medal at the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship secured Mexico a spot at the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain and this marked the first qualification to the Basketball World Cup in 40 years. At the 2014 FIBA World Cup, the Mexicans won two of their five preliminary games against Korea and Angola which earned them a playoff spot for the first time in their history. They would, however, come unstuck against eventual champions USA, especially noteworthy was Mexico’s 3 point field goal percentage, which was one of the highest among all the teams at the event. Due to Mexicos strong performances of late, the gained the right to host the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship
11.
National Invitation Tournament
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The National Invitation Tournament is a mens college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City each March and April, over time it became eclipsed by the NCAA Division I Mens Basketball Tournament – known today informally as March Madness and The Big Dance. The NIT has since been regarded more as a tournament for teams that did not receive a berth in the NCAA tournament. A second, much more recent NIT tournament is played in November, formerly the Preseason NIT, it was founded in 1985. Like the postseason NIT, its final rounds are played at Madison Square Garden, both tournaments were operated by the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Basketball Association until 2005, when they were purchased by the NCAA, and the MIBA disbanded. Unless otherwise qualified, the terms NIT or National Invitation Tournament refer to the tournament in both common and official use. The first NIT was won by the Temple University Owls over the Colorado Buffaloes and this became the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Basketball Association in 1948. Originally the tournament invited a field of 6 teams, with all games played at Madison Square Garden in downtown Manhattan. The field was expanded to 8 teams in 1941,12 in 1949,14 in 1965,16 in 1968,24 in 1979,32 in 1980, in 2007, the tournament reverted to the current 32-team format. Some conferences, such as the Southeastern Conference, were racially segregated, from its onset and at least into the mid-1950s, the NIT was regarded as the most prestigious showcase for college basketball. The winner of the National Invitation Tournament was regarded as more of a national champion than the actual, titular, national champion, several teams played in both the NIT and NCAA tournaments in the same year, beginning with Colorado and Duquesne in 1940. Colorado won the NIT in 1940 but subsequently finished fourth in the NCAA West Region, in 1949, some Kentucky players were bribed by gamblers to lose their first round game in the NIT. This same Kentucky team went on to win the NCAA, the champions of both the NCAA and NIT tournaments played each other for a few years during World War II. From 1943 to 1945, the American Red Cross sponsored a charity game between each years tournament champions to raise money for the war effort. The series was described by Ray Meyer as not just benefit games, the NCAA champion prevailed in all three games. The Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected the NIT champion as its champion for 1938. In 1943 the NCAA tournament moved to share Madison Square Garden with the NIT in an effort to increase the credibility of the NCAA Tournament. In 1945, The New York Times indicated that many teams could get bids to enter either tournament, the team played in the NIT instead, which it won
12.
Missouri Valley Conference
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The Missouri Valley Conference is the second-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Currently, its members are located in the midwestern United States, the conference participates in the NCAAs Division I. The MVC was founded in 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association,12 years after the Big Ten, however, some consider the MVC to have been formed from a split of the MVIAA in 1928. Most of the schools formed a conference that retained the MVIAA name. The smaller schools, plus Oklahoma A&M, formed the MVC, during the Big Eights existence, both conferences claimed 1907 as their founding date, as well as the same history through 1927. During the 2006–07 college basketball season, MVC teams held a 74–27 non-conference record, including a record of 44–1 at home. The Valley finished in the top six of the RPI and ahead of a BCS conference for the second year, while also garnering multiple NCAA bids for the ninth straight year. The MVC has not sponsored football since 1985, when it was a hybrid I-A/I-AA, however, five members have football programs in the Missouri Valley Football Conference of Division I FCS, and a sixth competes in another FCS conference, the Pioneer Football League. The Missouri Valley Conference shares its name with the Missouri Valley Football Conference, however, the two are separate administratively. It has been reported that Wichita State will likely be leaving the conference to join the American Athletic Conference as soon as 2017–18 season, Bradley returned to the MVC for non-football sports in the 1955–56 school year, with Drake doing the same a year later. However, Bradley never returned to MVC football, dropping the sport in 1970, note, In the case of spring sports, the year of joining is the calendar year before the start of competition. Notes Notes Full members Assoc. members Assoc. member C. E. McClung Arthur E. Eilers Norvell Neve DeWitt T. Weaver Mickey Holmes David Price Richard D. Martin James A. Haney Doug Elgin The Missouri Valley Conference sponsors championship competition in eight mens, Central Arkansas and SIU Edwardsville are Affiliate members for mens soccer, Dallas Baptist is an Affiliate member for baseball, and Little Rock is an Affiliate member for swimming and diving. * = Baseball associate Dallas Baptist ** = Soccer associates Central Arkansas and SIU Edwardsville *** = Tennis associates Stony Brook, mens varsity sports not sponsored by the Missouri Valley Conference which are played by Valley schools, * = Affiliate Little Rock. † = To be added in 2017–18, NB, Missouri State was known as Southwest Missouri State until August 2005. One member sold out every game for the 2006–07 season. In 2010–11, 2011–12, and 2012–13, the Valley maintained its position as the eighth ranked conference in average attendance. The Valley made history in March 2007 with record attendance for four days at St. Louis Scottrade Center as 85,074 fans turned out to watch the five sessions of the tournament, Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame Official website
13.
Southwest Conference
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The Southwest Conference was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at times the conference included schools from Oklahoma. After a long period of stability, Arkansas left in 1991 to join the Southeastern Conference, by March 1,1914 a number of schools had responded favorably to the idea. The first organizational meeting of the conference was set to be held on April 30,1914, the date was changed because representatives from every school could not make it then. It was ultimately held on May 5 and 7,1914 at the Oriental Hotel in Dallas, Texas and it was chaired by L. Theo Bellmont. Originally, Bellmont wanted Louisiana State University and the University of Mississippi to join the conference as well, the Southwest Intercollegiate Athletic Conference became an official body on December 8,1914, at a formal meeting at the Rice Hotel in Houston. Rice University left the conference in 1916, only to re-join in 1918, phillips University was a conference member for one year. Oklahoma left in 1919 to join the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association, however, the series between Texas and Oklahoma would continue as a non-conference matchup in the annual Red River Rivalry game held in Dallas. From 1925 until 1991, the University of Arkansas would be the only member not located within the state of Texas. By 1925, the name was shortened to simply Southwest Conference. After its organizational years, the conference settled into regularly scheduled meetings among its members, the SWC would be guided by seven commissioners, the first of whom, P. W. St. Clair, was appointed in 1938. In 1940, the conference took control of the then five-year-old Cotton Bowl Classic, Texas Technological College joined the SWC in 1958, followed by the University of Houston for the 1976 season. The conference celebrated its glory years in the 1960s, dominated by two teams, Texas and Arkansas. Texas won the 1963 National Championship, and Arkansas won a National Championship in 1964 in the Football Writers Association of America, in 1969, Texas won another National Championship by beating #2-ranked Arkansas 15-14 in the regular seasons final game. The 1969 Arkansas-Texas game in Fayetteville, Arkansas, attended by President Richard Nixon, is counted among the greatest college football games ever played. Texas also won the 1970 United Press International National Championship, which until 1974 was awarded prior to the bowl games, opponents usually were the runners-up from the Big 8 Conference or the Southeastern Conference, although independents Penn State and Notre Dame were also often featured. From the 1940s onward, the Cotton Bowl Classic was counted among the four bowl games. However, in the 1990s, the game declined in importance, in 1977, Notre Dame became the last team to win a national championship in the Cotton Bowl Classic by beating Texas in the January 1978 game
14.
