Junior setter Tread Rosenthal racked up 56 assists to lead the University of Hawai’i to a victory over Pepperdine University on March 6.
Calmed waters.
After falling to the Waves in Honolulu for the first time since 2009 on Wednesday night, the third-ranked University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball team bounced back in four sets on Friday to take down No. 7 Pepperdine, (25-22, 21-25, 25-15, 36-34).
Four Rainbow Warriors finished with 10 or more kills, led by sophomore opposite Kainoa Wade’s 19 kills, nine dig performance. Sophomore Trevell Jordan set a new career high with 15 kills on 20 swings, tallying five blocks as the 6-foot-10 middle blocker took his game to new heights while playing in front of a season-high crowd of 7,247 fans.
“The crowd definitely played a part in it,” Jordan said of his career outing. “They were really loud, and it was a little [nerve-wracking] at first, but I mean, you got to rally together in that and Tread [Rosenthal] finding me was amazing.”
Travel Jordan (20) celebrates with Louis Sakanoko (23) and Tread Rosenthal (13) after a point against No. 7 Pepperdine.
Michael Lasquero, HSRN
Travel Jordan (20) celebrates with Louis Sakanoko (23) and Tread Rosenthal (13) after a point against No. 7 Pepperdine.
Rosenthal piloted the offense with a season-high 56 assists and four aces while adding six kills for the second straight match from the setter spot. The junior’s final putdown of the night was the match-winner, taking matters into his own hands to end a marathon fourth frame.Following Wednesday’s four-set flub, head coach Charlie Wade said that Thursday’s practice saw an uptick in intensity from the players that is uncommon ahead of an encore match in a series.
“Pretty locked in yesterday at practice,” the veteran head coach recalled. “Usually, when there’s the day in between [matches] here, they’re looking to kind of back off a little because they’re sore, and yesterday, they were looking to push it.”
With a motivated group and a boost from a vocal crowd from the opening serve, Hawai’i wrestled away a competitive first set from Pepperdine, 25-22, behind an active block and Trevell Jordan’s early four kills.
“It was just a little different vibe walking in and it helped us get off to that good start,” Wade pitched as a difference for the Rainbow Warriors from Wednesday to Friday.
The Waves washed away UH’s single-set advantage quickly, returning fire in the second frame with the help of Punahou alum Aiden Tune’s time in the service box turning the tide. The redshirt junior placed an ace in the middle of all six Rainbow Warriors late in the set to cap off a four-point run that put the visitors ahead and sophomore opposite Cole Hartke finished the deal a few rallies later with back-to-back kills to knot the match at a set apiece.
Hawai’i pushed back in front with a dominant third frame, leading from start to finish in the 25-15 decision as the group hit .632 while pushing Pepperdine into the negatives with more attacking errors (7) than kills (5) in the set.
Then came the marathon.
The Waves went ahead by four in the opening minutes of the fourth set behind returning All-Americans Cole Hartke and Ryan Barnett taking turns tormenting UH.Looking to return fire, Hawai’i turned to their own All-American.Tread Rosenthal set up Kainoa Wade to slow down Pepperdine’s momentum and send himself back to the service box for UH. The junior dealt out a pair of aces during an eight-point run behind the stripe, giving him 104 in his college career to tie him with Spyros Chakas for seventh all-time among Rainbow Warriors while vaulting the hosts in front, 15-10.
“He’ll break the school record, probably this year,” Charlie Wade candidly said of Rosenthal’s prowess for racking up service aces.
Hartke and Barnett got the Waves back on track to pull back within a point, but Hawai’i was able to hold onto the lead into the late moments of the frame behind Wade, Adrien Roure and Louis Sakanoko taking turns on the attack.
Pepperdine held off two Hawai’i match points to tie the do-or-die fourth frame at 24, sparking a race to taking a two-point advantage between a pair of rabid teams.
After 14 total set points between teams and eight aloha ball chances for the hosts, Rosenthal again took matters into his own hands and smashed the match winner over on two to deliver a hard-fought series split to the Rainbow Warriors.
Cole Hartke led the way in the loss for Pepperdine, racking up 20 kills on 55 swings while tallying a match-leading seven attack errors. Ryan Barnett tacked on 13 kills and eight digs while Jose Gomez added 13 kills and five digs of his own for the Waves.
Adrien Roure, who celebrated his 20th birthday on Friday, had 15 kills and seven digs in the victory for the Rainbow Warriors. Fellow French outside hitter Louis Sakanoko was the fourth and final player to finish with double figures kills for Hawai’i as he tallied 12 putdowns on 26 tries while getting hands on four blocks.
