Class of '66 Old Fart

Crown Point will face Warsaw this evening for the regional championship as it defeats East Chicago Central 67 - 52.   Gelon with 10 pts.; Stefanovic with 18.   Leading scorer for CP was Andrew Kenneally off the bench with 19.

In another regional OT game.  McCutcheon tied it at buzzer at the end of regulation with a 3 and hit a 2 with 2.1 sec. left in OT to defeat Carmel 56 - 54.  They were down as much as 11 in the first half.  What a ball game this was!   Robert Phinisee fouled out with 10 sec. left in regulation.  He only had 4 points through 3 quarters and then hit 11 in the 4th quarter to lead McCutcheon in scoring with 15.   McCutcheon will play Homestead this evening for the regional championship.

In a double overtime ball game, SB Riley loses to Warsaw 79 - 74.  Damezi Anderson had 18 pts. in the loss.   For the game, Warsaw hit 39 of 45 foul shots.  Paul Marindet of Warsaw had 41 pts; 21 of 21 from the foul line in the 2nd half.

In OT, South apparently decided to force New Albany to win the game from the foul line and repeatedly sent NA to the line.  4 South starters fouled out and the other finished the game with 4.  In the second half, South committed 21 fouls which is so funny because of the comment the New Albany radio announcer made about the 'bald headed' official' earlier making only calls against New Albany.   If anyone was actually at the game can they confirm that deliberately putting New Albany on the line was South's plan?   Final score New Albany 73 Bloomington South 66.  Langford with 34; hit 17 of 20 from the foul line.

This team is definitely an Elite 8 level team and has Final 4 potential.  The inconsistency that reared its head against Michigan yesterday will determine if it can actually reach the Elite 8 or will flame out early in the Big Dance. 

Radio announcer has specifically identified a 'bald official' who hasn't made a single call that favored New Albany and the same official just assessed a technical against NA.   LOL     I've listened to a number of New Albany's games on the New Albany High School radio station:  http://wnas.org/   There is a young lady that does the actual play by play and she does a really fantastic job.  You can absolutely follow the action in your mind.  And for clarification, it was not this young lady that referred to the bald official, but the man that probably serves as her on-air manager and coordinator for commercial breaks.

  If there's anything at all good about getting beat yesterday it's the extra days of recovery for Johnson and Morgan and not having to play hard in a competitive game.  I wasn't able to watch the game but also heard Hartman may have been injured so the same would apply to a recovery for Colin.

Strong 3rd Q for South and only trail New Albany 43 - 40; don't have a stat for Langford in the 3rd. 

At halftime, New Albany leads Bloomington South 31 - 20.  Langford with 12 pts.