Southeastern Conference
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The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the Southern part of the United States. Its fourteen members include the public universities of ten states. The conference is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, the SEC participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I in sports competitions, for football, it is part of the Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-A. The SEC was also the first NCAA Division I conference to hold a game for college football and was one of the founding members of the Bowl Championship Series. The current SEC commissioner is Greg Sankey, the conference sponsors team championships in nine mens sports and twelve womens sports. The SEC consists of 14 member institutions located within the borders of 11 contiguous states and these divisional groupings are applied exclusively to football and baseball as well as their scheduling and standings. The other charter members were, The University of the South left the SEC on December 13,1940 and it is currently a member of the Division III Southern Athletic Association. Georgia Institute of Technology left the SEC in 1964, in 1975, it became a founding member of the Metro Conference, one of the predecessors to todays Conference USA. Georgia Tech competed in the Metro Conference in all sports except football, in 1978, Georgia Tech joined another Southern Conference offshoot, the Atlantic Coast Conference, for all sports, where it has remained ever since. Tulane University left the SEC in 1966, along with Georgia Tech, it was a charter member of the Metro Conference. Unlike Tech, however, Tulane remained in the Metro Conference until it merged with the Great Midwest Conference in 1995 to form Conference USA, Tulane remained an independent in football until C-USA began football competition in 1996. Tulane left C-USA in 2014 for the American Athletic Conference, in 1990, the SEC expanded from ten to twelve member universities with the addition of the Arkansas Razorbacks and the South Carolina Gamecocks. The two new members began SEC competition with the 1991–1992 basketball season, at the same time, the SEC organized competition for some sports into two divisions. Initially, the format was used in football, baseball. The divisional format was dropped for mens basketball following the 2011–2012 season, the 1992 and 1993 championship games were held at Legion Field in Birmingham, and all championship games from 1994 onward have been held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. On November 6,2011 the SEC commissioner announced that the University of Missouri would also join the SEC on July 1,2012, for football, Texas A&M was scheduled to compete in the Western Division, and Missouri in the Eastern Division. Texas A&M and Missouri both left the Big 12 Conference, the office of Commissioner was created in 1940. Under the leadership of Michael F, the SECU rebranded its mission to better serve as a means through which the collaborative academic endeavors and achievements of Southeastern Conference universities would be promoted and advanced
15.
SEC Men's Basketball Tournament
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The SEC Mens Basketball Tournament is the conference tournament in basketball for the Southeastern Conference. It is a tournament that involves all league schools. Its seeding is based on season records. With the abandonment of divisions in SEC mens basketball starting in 2011–12, bracketing was identical to that of the SEC Womens Basketball Tournament—note that SEC womens basketball has long been organized in a single league table without divisions. Since the SEC expanded to 14 schools with the arrival of Missouri and Texas A&M in 2012, both mens and womens tournaments have the four bottom seeds playing opening-round games, with the top four seeds receiving a double-bye into the quarterfinals. Before 2012, the top two teams in both the Eastern and Western Divisions received byes in the first round, while #3 in the East played #6 from the West, #4 played #5, etc. The brackets were set up so that #2 would play the winner of the game involving #3 from the other division, from 1933–50, the SEC Champion was determined by a tournament, except for 1935. Beginning in 1951, a schedule was introduced and the SEC title was awarded to the team with the highest in-conference winning percentage. From 1951–64, the round-robin consisted of 14 games, in 1965 and 1966, it was expanded to 16 games with the departure of Georgia Tech from the league. From 1967–91, the schedule was 18 games due to Tulanes departure. The league also began awarding division championships, in 1979, the tournament was renewed with the winner receiving the SECs automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, but the official league champion remained the team with the best regular season record. Since then, the feat has been accomplished twice, first in 2008 by Georgia, in 2009, Mississippi State repeated that feat, defeating Georgia, South Carolina, LSU and Tennessee to receive the conferences automatic bid to the NCAA Basketball Championships. The first seven games of the 2008 Mens Tournament were played at the Georgia Dome, during overtime of Game 7 between Mississippi State and Alabama, a tornado struck the downtown Atlanta area, damaging the Georgia Dome and several buildings surrounding it, including CNN Center. Only credentialed individuals were allowed to attend, including families, bands, cheerleaders. No other spectators were allowed in the building, Note A, No tournament was held in 1935. Note B, No tournament was held from 1953–1978. Note C, No MVP Selection made from 1933–1952. †Former member of the SEC Kentucky defeated Georgia in the 1988 SEC Tournament final, but the tournament title was vacated later because of NCAA violations
16.
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
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The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as the sports most complete library, in addition to promoting and preserving the history of basketball, dedicated to Canadian physician and inventor of the sport James Naismith, it was opened and inducted its first class in 1959. As of the induction of the Class of 2016 on September 9,2016, the Naismith Hall of Fame was established in 1959 by Lee Williams, a former athletic director at Colby College. In the 1960s, the Basketball Hall of Fame struggled to raise money for the construction of its first facility. The Basketball Hall of Fames Board named four inductees in its first year, in addition to honoring those who contributed to basketball, the Hall of Fame sought to make contributions of its own. In 1979, the Hall of Fame sponsored the Tip-Off Classic and this Tip-Off Classic has been the start to the college basketball season ever since, and although it does not always take place in Springfield, Massachusetts, generally it returns every few years. In the 17 years that the original Basketball Hall of Fame operated at Springfield College, the popularity of the Basketball Hall of Fame necessitated that a new facility be constructed, and in 1985, an $11 million facility was built beside the scenic Connecticut River in Springfield. As the new hall opened, it also recognized women for the first time, with such as Senda Berenson Abbott. In 2002, the Basketball Hall of Fame moved again—albeit merely 100 yards south along Springfields riverfront—into a $47 million facility designed by renowned architects Gwathmey Siegel & Associates, the buildings architecture features a metallic silver, basketball-shaped sphere flanked by two similarly symmetrical rhombuses. The dome is illuminated at night and features 80,000 square foot, including numerous restaurants, the second Basketball Hall of Fame was not torn down but rather converted into an LA Fitness health clubs. The current Basketball Hall of Fame features Center Court, a basketball court on which visitors can play. Inside the building there are a gallery, many interactive exhibits, several theaters. A large theater for ceremonies seats up to 300, the honorees inducted in 2002 included the Harlem Globetrotters and Magic Johnson, a five-time NBA champion, three-time NBA finals MVP and Olympic gold medalist. As of 2011, the current Basketball Hall of Fame has greatly exceeded attendance expectations, despite the new facilitys success, a logistical problem remains for the Basketball Hall of Fame and the City of Springfield. Urban planners at universities such as UMass Amherst have called for the I-91 to be moved, in 2010, the Urban Land Institute announced a plan to make the walk between Springfields Metro Center and the Hall of Fame easier. Since 2011, the induction process employs a total of seven committees to both screen and elect candidates, since 2011, the Veterans and International Committees also vote to directly induct one candidate for each induction class. Contributor Direct Election Committee Note that other committees may choose to elect contributors, for example, the 2014 class included two contributors. However, each screening committee is limited as to the number of candidates it can put forth to the Honors Committee—10 from the North American Committee, any individual receiving at least 18 affirmative votes from the Honors Committee is approved for induction into the Hall of Fame
17.