Hawai’i (15-2) will return to action next Thursday, March 12, hosting Mount Olive, No. 14 Lewis and No. 1 UCLA in the 30th annual OUTRIGGER Invitational.
Quarterback Kyler Murray is currently a free agent. That may not last long.
John Gambadoro of 98.7 FM in Phoenix reports that Murray will visit the Vikings on Thursday.
From Gambadoro’s tweet: “A starting spot is a priority, and Minnesota does offer that and a deal could be done in the next 24 hours. But Murray and his camp are expected to explore several options as a backup in 2026 for teams that could need a starting QB in 2027 over the next 24 hours.”
One team that has interest in Murray as a backup for 2026, we hear, is the Rams. And with Matthew Stafford on a year-to-year plan, L.A. could need a starter by 2027.
Still, as immediate starting options go, the Vikings present the best opportunity. Unless the Steelers snap out of their Aaron Rodgers 2.0 fever dream.
Murray’s appeal, beyond his skills, comes from his availability at only $1.3 million for 2026. He should insist on a no-tag clause for 2027, so that he’ll have maximum leverage if he plays in 2026 like he did in the early years of his career.
Mar 11, 2026; Charlotte, NC, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Ryan Conwell (3) reacts late in the second half at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
Transcript:
PAT KELSEY: A lot of credit to SMU. Andy is a really good coach. We played down at their place a couple weeks ago, and they just kicked the crap out of us. So ton of respect for them. Their offensive firepower is as good as anybody in the country.
Proud of our guys. On a night we didn’t shoot it our best, we just figured out a way to win. What do they say, in tournament play, survive and advance; I think that applied tonight. Just proud of their resiliency and their fight.
Q.Vangelis, it’s very unusual to have your first career starts on a big platform like the ACC Tournament. What did your coach tell you about why you got these starts, and how have you played so well on this biggest stage?
PAT KELSEY: You can call him Clark Kent, too, if you wanted to.
VANGELIS ZOUGRIS: I don’t have any glasses on right now. First of all, I want to give all glory to God.
As far as why I’m starting, that’s a question for PK. I’m just doing what I have to do. It’s been a long season for me, ups and downs, but it’s been a long season for all of us, as well.
Just being there every day, same attitude, same mentality, I try to keep showing up every day, and that’s what I did. I think it’s paying off right now.
It’s just one game, though, and this is what we’ve got to remember all the time. Celebrations stop after we leave this building and get ready for the next game tomorrow against a really good team.
Q.Isaac, big change coming from Charlottesville to Louisville. Big game today. Talk about your season this year and adjusting to a new environment, new team, new coaching style.
ISAAC McKNEELY: Yeah, definitely took some time to adjust to the pace. I got winded a lot in the summer and workouts and stuff. Once you get used to it, it’s the most fun I’ve ever had in my playing in this system. PK really lets his guards play, he doesn’t get on you for turnovers. He wants you to play as confident as you can, and I think I’ve grown into a much better player than I ever was this year.
Credit to him, credit to these guys beside me, they played really well today, make it really easy on me. Zeus sets the best screens in the country so he gets me a lot of open shots. But I’m having a blast, going to continue to have a blast, and hopefully we can go get three more, win the ACC championship here.
Q.For you guys as shooters, Ryan was 1 for 8 from three-point land, and you guys as a team did not hit a lot of threes, but then he hits one of the biggest buckets of the game from three-point land. Speak about your confidence in each other and what it takes as shooters to be willing to take that shot on a night where he was cold prior to that?
ADRIAN WOOLEY: Yeah, just having the utmost confidence in him. Him being a senior, leader on the team, whatever he do is fine with me, as long as we sticking to what we work on. He works on those shots each and every day, so I trust him with whatever he does.
ISAAC McKNEELY: RC is one of the best shooters in the country, and every single shot he missed I went up to him tapped him on the chest, next one is going in. As a shooter you have to have that mentality. It’s great for us we didn’t shoot it our best, we shot is really bad actually and we found a way to win.
We proved we can win with our defense. The emphasis, especially as of late, is really honing in on the defense because defense wins championships in March. Super proud of our defense today. Yeah, if we can win with shooting it like this, it makes us a really tough team to beat when we’re shooting it well.
Q.Adrian and Isaac, for you two, what was it like to see Zeus and the energy he brings you guys and have that 6-0 run by himself. And for, Zou, did you dance in the locker room after this game?