Is Big Ten champion Indiana 'built' for a deep NCAA tournament run Chicago Tribune:    Minutes after Michigan knocked them out of the Big Ten tournament, Indiana players sat in their locker-room chairs, composed. They did not lash out. They were not defensive. Was it a sign they'll adopt the right attitude heading into the NCAA tournament? "You go from such a high to such a low so quickly," forward Max Bielfeldt said. "That change is so abrupt. But keep your eye on the prize. If we would have won the whole (tournament), it would have been nice, but we might not have learned some things by losing." Indeed, there have been a lot of "buts" in Indiana's season. Remarkable highs and lows. The highs: A league-best 15-3 Big Ten record. An unblemished (17-0) mark at Assembly Hall. Conference Coach of the Year honors for Tom Crean. A second-team All-America nod from USA Today for Yogi Ferrell and Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year recognition for Bielfeldt. The development of freshmen Thomas Bryant and OG Anunoby.     The lows: Losses to Wake Forest and UNLV in the Maui Invitational. Getting throttled by Duke. James Blackmon's season-ending knee injury. A 19-point loss to Michigan State. And on Friday, leaving quasi-home Indianapolis without a victory in the Big Ten tournament. "This was not a result of lack of focus," Crean said in a private moment after the 72-69 loss to Michigan. "We had a great week (of practice). It would be so different if I felt we didn't play hard; we did. We've just got to play a little smarter a little longer." So where does all this leave Indiana, a likely No. 4 or 5 seed in the NCAA tournament? Dan Dakich remains bullish. And don't roll your eyes. The former Indiana player and coach and current ESPN analyst and Indianapolis radio host has come down hard on Crean's program when warranted. "I think they're built for the tournament," Dakich said, "and will have a hell of a run." Dakich cites three reasons: the greatness of Ferrell, the senior point guard; a strong offensive rebounding rate (Indiana was 14th nationally through Thursday, grabbing 36.3 percent of misses); and the fact the Hoosiers "shoot the (crap) out of it." Entering the loss to Michigan, during which they hit 24 of 53 field goals (45.3 percent), the Hoosiers were second nationally to St. Mary's at 50.2 percent. Only four teams had bettered Indiana's 41.9 percent rate from 3-point range. But — another but — the Hoosiers hit just 4 of 17 3-pointers against Michigan. And they fell to 8-7 in non-home games — the only kind in the NCAA tournament. No one seems to know why Indiana has had such a hard time outside Bloomington, so no one has a cure to fix it. Rather than wondering if major forces are at work, Crean focuses on the little picture. His team led Michigan 69-66 with less than a minute to play Friday. Then Duncan Robinson was left alone for a corner 3. "This will sting when we watch the film," he said. "The mistake of coming off Robinson ... we don't come off shooters. We work every day (in practice) on that. It was just the pressure of the moment." Indiana got an empty possession with the score tied and Nick Zeisloft had the unheralded Kameron Chatman well defended with three seconds to play. Chatman still drilled the game-winning 3. "There are so many things we learned from Maui and from Duke that we have adjusted from," Bielfeldt said. "This can be one of those games." Bielfeldt's message to his teammates: "Don't get down. Do everything you can to get better. Listen to Coach, whatever he finds in the film." Bielfeldt is part of why Dakich loves these Hoosiers. He's a Peoria native whose grandfather's name is on a building at Illinois, the school nearly every member of his family attended. He chose Michigan and transferred to Indiana as a grad student. "The most mature dude," Dakich said. "He's like Jerry in 'Seinfeld.' You're friends with him, I'm friends with him, so we hang out together. He connects everyone. "And now he's making 3s. He also defends the block really well." Another veteran player will be even more crucial to Indiana's tournament run. Ferrell could have justified leaving after his junior season, his second All-Big Ten campaign. He returned and has taken his game — especially his defense — to new heights. "When you have a defender like Yogi who truly can control the other team's point guard, you have something special," UIC coach Steve McClain said. McClain spent five seasons on Crean's staff before taking over the Flames this season. He and his family remain so close to Crean that wife Kim and son Dylan helped cut down the net last weekend at Assembly Hall to celebrate the Big Ten title. The net rests on McClain's kitchen table. "Yogi has an unbelievable basketball IQ," McClain said. "He sees the other side of the court. He makes plays off pick-and-rolls that pro guys make. Good point guards can see one play ahead; Yogi can see two, three plays ahead." One example of that came early in the second half Friday. Ferrell was under the basket and spotted Zeisloft at the top of the key. Zeisloft immediately swung the ball to Collin Hartman for an open 3-point try. Ferrell spoke after the game of resisting the urge to make "home-run plays." "When we make the simple play, an extra pass, that has really helped us," he said. "Hopefully we can learn from this." The Hoosiers learned from their losses in Maui and at Duke. Can they do the same after this disappointing result in Indianapolis? "It's time," Ferrell said, "to go back to the drawing board."

  Stay tuned for the next exciting adventure of "As the Illini Turn Even Worse"

Our Lady Hoosiers were the ones who looked tired in their only tournament game against NW who was playing its 3rd game in 3 days.  Too much of a layoff for the seeded team?  Lower seed gets on an emotional high?  Who knows why it happens? 

It's on ESPN2

  Graduated magna cum laude from the Bobby Knight School of Tact and Charm. 

Actual post-game question and answer.    

  BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Saint Louis University Director of Athletics Chris May announced today that Jim Crews has been released as SLU’s head men’s basketball coach. This decision comes as the Billikens ended their season Thursday at the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship in Brooklyn, N.Y. “After reviewing the 2015-16 season and talking with Coach Crews, I have decided that a change in leadership of the men’s basketball program is needed for the program to move forward in meeting our goals,” May said.  The team was told of the coaching change today after their final game of the season. May thanked Crews for his many contributions to Billiken basketball. “Jim Crews took over as head coach during a very difficult time and has led the men’s basketball program with great class and dignity,” May said. “Jim has represented our University well and has helped the program achieve success on the court and in the classroom. His character and commitment are exemplary, which made this decision ever more difficult.” Crews joined the Billiken staff in 2011-12 as an assistant coach and was tabbed interim head coach for the 2012-13 season. He had the interim tag removed following the 2012-13 campaign. In four years as the Billikens’ head coach, he accumulated a 77-56 record and led SLU to two NCAA Tournament appearances. SLU captured A-10 regular-season crowns in 2013 and 2014 and won the 2013 A-10 Men’s Basketball Championship. “However, the last two seasons have not been as successful as we had hoped, and we believe new leadership is needed to move the men’s basketball program forward,” May said.   May also announced that a national search for the next men’s basketball head coach has begun. SLU is looking for a coach with a history of success and who understands the Department of Athletics’ commitment to the strategic objectives of educating, competing and building community. “It will be important for the new head coach to embrace Saint Louis University’s mission and values as a leading Jesuit university,” May said. “The next coach will play a critical role in representing the University on a local, regional and national level.”

  Does that mean it's time to 'Crean' a coach?  :laugh:

Some of the better tweets:   You can't spell Iowa without 'ow'!   Fran has coached 201 games at Iowa. When Iowa is the first to 70 points, it is 92-4. When the opponent is the first to 70, Iowa is 2-56.  