National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame
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The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Kansas City, Missouri, is a hall of fame and museum dedicated to mens college basketball. The museum is a portion of the College Basketball Experience created by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The hall is meant as a complement to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, on November 17,2006 the NABC honored around 180 players, coaches and other notable contributors to college basketball by inducting them into the founding class of the Hall of Fame. Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, Dean Smith, John Wooden, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts has indicated it will help with the exhibits. The other interactive portions of the College Basketball Experience are called The Entry Experience, The Fan Experience, the NABC recently renamed the Guardians Classic college tournament the CBE Classic to help promote it
18.
NCAA Division I
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Division I is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the United States. This level was called the University Division of the NCAA, in contrast to the lower level College Division. For football only, Division I was further subdivided in 1978 into Division I-A, Division I-AA, in 2006, Division I-A and I-AA were renamed Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision, respectively. FCS teams are allowed to award scholarships, a practice technically allowed. FBS teams also have to meet attendance requirements, while FCS teams do not need to meet minimum attendance requirements. Another difference is post season play, starting with the 2014 postseason, a four-team playoff called the College Football Playoff, replaced the previous one game championship format. Even so, Division I FBS football is still the only NCAA sport in which a champion is not determined by an NCAA-sanctioned championship event. All D-I schools must field teams in at least seven sports for men and seven for women or six for men and eight for women, with at least two team sports for each gender. Division I schools must meet minimum financial aid awards for their athletics program, Several other NCAA sanctioned minimums and differences that distinguish Division I from Divisions II and III. Each playing season has to be represented by each gender as well, there are contest and participant minimums for each sport, as well as scheduling criteria. Mens and womens teams have to play all but two games against Division I teams, for men, they must play one-third of all their contests in the home arena. The NCAA has limits on the financial aid each Division I member may award in each sport that the school sponsors. Equivalency sports, in which the NCAA limits the total financial aid that a school can offer in a sport to the equivalent of a set number of full scholarships. Roster limitations may or may not apply, depending on the sport, the term counter is also key to this concept. The NCAA defines a counter as an individual who is receiving financial aid that is countable against the aid limitations in a sport. The number of scholarships that Division I members may award in sport is listed below. In this table, scholarship numbers for head-count sports are indicated without a point, for equivalency sports, they are listed with a decimal point. An exception exists for players at non-scholarship FCS programs who receive aid in another sport, participants in basketball are counted in that sport, unless they also play football
19.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
20.
University of Texas at El Paso
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The University of Texas at El Paso is a public research university in El Paso, Texas, United States. The school was founded in 1914 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, following a reorganization of the University of Texas in 1920, the school was renamed the College of Mines and Metallurgy of the University of Texas. It became Texas Western College of the University of Texas in 1949, UTEP is part of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the U. S. to have a majority Mexican American student population, the campus features a collection of buildings in the Dzong architectural style. It is located on hillsides overlooking the Rio Grande, with Ciudad Juárez in view across the Mexico-United States border. On April 16,1913, SB183 was signed by the Texas governor allocating funding for a new institution, making it the second oldest academic institution in the University of Texas system. The school officially opened on September 28,1914, with 27 students in buildings belonging to the former El Paso Military Institute on a site just adjacent to Fort Bliss on the Lenoria Mesa. By 1916, enrollment had grown to 39 students, including its first two students, Ruth Brown and Grace Odell. On October 29,1916, a fire destroyed the main building of the school. In 1917, the new facility was constructed on its present site above Mundy Heights. The resemblances between the terrain and mountainous features of Bhutan inspired her to propose designing early buildings of the mining school in the dzong style. Liking its distinctiveness, administrations have continued to choose that style for additional facilities, including the Sun Bowl football stadium, Dzong has characteristics such as sloping sides, markedly overhanging roofs, and bands of colored decoration. In 1919, the name was changed to the University of Texas Department of Mines and Metallurgy. In 1920, it was changed to the Texas College of Mines, tCMs students painted a large M for Miners on the Franklin Mountains in 1923, this was later moved to a site adjacent to the Sun Bowl Stadium in the 1960s where it remains today. The schools name was changed again in 1949, to Texas Western College of The University of Texas, in 1967, following the establishment of a reorganized University of Texas System, the school took on its current name, The University of Texas at El Paso. While the 1967 law designated U. T, El Paso as the schools official abbreviated name, the school is more commonly referred to by its trademarked name of UTEP. The school has had achievements in academic and sports areas, in 1969, UTEP won the first of seven NCAA Mens Cross Country Championships. In 1974, UTEPs first doctoral program in Geological Sciences was approved
21.