VANGELIS ZOUGRIS: No, that’s something we won’t — it’s not ready yet. We put the work every day.
ADRIAN WOOLEY: I feel like Zou put in so much work and I just want him to go out there and kill each and every time he’s on the court. I just love how he’s energetic, he’s energetic throughout everything he went through this year. It’s him, and I feel like he can do it each and every time he steps on the court.
ISAAC McKNEELY: Yeah, Zou just not got discouraged. Zou kind of touched on it a little bit ago. Beginning of the season he didn’t get the minutes he thought he deserved or wanted and he just continued to work. I swear every time I walk in the gym for weights in the morning, this dude is in the gym shooting. Hardest worker I’ve ever seen.
And he deserves everything that he’s getting right now. He’s going to continue to help us win. He’s going to continue to bring energy, puts a smile on smile on my face being around him. Super happy he’s on my team.
Q.Adrian, you were 7 of 8 from the free-throw line. How you were initiating contact and what was the difference between your team and SMU who only took three free throws as a team?
ADRIAN WOOLEY: I’d say I feel like my teammates needed me to get downhill to open things up for them. So I feel like that was a big emphasis for today for me to get downhill and see what I could create. For the other team, not making — going to the free-throw line, I felt like we did a great job with not fouling so much. We held them off the free-throw line and that was a key emphasis for the game today, too.
Q.The resolve and the faith that this team has had in each other, this game went back and forth, it was tight for a while, a lot of ties. What you can say about those last few minutes and how your team responded and really how they responded the whole game?
PAT KELSEY: Yeah, we’ve got a bunch of vets. We’ve got one of the oldest, most mature teams in the country, and they’ve been through so many situations throughout the course of their career. They’ve logged so many minutes. They’ve played in big games.
An example is late in the game when it was kind of back-to-back time-outs called. So we were in the first time-out and we were talking about strategy, we were talking about what we were doing, and then they went to go back on the floor and they called another 30-second time-out.
So I went to kind of, all right, come back over. I was going to talk to them, and Ryan and J’Vonne — we’ve got a team full of leaders, those guys were like, we got it. They got in their own circle and talked through stuff, and I was like, great. When you have something like that and it’s player led, you have something special.
Back-to-back games when it came right down to the wire, our last game at Miami on their Senior Day, big game, and then this one tonight showed great resolve down the stretch.
We play that very, very talented well-coached team Miami again tomorrow.
Q.Zou suggested that I should ask this question to you. It is unusual that a guy starts for the first time in the ACC Tournament. He obviously earned it. How do you put into words how he earned it and why he’s in this role?
PAT KELSEY: He’s actually started the last several regular-season games. But he’s a guy — it’s just a great story to tell players. I talk to my son about, he didn’t get discouraged. Early in the season he was buried on the bench, he was getting no minutes.
And he had some tough times. Coming over from Greece, just wasn’t going the way he wanted it to basketball-wise. He was having a struggle adjusting, and then his role wasn’t something, obviously, that he envisioned.
But he never lost hope, never lost faith. Isaac said it, and he’s exactly right. My office kind of oversees the practice gym, and I get there crazy early because I don’t really sleep. And usually it’s like, boom, boom, boom, the ball is bouncing and Zou is out there. He just continued to work.
Here he is on a big stage, put in the starting lineup, and he just gives people around him courage. It’s like sometimes they laugh at him at first because he just does one of those primal screams, but it really loosens him up and gives them confidence. I’m proud of him, and I’m happy that he had that performance tonight.
Q.Your team limited Boopie Miller to 4 of 17 from the field, kept him scoreless from beyond the arc. What did you like about how your team defended him and what was the game plan going into that?
PAT KELSEY: Whoever used to say it on SportsCenter years ago, the old you can’t stop him, you can only hope to contain him. Like, I’ve been trying to game plan against that kid for several years, and it’s a nightmare. Andy does a really good job of putting him and the rest of their guys in situations that you’ve got to make really tough decisions from an X and O standpoint.
I like to think our guys had something to do with his shooting night. I thought our defense was pretty good. But gosh, we played down there, and I thought he was going to have 90. I don’t know what he ended up with, but we couldn’t stop him. He was a huge, huge key.
Obviously they’ve got a very important player out. That’s hard. That’s hard, and he’s probably their best defender. He’s good, and he’s a very, very important part of your team. They weren’t at full strength.
That’s an NCAA tournament team for sure.