Rutgers fires Eddie Jordan, Dan Hurley No. 1 target By Adam Zagoria | 12:49PM NEW YORK -- Rutgers fired men's basketball coach Eddie Jordan after three unsuccessful seasons on Thursday and is expected to target New Jersey native and Rhode Island coach Dan Hurley as its No. 1 choice to replace him, sources told SNY.tv. Jerry Carino of Gannett New Jersey was the first to report Jordan's firing. Manhattan coach Steve Masiello is also strongly interested in the job and would take less money if Rutgers cannot come to financial terms with Hurley, sources said. Both are young, hungry, aggressive coaches with tremendous connections who would get after it on the recruiting front and try to turn around a program that hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament since 1991. "Dan Hurley would be an absolute home run for Rutgers," one Division 1 coach said. Jordan, 61, coached his final game Wednesday night, an 89- 72 loss to Nebraska in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis that dropped the Scarlet Knights to 7-25 on the season. Jordan initially signed a five-year contract in 2013 and made $1.15 million this season, according to the Asbury Park Press. His buyout is $2.065 million as opposed to the full amount owed of $2.95 million over his fourth and fifth seasons, the paper reported. Hurley, 43, will coach Rhode Island (17-14, 9-9 Atlantic 10) Thursday night in an A-10 tournament game against UMass at Barclays Center. He takes a career record of 62-63 into that game with no NCAA Tournament appearances in six seasons at Rhode Island and Wagner. Hurley is a former Rutgers assistant coach and has deep ties to the Garden State. During his nine-year tenure at St. Benedict's Prep (2001-2010), he compiled a 223-21 record, developed four McDonald's All-Americans, and coached the Grey Bees to four top five finishes in the national rankings. His father, Bob Hurley, is the legendary Naismith Hall of Fame coach at St. Anthony's, which has won 12 New Jersey Tournament of Champions titles. Dan Hurley was in the mix for the Rutgers job back in 2013 after the school fired Mike Rice, but the school could not come up with enough money to lure him away from Rhode Island after his first season there and ultimately hired Jordan. A year ago, he signed an extension at Rhode Island through the 2021-22 season. Now, under new athletic director Pat Hobbs, the school would need to offer Hurley in the neighborhood of $2 million annually for six years, sources said. Hurley will make a guaranteed $1 million per season by 2017-18 at Rhode Island, a raise from his 2014-15 salary of $630,000. "I think they'll definitely get close to that $2 million number," one source said. "Money's not going to be an issue." "I don't know how you turn that down [if you're Hurley]," a second Division 1 coach told SNY.tv of a possible return home. "There aren't too many people who are perfect for that job." Hobbs, who was hired to replace Julie Hermann in November, is expected to move quickly. In December, he hired a new football coach, Chris Ash, eight days after Kyle Flood was fired three years into a five-year deal. Ash and Hurley have the same agent, Jordan Bazant. St. Bonaventure's Mark Schmidt, George Washington's Mike Lonergan, Stony Brook's Steve Pikiell, Iona's Tim Cluess and former N.C. State and Arizona State coach Herb Sendek are considered possibilities after Hurley and Masiello. A star of the 1976 Rutgers Final Four team and a former NBA coach, Jordan was hired in 2013 to stabilize his alma mater after Rice was fired for being shown verbally and physically abusing his players on videotape. But Jordan struggled mightily in his time at Rutgers and never gained recruiting momentum in the fertile territory of New Jersey. He finished with a record of 29-68 in three seasons, 8-46 in the Big Ten. Before the Scarlet Knights beat Minnesota at home on the final day of the season, they had dropped 32 straight Big Ten games. Hobbs is a very smart, shrewd guy who oversaw the Seton Hall athletic department as Dean of the Law School. He hired Kevin Willard, who in his sixth season has guided the Pirates to their first NCAA Tournament bid since 2006. Now Hobbs will need to meet with Hurley and persuade him that Hobbs has the vision to take Rutgers boldly into the future in the Big Ten by fundraising and vastly improving the school's facilities. Hurley, meantime, must decide whether he wants to go home (his wife Andrea is also from New Jersey) and make more money in a bigger league, or stay at a smaller school where he could have a potential Top 25 team in 2016-17. If he were to stay at Rhode Island and do well, Hurley could potentially be in the mix for bigger BCS jobs in the future. If he chooses Rutgers, he would have to be convinced it could compete with the league's big boys down the road. Rhode Island was expected to be a Top 25-type team this year but lost star guard E.C. Matthews to a knee injury the first game of the season and recently lost forward Hassan Martin for the remainder of the season. The 6-7 Martin is a Staten Island native who was named A-10 Defensive Player of the Year. The Rams have a young team returning next season, and also have four players committed for next season in bigs Michael Tertsea and Mike Layssard, power forward Cyril Langevine and guard Jeff Dowtin. Langevine plays for New Jersey parochial power St. Patrick's. Still, if Rhode Island were to release them, several of the team's current players and signed recruits could follow Hurley to Rutgers. If Hobbs cannot come to terms with Hurley, Masiello would be a strong hire. Masiello just agreed to a four-year extension at Manhattan, where his base salary is $400,000. Sources said he would take in the neighborhood of $1 million annually with an incentive-laden contract at Rutgers. A White Plains, N.Y., native and former Rick Pitino assistant, Masiello is 92-70 in five years at Manhattan, with two NCAA Tournament appearances.  He knows his way around New York and New Jersey, too. As an assistant under Pitino at Louisville, he recruited Earl Clark, Derrick Caracter, Samardo Samuels, Edgar Sosa and Russ Smith to the school. (Samuels came out of St. Benedict's Prep, where he was coached by Hurley.) In 2014, Masiello's stock exploded to the point where he was offered the job at South Florida, which would've paid him $6.2 million over five years. But when it was discovered during a background check that Masiello had never graduated from Kentucky, the entire storyline flipped. Not only did South Florida back out of hiring Masiello (they ultimately hired Kentucky assistant Orlando Antigua), but Manhattan placed Masiello on leave in late March and his future seemed uncertain. In April 2014, Manhattan reinstated Masiello and by May he had completed his degree work at Kentucky. If Hurley takes the Rutgers job, Masiello would be a possibility to replace him at Rhode Island. "If Dan Hurley gets the job, Rutgers will be fine," one source said. "If Steve Masiello gets the job, Rutgers will be fine."