Don Haskins
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Donald Lee Haskins, nicknamed The Bear, was an American collegiate player and basketball coach. He played for three years under coach Henry Iba at Oklahoma A&M and he was the head coach at Texas Western College from 1961 to 1999. His greatest triumph occurred in 1966, when his team won the NCAA Tournament over the Wildcats of the University of Kentucky, in his time at Texas Western/UTEP, he compiled a 719–353 record, suffering only five losing seasons. He won 14 Western Athletic Conference championships and four WAC tournament titles, had fourteen NCAA tournament berths, Haskins led UTEP to 17 20-plus-win seasons and served as an assistant Olympic team coach in 1972. He was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1997 as a basketball coach and his 1966 team was inducted in its entirety by the same Hall of Fame on September 7,2007. After college and a stint with the Amateur Athletic Union’s Artesia Travelers and he took a pay cut for a chance to be a college coach, accepting a job offer at Texas Western College in 1961. When Haskins arrived in El Paso, he inherited three players from his coaching predecessor. In 1961–62, Haskins first season as coach, the Miners had an 18-6 record. They again reached the NCAA Tournament in 1964 and played in the NIT in 1965, the Texas Western Miners finished the 1965–66 regular season with a 23–1 record, entering the NCAA Tournament ranked third in the nation in the final regular season AP college basketball poll. In the first round of the tournament, the Miners defeated Oklahoma City 89–74, in the next round, they defeated Cincinnati 78–76 in overtime. They went on to defeat Kansas in double overtime in the Midwest Regional Finals, 81–80, the Miners took the lead midway in the first half and never relinquished it — though Kentucky closed to within a point early in the second half. The Miners finished with 72 points to Kentucky’s 65, winning the tournament, later asked about his decision to start five African American players, Haskins downplayed the significance of his decision. I really didnt think about starting five black guys, I just wanted to put my five best guys on the court, Haskins was later quoted as saying. I just wanted to win that game, although Haskins was never able to duplicate his 1966 success, he is nonetheless regarded as an important figure in basketball history. Among the players he coached at UTEP over the years were future NBA all-stars Nate Archibald, Tim Hardaway, other UTEP alums moving to the NBA included Marlon Maxey and Greg Foster. He was also a mentor for several future coaches, including Nolan Richardson and he served as an assistant coach under Hank Iba in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. A street is named after him in El Pasos East side, the arena he coached in is now known as The Don Haskins Center. Bob Knight was Haskins fishing partner and one of his best friends, another good friend, Norm Ellenberger, is former coach of the New Mexico Lobos
22.
University of Arkansas
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The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university in Fayetteville, in the U. S. state of Arkansas. More than 26,000 students are enrolled in over 188 undergraduate, graduate and it is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with highest research activity. Founded as Arkansas Industrial University in 1871, its present name was adopted in 1899 and it is noted for its strong architecture, agriculture, business, communication disorders, creative writing, history, law, and Middle Eastern studies programs. Enrollment for the semester of 2014 was 26,237. Academic programs are in excess of 200, the ratio of students to faculty is approximately 19,1. The University of Arkansas was founded in 1871 on the site of a farm that overlooked the Ozark Mountains. The university was established under the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act of 1862, the universitys founding also satisfied the provision in the Arkansas Constitution of 1868 that the General Assembly was to establish and maintain a State University. Bids from state towns and counties determined the universitys location, the citizens of Fayetteville and Washington County. Pledged $130,000 toward securing the university, a sum that proved to be more than other offers, classes started on January 22,1872. Completed in 1875, Old Main, a brick building designed in the Second Empire style, was the primary instructional. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and its design was based on the plans for the main academic building at the University of Illinois, which has since been demolished. However, the clock and bell towers were switched at Arkansas, the northern taller tower is the bell tower, and the southern shorter tower is the clock tower. One legend for the switch is that the taller tower was put to the north as a reminder of the Union victory during the Civil War. A second legend is that the contractor accidentally swapped the tower drawings after having had too much to drink, although the southern tower was designed with clock faces, it never held a working clock until October 2005. The bell tower has always had some type of chime, initially a bell that was rung on the hour by student volunteers, electronic chimes were installed in 1959. In addition to the chimes of the clock, the universitys Alma Mater plays at 5 pm every day. Old Main housed many of the earliest classes at the university, the lawn at Old Main serves as an arboretum, with many of the trees native to the state of Arkansas found on the lawn. Sitting at the edge of the lawn is Spoofers Stone, a place for couples to meet, students play soccer, cricket and touch football on the lawns open green
23.
Eddie Sutton
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Edward Eugene Sutton is a retired American college basketball coach. He was a coach for 36 years at the Division I level, at Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma State. Sutton became the first coach to take four schools to the NCAA tournament and he is one of only eight major college mens basketball coaches to have over 800 career wins. Eddie Sutton was born in Bucklin, Kansas and he played for Oklahoma State under legendary coach Henry Iba. While at Oklahoma A&M Sutton became a member of Sigma Chi fraternity, in his college coaching career, Sutton was the head coach of Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma State, and University of San Francisco. He has the distinction of having taken two schools to the Final Four, and was the first coach to lead four schools to the NCAA tournament. The 1967–68 Golden Eagles posted a 33–4 record and quickly became a consistent national contender at the community college level, Sutton left CSI in 1969 to coach at Creighton. It was with the Bluejays that he made his first coaching appearance in the NCAA tournament in 1974, in 1974, Sutton took over an underachieving Arkansas program from Lanny Van Eman. Over the next 11 seasons, Sutton compiled a record of 260-75, including five Southwest Conference championships, nine NCAA tournament appearances, in 1984, Sutton presided over Arkansas upsetting #1 North Carolina in Pine Bluff. Sutton left Arkansas in 1985 to succeed Joe B. Hall at the University of Kentucky and he was quoted as saying he would have crawled to Kentucky which angered many Arkansas fans at the time. Arkansas replaced Eddie Sutton with Nolan Richardson, while at Arkansas, Sutton befriended future President Bill Clinton, then a law professor at the universitys law school. The two remained friends as Clinton rose in the ranks of politics, in 2014 Sutton was inducted into the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame. In 1985, Sutton took the helm of one of the nations most prestigious college basketball programs at the University of Kentucky and he coached the Wildcats for four years, leading them to the Elite Eight of the 1986 NCAA Tournament. However Suttons tenure at Kentucky ended at the close of the 1988–89 season after a scandal, Kentucky entered the 1988–89 season lacking significant talent in their lineup. Additionally, sophomore standout Eric Manuel was suspected of cheating on his entrance exam. Potential franchise recruit Shawn Kemp transferred out of Kentucky after signing with the early that year. The two underclassmen struggled to fill the talent vacuum on the court and the Wildcats finished with a record of 13-19. The NCAA announced at the end of the season that its investigation into the program had found the school guilty of violating numerous NCAA policies
24.
Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
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The Kentucky Wildcats mens basketball team is an American college basketball team that represents the University of Kentucky. Kentucky is the most successful NCAA Division I basketball program in history in terms of both wins and all-time winning percentage. The Wildcats are currently coached by John Calipari, further, Kentucky has played in 17 NCAA Final Fours,12 NCAA Championship games, and has won 8 NCAA championships. In addition to these titles, Kentucky won the National Invitation Tournament in both 1946 and 1976, making it the school to win multiple NCAA and NIT championships. Kentucky also leads all schools with 61 20-win seasons,15 30-win seasons, throughout its history, the Kentucky basketball program has featured many notable and successful players, both on the collegiate level and the professional level. Kentucky holds the record for the most NBA Draft selections as well as the most #1 NBA Draft picks, the Wildcats have also been led by many successful head coaches, including Adolph Rupp, Joe B. Hall, Eddie Sutton, Rick Pitino, Tubby Smith, Kentucky is the only program with 5 different NCAA Championship coaches. The first recorded intercollegiate game at the college was a 15–6 defeat to nearby Georgetown College, the team went 1–2 for their first season, also losing to Kentucky University but defeating the Lexington YMCA. Through 1908, the team did not manage a winning season, in the fall of that year a full-time head coach was hired. This made him the first paid coach in Kentuckys basketball history and that year, the team went 5–4, and only three years later, boasted their first undefeated season with nine victories and no losses. During this early era Kentucky was unstable in that the school went through multiple coaches, in 1919, George Buchheit became the new head coach of the Wildcats. An alumnus of the University of Illinois, he brought him a new system of basketball. The Buchheit system or Illinois system, focused on defense and featured one player standing under each basket, buckheit varied the system he learned in Illinois in one important way. While the Illinois system employed a zone defense, Buchheits system used an aggressive man-to-man scheme, on offense, he used a complicated system of passing called the zig-zag or figure eight offense. Both of these teams were composed entirely of native Kentuckians, anchored by All-American Basil Hayden, the tournament victory was considered Kentuckys first major success, and the 1921 team became known as the Wonder Team. In 1922, the team was unable to build on the success of the Wonder Team, although every player was eligible in 1922, two key players, Hayden and Sam Ridgeway, were injured before the start of the season. Hayden returned from his injury during the season, but was never able to play at the level he had the previous year. Ridgeway fought a battle with diphtheria, and although he recovered
25.
Duke University
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Duke University is an American private research university located in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the town of Trinity in 1838. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James Buchanan Duke established The Duke Endowment, at time the institution changed its name to honor his deceased father. Dukes campus spans over 8,600 acres on three campuses in Durham as well as a marine lab in Beaufort. The main campus—designed largely by architect Julian Abele—incorporates Gothic architecture with the 210-foot Duke Chapel at the campus center, the first-year-populated East Campus contains Georgian-style architecture, while the main Gothic-style West Campus 1.5 miles away is adjacent to the Medical Center. Duke is the seventh-wealthiest private university in America with $11.4 billion in cash, Dukes research expenditures in the 2015 fiscal year were $1.037 billion, the seventh largest in the nation. In 2014, Thomson Reuters named 32 of Dukes professors to its list of Highly Cited Researchers, Duke also ranks fifth among national universities to have produced Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Goldwater, and Udall Scholars. Ten Nobel laureates and three Turing Award winners are affiliated with the university, Dukes sports teams compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference and the basketball team is renowned for having won five NCAA Mens Division I Basketball Championships, most recently in 2015. Duke is consistently included among the best universities in the world by numerous university rankings, according to a Forbes study, Duke is ranked 11th among universities that have produced billionaires. Duke started in 1838 as Browns Schoolhouse, a subscription school founded in Randolph County in the present-day town of Trinity. Organized by the Union Institute Society, a group of Methodists and Quakers, the academy was renamed Normal College in 1851 and then Trinity College in 1859 because of support from the Methodist Church. Carr donated land in 1892 for the original Durham campus, which is now known as East Campus, in 1924 Washington Dukes son, James B. Duke, established The Duke Endowment with a $40 million trust fund, income from the fund was to be distributed to hospitals, orphanages, the Methodist Church, and four colleges. Duke thought the change would come off as self-serving. Money from the endowment allowed the University to grow quickly, Dukes original campus, East Campus, was rebuilt from 1925 to 1927 with Georgian-style buildings. By 1930, the majority of the Collegiate Gothic-style buildings on the one mile west were completed. In 1878, Trinity awarded A. B. degrees to three sisters—Mary, Persis, and Theresa Giles—who had studied both with private tutors and in classes with men. With the relocation of the college in 1892, the Board of Trustees voted to allow women to be formally admitted to classes as day students
26.
1995 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
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The 1995 NCAA Division I Mens Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of mens NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 16,1995, and ended with the game on April 3 at the Kingdome in Seattle. A total of 63 games were played, UCLAs Ed OBannon was named the tournaments Most Outstanding Player. March 16 and 18 Baltimore Arena, Baltimore Jon M, *Named Most Outstanding Player March 19,1995 – A final shot in the second round at The Boise State Pavilion is one of the most memorable moments in NCAA history. UCLAs Tyus Edney dashed the length of the 94-foot court in just over 4 seconds to make a layup that gave the Bruins a 75-74 win over Missouri, which sustained UCLAs run to a national title that year. April 3,1995 – Ed OBannon scored 30 points and grabbed 17 rebounds and is named the tournaments Most Outstanding Player as the Bruins win the championship 89–78 over Arkansas. Cameron Dollar played 36 minutes and contributed eight assists and four steals while filling in for an injured Edney, the Bruins enjoyed the biggest lead 34–26 in the first half, but led only by a point at halftime 40–39. To date, this is the last NCAA mens basketball tournament in which no team seeded lower than #6 reached the Sweet Sixteen, once again, CBS served as broadcasters on television for the tournament. Studio, Pat OBrien First Round, Regional, Final Four, Jim Nantz First Round & all of Second Round, and Clark Kellogg
27.
University of California, Los Angeles
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The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university in the Westwood district of Los Angeles, California, United States. It became the Southern Branch of the University of California in 1919 and it offers 337 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines. UCLA enrolls about 31,000 undergraduate and 13,000 graduate students, and had 119,000 applicants for Fall 2016, including transfer applicants, the university is organized into six undergraduate colleges, seven professional schools, and four professional health science schools. Fourteen Nobel laureates, three Fields Medalists, two Chief Scientists of the U. S. Air Force and three Turing Award winners have been faculty, researchers, or alumni, the university was elected to the Association of American Universities in 1974. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2015–2016 ranked UCLA 16th in the world for academics, in 2015-2016, UCLA ranked 12th in the world by the Academic Ranking of World Universities and 31st in the 2016/17 QS World University Rankings. UCLA student-athletes compete as the Bruins in the Pac-12 Conference, the Bruins won 126 national championships, including 113 NCAA team championships, more than any other university. UCLA student-athletes, coaches and staff won 251 Olympic medals,126 gold,65 silver and 60 bronze, UCLA student-athletes competed in every Olympics since 1920 with one exception, and won a gold medal in every Olympics that the United States participated in since 1932. The State Normal School at Los Angeles opened on August 29,1882, the facility included an elementary school where teachers-in-training could practice their technique with children. That elementary school is related to the present day version, UCLA Lab School, in 1887, the school became known as the Los Angeles State Normal School. In 1914, the moved to a new campus on Vermont Avenue in East Hollywood. However, David Prescott Barrows, the new President of the University of California, the same legislation added its general undergraduate program, the College of Letters and Science. After the athletic teams entered the Pacific Coast conference in 1926, the Southern Branch student council adopted the nickname Bruins, in 1927, the Regents renamed the Southern Branch the University of California at Los Angeles. In the same year, the state broke ground in Westwood on land sold for $1 million, less than one-third its value, by real estate developers Edwin and Harold Janss, the campus in Westwood opened to students in 1929. The original four buildings were the College Library, Royce Hall, the Physics-Biology Building, the first undergraduate classes on the new campus were held in 1929 with 5,500 students. A timeline of the history can be found on its website, during its first 32 years, UCLA was treated as an off-site department of UC. As such, its presiding officer was called a provost, in 1951, UCLA was formally elevated to co-equal status with UC Berkeley, and its presiding officer Raymond B. Allen was the first chief executive to be granted the title of chancellor. The appointment of Franklin David Murphy to the position of Chancellor in 1960 helped spark an era of growth of facilities. By the end of the decade, UCLA had achieved distinction in a range of subjects
28.