Q.You played guard back in the day; when you see your guards having a cold shooting night or somebody like Ryan Conwell go 1 for 8, what is your message to them, to have no memory and if it’s the right shot, take it? What did you think of his clutch shot down the stretch, which is about as big as it got?
PAT KELSEY: I literally missed 1,000 points by 912, so I wasn’t the best player in the world, but I did play.
I remember in 1995, I think, I was the captain of the scout team. We were really good at Xavier so I wasn’t playing very much anymore, and I had to get our team ready for Allen Iverson and Georgetown. And that four or five days getting ready for the NCAA Tournament, I played with unbridled confidence and freedom, and I cooked everybody to the point where the starters were losing confidence because I was just giving them buckets.
I just remember, if you can put that in a bottle, that confidence, what it does to your game — Isaac mentioned it, I don’t lose my mind when a guy turns the ball over. Yes, you need to play sound on the offensive end and make good decisions. I want them to play free. I want them to play confident.
Isaac, I think he was 1 for 6 at the time, and we drew up a baseline out-of-bounds play for him to get a three off of a stagger. His bubble gum card says the next one is going in. My staff and myself, we just try to pour confidence into those guys, and it’s good to — even on a night we didn’t shoot it well, it was awesome to see us figure out a way to get a tough win.
Videos:
Louisville’s Mikel Brown Jr. brought a big energy boost from the Cardinal bench today.
I asked him about the team’s infectious energy, what stands out about the guard trio of Adrian Wooley, Isaac McKneely, and Ryan Conwell, plus the passion Vangelis Zougris brings to the floor. pic.twitter.com/R4zNOYOLYf
The North Carolina Tar Heels are setting their sights on a run here in March, beginning with the ACC Tournament in Charlotte this week. From there, they will turn their attention to the NCAA Tournament as they look to improve on last season’s disappointing finish.
But as UNC begins tournament play, they will be without their star freshman.
Forward Caleb Wilson was ruled out for the rest of the season as he suffered a broken thumb in practice last week as he was hoping to make his return from another injury. While Wilson’s season is over, he’s earning some honors here in March.
Here is what Sporting News wrote on Wilson making the third team:
Overview: Where would Wilson have landed on this team if he’d played a full season? Where would North Carolina have gone in March if he were available the rest of the way? To make third team after missing a fourth of the season is extraordinary, but then, so was Wilson. One of the most dynamic 6-10 forwards the college game has seen in a while, Wilson was too much for most opposing defenses to handle. His consistency was astonishing. Averaging just short of 20 points while only once topping 25 points isn’t easy to do, but Wilson managed because he hit the 20 mark in 71 percent of the games he played.
The honor comes just a few days after Wilson was named to the All-ACC First Team for his play this season. He was spectacular before the injury, and it’s a shame that he got hurt and won’t be able to play in March.
UNC opens up its ACC Tournament on Thursday night as the No. 4 seed.
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions
After a bunch of late changes to the card, Hype Brazil’s main event ended up with a pretty random grappling match between controversial UFC veterans from three divisions apart in Arman Tsaruskyan vs. Muhammad Mokaev.
The lightweight title contender in Tsarukyan has been taking side quests in both wrestling and submission-grappling matches as he tries to wait for a UFC title fight. Mokaev, a former title contender who also fell out of favor with Dana White, has remained undefeated at 16-0 while competing in various promotions (and sports) since parting ways with the UFC in 2024.
Two other grappling bouts with UFC vets populate the Hype Brazil main card, in Jean Silva vs. Bryce Mitchell and Edson Barboza vs. Shara Magomedov, while the prelims will be mostly filled with bareknuckle boxing matches.
Arizona State is parting ways with longtime men’s basketball head coach Bobby Hurley, athletics director Graham Rossini announced on Wednesday, March 11.
“Bobby Hurley has made incredible contributions to the sport of basketball, and that certainly includes many memorable moments during his time as our head coach,” Rossini said in a statement. “While we will not be extending his contract, we are so grateful for the 11 years that Coach, Leslie, Cameron, Sydney, Bobby Jr., and he spent with us at ASU.
“We wish Coach well moving forward and we are thankful for his leadership while at ASU.”
According to multiple reports, Hurley is expected to be placed on administrative leave until his contract expires in June. He leaves as the second-winningest coach in program history behind only Ned Wulk with a 185-167 record in 11 seasons.
The announcement comes just hours after the Sun Devils were eliminated from the Big 12 tournament in a 91-42 blowout loss to No. 7 Iowa State.