Roy Williams (coach)
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Roy Allen Williams is an American college basketball coach for the North Carolina Tar Heels. He first started his coaching career at North Carolina as an assistant coach for Dean Smith in 1978. In 2003, Williams left Kansas to return to his alma mater North Carolina, since returning to North Carolina Williams has won three national championships, eight Atlantic Coast Conference conference titles, and two ACC Coach of the Year awards. He is second all-time for most wins at both Kansas and North Carolina, Williams is currently ranked seventh in total victories by a mens NCAA Division I college coach, winning 816 games to date. He is also tenth all-time in the NCAA for winning percentage among mens college basketball coaches, on April 4,2005, Williams won his first national title as his Tar Heels defeated the University of Illinois in the 2005 NCAA championship game. In 2007, Williams was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame and he again led the Tar Heels to a national title on April 6,2009, against the Michigan State Spartans. Williams won his national championship when he led the Tar Heels on April 3,2017 to victory against the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Williams is one of six NCAA Mens Division I college basketball coaches to have won at least three national championships, Williams is the only basketball coach in NCAA history to have 350 or more victories at two NCAA Division 1 schools, Kansas and North Carolina. As a head coach, Williams has coached in a total of six NCAA championship games, Williams was born in Marion General Hospital in Marion, North Carolina, and spent his early years in the small western North Carolina towns of Marion and Spruce Pine. As a child his family relocated to nearby Asheville, where he grew up, Williams lettered in basketball and baseball at T. C. Roberson High School in Asheville, NC all four years, Williams has stated that Coach Baldwin was one of the biggest influences in his life. Williams went on to play on the team at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. When Williams was a sophomore at Carolina, he asked Smith if he could attend his practices, Williams also volunteered to keep statistics for Smith at home games and worked in Smiths summer camps. Williams first coaching job was in 1973 as a school basketball and golf coach at Charles D. Owen High School in Black Mountain. He coached basketball and boys golf for five years and ninth-grade football for four years, in 1978, Williams came back to the University of North Carolina and served as an assistant to Coach Dean Smith from 1978 to 1988. During his tenure as assistant coach, North Carolina went 275–61 and won the NCAA national championship in 1982, the first for Smith, one of Williams more notable events came as assistant coach when he became instrumental in recruiting Michael Jordan. He was hired just months after the Danny Manning-led Jayhawks won the 1988 NCAA championship, weeks after Williams took the position, KU was placed on probation for violations that took place prior to his arrival. As a result, the Jayhawks were barred from play for the 1988–89 season
29.
Denny Crum
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Denzel Edwin Denny Crum is a former American mens college basketball coach at the University of Louisville in Kentucky from 1971 to 2001, compiling a 675–295 record. He guided the Cardinals to two NCAA championships and six Final Fours, honored in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame since 1994, Crum is one of the major figures in the history of sports in Kentucky and in college basketball in general. Crums prolific post-season play and calm demeanor earned him the monikers Mr. March and his most well-known nickname, denzel Edwin Crum was born in San Fernando, California. From 1954 to 1956, Denny Crum played basketball at Los Angeles Pierce College, in 1956, he transferred to UCLA to play for John Wooden. While at UCLA, Crum was honored with the Irv Pohlmeyer Memorial Trophy for outstanding first-year varsity player and he also received the Bruin Bench Award for most improved player the following year. After graduating in 1958, Crum served as the basketball coach at UCLA. The following year, he returned to Pierce College to serve as head coach, after four years at Pierce College, Crum was rehired by Wooden as a top assistant coach and chief recruiter. As a coach at UCLA, he played a role in three NCAA titles and he remained at UCLA until his departure for Louisville in 1971. In 1971, Crum was hired as coach by the University of Louisville. It was under Crum that the University of Louisville became a college basketball power. By 1972, Crum had taken his first team to the NCAA Final Four, Crum would go on to lead the Louisville Cardinals to five more final fours. He is tied for sixth all-time in number of four appearances with Adolph Rupp. They rank behind John Wooden, Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, on March 24,1980, the Cardinals became NCAA Tournament champions after defeating Crums alma mater, UCLA, 59–54. Crums 1980 national champions have been credited with popularizing the High-5, six years later, Louisville would overcome Duke 72–69 for a second title largely because of the talented play of Never Nervous Pervis Ellison. Crum is one of eleven coaches to achieve two or more national championships. In 30 seasons, Crum took the Cardinals to 23 NCAA tournaments, while in the Metro Conference, the Cardinals won 12 regular season titles and 11 tournament championships. In its 19 years of naming a champion, the Metro had Louisville as first or second place 17 times, in 1993, Crum became the second fastest coach to reach 500 wins. He ranks 16th in overall Division I wins, the graduation rate for players under Denny Crum has been called troubling by some sources
30.