Arizona State had a promising start to the season after finishing runner-up at the Maui Invitational and losing a closely contested game against Gonzaga. They couldn’t find consistency from then on, however.
That was evident in January, where a pair of crucial conference wins at home against Kansas State and Cincinnati sandwiched a stretch of key losses to Houston, West Virginia and Arizona, none of which was particularly close.
The Sun Devils finished the season with a 17-15 record and entered the Big 12 tournament as the last place seed.
“I don’t have any regrets,” Hurley told reporters after the game. “I laid it out on the line the best I could every night.”
Arizona State is parting ways with longtime men’s basketball head coach Bobby Hurley, athletics director Graham Rossini announced on Wednesday, March 11.
“Bobby Hurley has made incredible contributions to the sport of basketball, and that certainly includes many memorable moments during his time as our head coach,” Rossini said in a statement. “While we will not be extending his contract, we are so grateful for the 11 years that Coach, Leslie, Cameron, Sydney, Bobby Jr., and he spent with us at ASU.
“We wish Coach well moving forward and we are thankful for his leadership while at ASU.”
According to multiple reports, Hurley is expected to be placed on administrative leave until his contract expires in June. He leaves as the second-winningest coach in program history behind only Ned Wulk with a 185-167 record in 11 seasons.
The announcement comes just hours after the Sun Devils were eliminated from the Big 12 tournament in a 91-42 blowout loss to No. 7 Iowa State.
Arizona State had a promising start to the season after finishing runner-up at the Maui Invitational and losing a closely contested game against Gonzaga. They couldn’t find consistency from then on, however.
That was evident in January, where a pair of crucial conference wins at home against Kansas State and Cincinnati sandwiched a stretch of key losses to Houston, West Virginia and Arizona, none of which was particularly close.
The Sun Devils finished the season with a 17-15 record and entered the Big 12 tournament as the last place seed.
“I don’t have any regrets,” Hurley told reporters after the game. “I laid it out on the line the best I could every night.”
A few days ago, Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said that his team is a power-hitting, not base stealing group when asked why he has slugging first baseman Nick Kurtz hitting leadoff. That was the case last year and will be again this year, evident by the 29 home runs the team has already hit this spring. This afternoon, the A’s powerful offense led the way, blasting five home runs in a 13-3 pummeling of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Diamondbacks scored first as A’s starting pitcher Luis Morales gave up a home run to the second batter he faced, second baseman Ildemaro Vargas. The A’s responded right away as their second baseman Andy Ibáñez hit his first home run in an A’s uniform, a two-run blast off Arizona’s pitcher Ryne Nelson in the top of the second inning.
Arizona continued the back-and-forth nature of the game’s early going by tying the game at two in the bottom of that inning, their rally aided by A’s third baseman Max Muncy’s third error of spring training.
The A’s took the lead for good the following inning courtesy of Shea Langeliers’ third Cactus League home run, a solo shot to left field. Muncy added a solo home run in the fourth inning, redeeming himself from the error he committed earlier in the game.
Muncy, who got three hits plus a walk, looks ready for Opening Day offensively. However, the natural shortstop’s defense at third base continues to be erratic. He will need to clean things up before the season, or his defensive mistakes could cost the A’s games this year.
Up by two through four innings, the A’s broke this game open by scoring five runs against Diamondbacks reliever Thomas Hatch in the fifth inning. Brent Rooker immediately followed Tyler Soderstrom’s three-run home run with a solo shot of his own.
Meanwhile, Morales settled down, turning in his best start of the spring so far. He allowed two runs — one unearned — over 4 2/3 innings while working in and out of trouble. In the second inning, he got Anderdson Rojas to ground into an inning-ending double play with runners on second and third and one out. The next inning, Arizona loaded the bases with one out before Morales struck out the next two batters to escape the jam and finished the day reaching 75 pitches. He should be well almost fully stretched out with just a couple weeks to go until Opening Day.
The A’s reserves added on late, scoring two runs in the seventh and eighth innings to make the game even more of a blowout. Today, the team went far down its bench, giving playing time to Carlos Pacheco, Breyson Guedez and Jose Ramos, three recent international signees who are much further away from MLB than the team’s top prospect Leo De Vries.
Unlike the past few games in which A’s relievers allowed the other team to make a comeback, they were nearly perfect this afternoon. Justin Sterner, Hogan Harris and non-roster invitee Nick Anderson all threw scoreless innings to wrap up a big win for the A’s. And now they’re rolling.