Jim Boeheim
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James Arthur Jim Boeheim is the head coach of the mens basketball team at Syracuse University. In those games, the Orange lost to Indiana in 1987 on a jump shot by Keith Smart. Boeheim was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in September 2005, the Syracuse athletics scandal resulted in 101 of his wins being vacated by the NCAA in 2015. Boeheim has announced that he will retire in March 2018, after suffering from cancer in 2001, Boeheim and his wife founded the Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation devoted to child welfare, cancer treatment, and prevention. Boeheim was born in Lyons, New York and he graduated from Lyons Central High School. Boeheim enrolled in Syracuse University as a student in 1962 and graduated with a degree in social science. During his freshman year, Boeheim was a walk-on with the basketball team. By his senior year he was the captain and a teammate of All-American Dave Bing. The pair led coach Fred Lewiss Orange to a 22–6 overall win-loss record that earned the teams second-ever NCAA tournament berth, while at Syracuse, he joined the Delta Upsilon fraternity. In 1969, Boeheim decided to coach basketball and was hired as an assistant at Syracuse under Roy Danforth. Soon thereafter he was promoted to an assistant coach and was a member of the coaching staff that helped guide the Orange to its first Final Four appearance in the 1975 NCAA Tournament. In 1976, Danforth left to head basketball coach and athletic director at Tulane University. A coaching search led to naught, and Boeheim was promoted to be the head coach of his alma mater. Apart from his stint in the pros, Boeheim has spent his entire adult life at Syracuse as a student, player, assistant coach or head coach. In 1986 Boeheim was offered the coaching job at Ohio State. During a Syracuse vs. Georgetown game, Hoyas star Patrick Ewing was nearly struck by an orange, Boeheim borrowed a microphone and threatened to forfeit the game if fans continued to throw objects at Ewing. In 39 years as coach at Syracuse, Boeheim has guided the Orange to postseason berths, either in the NCAA or NIT tournaments. During his tenure, the Orange have never had a season, have appeared in three NCAA national championship games and have won the national title in 2003
31.
Tubby Smith
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Orlando Henry Tubby Smith is an American college basketball coach. He is currently the mens head coach for the University of Memphis. Smith previously served in the role at the University of Tulsa, the University of Georgia, the University of Kentucky, the University of Minnesota. With Kentucky, he coached the Wildcats to the 1998 NCAA championship, in his 26 years as a head coach, Smith has achieved 24 winning seasons. In 2005, he joined Roy Williams, Nolan Richardson, Denny Crum, with Texas Techs invitation to the 2016 NCAA Tournament, Smith became only the second coach in history to lead five different teams to the NCAA tournament. Smiths three sons are following in their fathers coaching footsteps, Smith, who played for his father at the University of Georgia, is the coach at Loyola. His middle son Saul Smith played for his father at the University of Kentucky and is an assistant coach for his father, brian, his youngest son, was a point guard at Ole Miss and is an assistant coach at Windermere Preparatory School. Smith was born in Scotland, Maryland, in Saint Marys County and his large family accounts for his unusual nickname. Of all the Smith children, Tubby was most fond of staying in the washtub where the children were bathed. Smith says he tried to shake the moniker several times, and he recalls that a 10th grade teacher who didnt tolerate nicknames was the last person to call him by his proper name, Orlando. After having an offer from the University of Maryland rescinded, Smith enrolled at High Point College. He played under three different head coaches at High Point, including future boss J. D. Barnett and he lettered four times and was an all-conference performer as a senior. Smith earned a Bachelor of Science degree in health and physical education while at High Point, and also met his wife, Donna. In 1973, Smith began his career with four years at his high school alma mater – Great Mills High School in Great Mills, Maryland. His next stop was Hoke County High School in Raeford, North Carolina, Smith began as assistant coach at Virginia Commonwealth University under his former High Point coach J. D. Barnett. From 1979 to 1986, VCU amassed a 144–64 record, winning three Sun Belt Conference Championships, Smith took two important things away from his experience as an assistant coach for the Rams. First, under Barnett, Smith learned the principles of the ball-line defense, second was a relationship with fellow assistant David Hobbs, an assistant and associate head coach under Smith during his tenure at the University of Kentucky. Smith left Virginia Commonwealth in 1986 to join George Feltons staff at the University of South Carolina, Felton remembered Smith from having recruited one of his players while Smith was at Hoke High School
32.
Frank Broyles
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John Franklin Broyles is a former American football player and coach, athletics administrator, and broadcaster. He served as the football coach at the University of Missouri in 1957. Broyles also was Arkansas athletic director from 1974 until his retirement on December 31,2007, as a head football coach, Broyles compiled a record of 149–62–6. His mark of 144–58–5 in 19 seasons is the most for any coach in Arkansas history, with Arkansas, Broyles won seven Southwest Conference titles and his 1964 team was named a national champion by a number of selectors including the Football Writers Association of America. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983, after his graduation from Decatur Boys High School, Broyles studied at Georgia Tech, where he was a quarterback from 1944 to 1946. He graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in Industrial Management and he led the Georgia Tech football team to four bowl appearances. He was named Southeastern Conference Player of the Year in 1944, Broyles was later drafted by the Chicago Bears in the third round of the 1946 NFL Draft. Broyles entered coaching in 1947 as an assistant coach under head coach Bob Woodruff at Baylor University, in 1950, Broyles followed Woodruff when the latter took the head coach position at the University of Florida. In 1951, he left Florida and returned to Georgia Tech as an coordinator under coach Bobby Dodd. Broyles sought the head coaching position at Northwestern University in 1954, Broyles stayed at Missouri only one season when he was offered the head coaching job at Arkansas. During his many decades there he was offered other major coaching and leadership positions, during his tenure at Arkansas Broyles coached the Razorbacks to seven Southwest Conference championships and two Cotton Bowl Classic wins. His 1964 team was proclaimed national champions by the Football Writers Association of America and he still holds the record for most wins by a head coach in the history of Arkansas football. During the 1960s and 1970s one of footballs most intense rivalries was between Broyles Razorbacks and the University of Texas Longhorns under legendary coach Darrell Royal. Broyles time as a broadcaster at ABC lasted from 1977 to 1985, Broyles commentary was normally focused on play calling and coaching strategy, and while paired with Jackson, resulted in an all-Georgian booth (Jackson is a native of Roopville. In 1974 Broyles was appointed Mens Athletic Director of the University of Arkansas, Broyles continued as head football coach for three years. Since stepping down as coach, the University of Arkansas mens athletic programs. The Razorbacks have won 57 Southwest Conference championships and 47 Southeastern Conference championships while he has been athletic director. As athletic Director of Arkansas Broyles cancelled the mens swimming and diving program to new regulations from the SEC of having two more womens sports than mens sports
33.