The Athletics will look to make it six wins in a row tomorrow at the Texas Rangers. Right-hander J.T. Ginn will make his fourth start of the spring, while the Rangers have yet to announce their scheduled starter for that game. Ginn allowed four runs, including two home runs, over three innings in his last outing against the Colorado Rockies. Look for Ginn to pitch better tomorrow as he vies for a spot on the A’s Opening Day rotation or bullpen.
Last Friday, United States President Donald Trump demanded the “unconditional surrender” of Iran via his Truth Social platform. The declaration came as the war in Iran had officially gone on for a week.
At the same time, however, separately and not as a condition of the surrender, Trump has also demanded more “acceptable” leadership in the country. According to Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, Trump wished for new leadership in Iran that did not act against the interests of the US.
Trump wrote that then, once the “acceptable” leadership was selected in Iran, the US and its allies would make Iran “economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before.”
On Saturday, in an address to the nation, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said that the Trump’s demand is a “dream they should send to their grave”.
A week ago, the United States and Israel attacked Iran, and killed various government officials, including the supreme leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, in strikes. In retaliation for the attacks, BBC News reported, Iran has bombed Middle Eastern countries, reportedly those holding US bases, including Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates; as well as US allies Saudi Arabia, and Oman.
In the Saturday address, Iran’s President, Masoud Pezeshkian apologized for attacks on ‘regional countries’, Jakarta Times reported, along with a note that 1,230 people were killed in Iran, and reportedly six US troops.
Leavitt has stated that the war would likely last four to six weeks. Russia was an ally to Iran, BBCNews reported.
On Feb. 24, the same day IU football sold out season tickets in just hours, the men’s basketball team — once the school’s golden goose — lost to Northwestern for the sixth straight time, while Assembly Hall’s balcony seating remained empty.
On Wednesday in the second round of the Big Ten tournament, Indiana basketball lost to Northwestern for a seventh straight time. The loss all but assures the Hoosiers will miss the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in the past 10 years.
Read that again. Indiana University will miss the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in 10 years.
And in an era where it’s seemingly harder to miss the tournament than make it with the expanded field of 68. Just look how bad the bubble is this year. And Indiana still can’t make it.
Over the past 20 years, Indiana fans have banked far more core memories from football than basketball. An entire generation has grown up without tasting any sense of sustained hoops success — in a place that worships the sport like no other.
Indiana football has reached the postseason six times.
Indiana basketball has reached NCAA tournament four times.
Keep in mind, before Indiana football won this year’s national championship, it entered this past season as the losingest program in FBS history. And even with that albatross around its neck, football has seen more success over the past decade than its basketball counterpart.
Indiana hasn’t reached an Elite Eight since 2002, when the Hoosiers upset top-ranked Duke in the Sweet 16 en route to a national championship game loss to Maryland.
Since that run, 60 teams (SIXTY!) have reached at least one Elite Eight, including the likes of St. Peter’s, Florida Atlantic, George Mason, Loyola Chicago, VCU, Dayton, St. Joseph’s and Davidson.
Already on its sixth full-time head coach since firing Bob Knight, Indiana has been chasing ghosts ever since. The Hoosiers’ five national titles still rank tied for fifth with Duke for most in NCAA history, but the last one was in 1987, and besides that outlier 2002 season under Mike Davis, Indiana hasn’t come anywhere close since.
Love him or hate him, Knight won. He had a .731 winning percentage and won 11 Big Ten titles and 659 games in his 28 seasons in Bloomington. His successors have won 493 games (.581) in 26 combined seasons with just three conference titles.
Tom Crean came closest to replicating Knight’s success. He inherited a program beset by sanctions caused by Kelvin Sampson, won the Big Ten twice and had Indiana ranked No. 1 for 10 weeks in the 2013 season, but was undone by a Syracuse zone in March. (Meanwhile, Sampson has turned Houston into a team no one wants to play.)
Archie Miller was supposed to be “a home-run hire.” He wasn’t, and has a losing record over his four seasons at Rhode Island.
Indiana next looked to a “Bob Knight guy” — something a large portion of the fan base had been screaming for. No one else was hiring Mike Woodson, but because his diploma said “Indiana”, he was their guy. IU fans ran him out of town after missing back-to-back NCAA tournaments.
Darian DeVries is the latest to try his hand at getting it right in Bloomington.
Indiana basketball is as well-resourced as any program in the country. But with Hoosiers donors getting a taste of unimaginable football success, a lot of that money may be headed across the parking lot from Assembly Hall to Memorial Stadium.
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