Mike Anderson (basketball)
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Michael Andre Mike Anderson is the current head basketball coach for the University of Arkansas. He served as a head coach under Nolan Richardson at Arkansas for 17 years. Over his 15 seasons as a coach, Anderson has compiled a 328-172 record, ten 20-win campaigns, eight NCAA Tournament appearances. Anderson is one of just 10 current Division I head coaches with 10+ years of experience, Anderson moved on to Jefferson State Community College in Birmingham, where he was spotted by an opposing coach named Nolan Richardson. When Richardson was offered the job at the University of Tulsa. In Andersons two years with the Golden Hurricane he averaged 12 points a game, and the team won an NIT title, after graduating in 1982, Anderson went into substitute teaching while looking for a coaching job. Richardson brought him on to the University of Tulsas staff as a volunteer assistant, when Richardson moved on to the University of Arkansas, he brought Anderson along as an assistant for a 17-year stint, the last five as assistant head coach. When Richardson was fired, Anderson took over for the remainder of the 2001-02 season as head coach. In 2002, Anderson took over the program at UAB, which was coming off a 13-17 season and had only one NCAA appearance since 1995, Anderson quickly turned the program around, leading the team to 22 wins and a National Invitation Tournament Quarterfinals appearance. Anderson then led the Blazers to three appearances in the NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament. In 2004, the Blazers advanced to the Sweet Sixteen by virtue of a 76-75 upset victory over the University of Kentucky, UAB ended the season ranked 23rd in the USA Today coaches poll. Anderson was named Conference USA Coach of the Year, and is the coach in UAB history to take the Blazers to the post season every year of his tenure. The First Two Seasons & Anderson was then hired in 2006 to take over the mess at the University of Missouri, rehabilitating a program that was under investigation under Quin Snyder. Andersons first team, a collection of transfers and raw talent, went 18-12 but missed out on post-season play after a loss to Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament. His 2007-08 campaign saw the inclusion of his nephew DeMarre Carroll, a transfer from Vanderbilt and that incident marked the second disciplinary issue of the season for Andersons team. Before the season, starting forward Kalen Grimes had been dismissed from the team after being arrested for hitting a man with the butt of a shotgun, the Tigers finished 16-16, losing in the Big 12 Tourney to Nebraska and missing out on post-season play. The Tigers season started off to a start with a 9-1 record including wins over USC and Cal. The Tigers finished their non conference schedule with a record of 13-2.3 seconds remaining, Mike Andersons 2008-09 Tiger team finished their last home game of the season by beating #5 Oklahoma on senior night
34.
Detroit Shock
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The Detroit Shock was a Womens National Basketball Association team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They were the 2003,2006, and 2008 WNBA champions, debuting in 1998, it was one of the leagues first expansion franchises. It was also the first WNBA expansion franchise to win a WNBA Championship, the team was the sister team of the Detroit Pistons and from 2002 to the 2009 season was coached by Pistons legend Bill Laimbeer. On October 20,2009, it was announced that the Shock would be moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma to play in the new downtown arena, former mens college coach Nolan Richardson was named the teams new head coach. The Shock roster and history was retained along with the Shock name, but the colors were changed to black, red. The franchise is known as Dallas Wings. The Shock were one of the first WNBA expansion teams and began play in 1998, the Detroit Shock - named after the Shock absorber, a car piece like the Pistons - quickly brought in a blend of rookies and veterans. The Shocks first coach was hall of famer Nancy Lieberman, the Shock would start out their inaugural season 0-4, but would put together an amazing expansion season, and finish 17-13, missing out on the postseason by one game. In 1999, the Shock finished 15-17, in a three way tie for the playoffs with the Orlando Miracle and the Charlotte Sting, the Shock and Sting played a one-game playoff, which the Shock would lose 60-54. In 2000, the Shock would finish with a 14-18 record and this time, the Shock would lose the tiebreaker and not qualify, losing to the Washington Mystics. Lieberman was fired after the season and replaced by Greg Williams, after the season in the 2001 WNBA Draft, the Shock would draft Deanna Nolan with the #6 pick. She would later develop into the team star, the 2001 Shock would finish the season with a 10-22 record, this time tying three teams for last place in the Eastern Conference. The 2002 Shock started the season 0-10, at which point Williams was fired and replaced by former Detroit Pistons legend Bill Laimbeer. After massive changes to the roster, Laimbeer predicted before the 2003 season that the Shock would be league champions, the Shock would tear up the East in the regular season, posting a 25-9 record and winning the #1 seed by 7 games. In the playoffs, the Shock would defeat the Cleveland Rockers 2-1 for their first playoff win in franchise history. In the Conference Finals, the Shock swept the Connecticut Sun 2-0 to reach the WNBA Finals, despite the achievements, the Shock were viewed as huge underdogs to the two time defending champion Los Angeles Sparks, who were looking for a three-peat. The Shock would emerge victorious in the series, winning a thrilling Game Three 83-78 and that game would draw the largest crowd ever in WNBA history. Detroit, much like the 1991 Minnesota Twins in baseball, became the first team in WNBA history to make it from last place one season to WNBA champions the next season
35.
Marion Jones
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Marion Lois Jones, also known as Marion Jones-Thompson, is an American former world champion track and field athlete and a former professional basketball player for Tulsa Shock in the WNBA. She won three medals and two bronze medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, but was later stripped of the titles after admitting to steroid use. Jones did retain her three gold medals as a champion from 1997 and 1999. At the time of her admission and subsequent guilty plea, Marion Jones was one of the most famous athletes to be linked to the BALCO scandal. The case against BALCO covered more than 20 top level athletes, including Joness ex-husband, shot putter C. J. Hunter, and 100 m sprinter Tim Montgomery, Marion Jones was born to African-American George Jones and his Belizean wife, Marion, in Los Angeles, California. She holds dual citizenship with the United States and Belize and her parents split when she was very young, and Joness mother remarried a retired postal worker, Ira Toler, three years later. Toler became a dad to Jones and her older half-brother, Albert Kelly. Jones turned to sports as an outlet for her grief, running, pickup basketball games, by the age of 15 she was routinely dominating California high school athletics both on the track and the basketball court. Jones is a 1997 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, while there, she met and began dating one of the track coaches, shot putter C. J. Hunter. Hunter voluntarily resigned his position at UNC to comply with the requirements of university rules prohibiting coach–athlete dating, Jones and Hunter were married October 3,1998, and trained for the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics. In the run-up to the 2000 Olympics, Jones declared that she intended to win medals in all five of her competition events at Sydney. Joness husband, C. J. Hunter, had withdrawn from the competition for a knee injury, though he was allowed to keep his coaching credentials. Hunter was immediately suspended from taking any role at the Sydney games, as late as 2004, Hunter was still denying the charges and was attempting to gain access to the results to see if they could be analyzed further. Jones would later write in her autobiography, Marion Jones, Life in the Fast Lane, on June 28,2003, Jones gave birth to a son with then-boyfriend Tim Montgomery, a world class sprinter himself. Because of her pregnancy, Jones missed the 2003 World Championships, on February 24,2007, Jones married Barbadian sprinter and 2000 Olympic 100m bronze medalist Obadele Thompson. Their first child together, a son named Ahmir, was born in June 2007 and she gave birth to daughter Eva-Marie on June 28,2009. In 2010, Jones released a book, On the Right Track, From Olympic Downfall to Finding Forgiveness and the Strength to Overcome and Succeed, published by Simon & Schuster. In high school, Jones won the CIF California State Meet in the 100 m sprint four years in a row and she was successfully defended by attorney Johnnie Cochran on charges of doping during her high school track career