The unexpected rise of Hoosiers freshman OG Anunoby Zak Keefer, zak.keefer@indystar.com 5:19 p.m. EST March 9, 2016   Buy Photo (Photo: Michelle Pemberton / IndyStar) BLOOMINGTON – Crowds erupt, heads turn, jaws sink, momentum swings and OG Anunoby just stands there and nods. In a lot of ways, the Indiana freshman forward is a basketball contradiction: His play is loud, his disposition quiet. Watch him rise ... and rise ... and keep rising while he finishes a cross-court alley-oop versus Ohio State. Watch him soar over Michigan State’s Kenny Goins like he’s a statue. Watch him thunder home a reverse slam against Illinois. Then watch him forget to celebrate. “He’s about business and not much else,” his dad says. OG Anunoby is many things – throwback defender, gravity-ignoring leaper, furious at-the-rim finisher. He’s a highlight waiting to happen. He’s lightning in a bottle. What he is not: a talker, a boaster, a show-boater. The kid keeps it simple. The kid just plays. And for that he is rare. Leapers and shot-blockers and dunkers dripping in talent like Anunoby aren’t supposed to be this quiet, this humble, this reserved on the court. They’re not supposed to celebrate the Dunk of the Year – Anunoby’s posterization of Goins in East Lansing last month – by turning his head and jogging back on defense. Where are the screams? The chest-pounding? The taunts? “Not his style,” says IU grad transfer Max Bielfeldt. “He’ll make an incredible play, and he could push a defender or mouth off in their face. But he doesn’t. He lets his game do the talking.” So that’s what he’s done. And the Hoosiers are the better for it. Who could have forecasted this sort of off-the-bench spark from Anunoby, the little-known recruit with all that untapped potential? In five short months, he went from massive question mark to a vital piece in Indiana’s Big Ten championship puzzle. The postseason starts Friday for the Hoosiers, who will chase their first conference tourney title. Then it’s time for the Big Dance. The scary part? The kid who wears his shorts short, his hair high and his emotions tucked beneath his No. 3 jersey is just scratching the surface. And he knows it. * * * He tried baseball, and was a pretty good pitcher – but eventually quit. “Too boring,” OG told his dad. He tried football, and was a pretty good wide receiver – but eventually quit. “Too dangerous,” he told his dad. It was basketball that called to him. His arms were long, his legs were long, his leaps were high. He was dunking by age 13. It was the perfect match. “Basketball was just more fun than the other sports,” he says now. Buy Photo Chigbo Anunoby, OG's older brother, spent a brief time with the Colts in 2012. (Photo: IndyStar) Problem was: OG Anunoby Sr. didn’t know much about basketball. He grew up in Nigeria, the son of a public servant, playing soccer “anywhere that was convenient and safe.” He pulled his family first to London – where OG was born – and then to Jefferson City, Mo., where he is a professor of business and finance at Lincoln University. There, his sons would flourish. Anunoby Sr.’s oldest son, Chigbo, would make it all the way to the NFL, bouncing around for a handful of teams, including the Indianapolis Colts. His youngest, and namesake, was equally ambitious. He remembers one afternoon they spent inside a sporting goods store. OG was eight. He wanted his father to buy him a basketball goal – and not just any goal, but the nicest, most expensive goal the store had to offer. Dad hesitated. This goal was awfully expensive. “At the time, I thought basketball was just a hobby for him,” Anunoby Sr. remembers. “I didn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on a hobby. I was afraid after two days, he’d lose interest.” So OG pleaded. Promised. Begged. No, dad. I won’t. I’ll practice every day. Every single day. Finally, dad relented. Ten years later this is what dad says: “The return on that investment was very high.” OG Anunoby has had no problem posterizing opponents this season. (Photo: Photo illustration) Because his son was right. His passion only deepened from there. OG poured himself into the sport, spending night after night in the backyard, shooting on that goal, ignoring calls for dinner, begging family members to come rebound for him. When school was delayed, he’d go out and shoot. When school was over, he’d go out and shoot. He spent so much time out there his dad began to worry he was going to hurt himself. “I’m not kidding,” Anunoby Sr. says. “He played all the time.” The basketball education was two-fold. A father learned the game just as his son learned the game. One day, OG came home from school and told his dad he wanted to play AAU basketball. “What is AAU basketball?” his dad replied. But just like that basketball goal, he knew what it meant to his son. He said OK. From there, basketball consumed their weeknights, their weekends, their lives. By his junior year, OG was playing for Team Thad, an Under Armour-sponsored team based in Memphis, a five-hour drive from Jefferson City. And his stock was rising on the recruiting trail before his biggest setback — a broken wrist —took him off the radar. Suddenly, the coaches stopped calling. FILE – OG Anunoby, shown here in 2013 for Jefferson City, has always been a high-riser. (Photo: Don Shrubshell / Columbia Tribune) So when IU coach Tom Crean saw Anunoby play at an AAU event in Atlanta, and instantly thought to himself, ‘Who is this kid?’, the tournament brochure didn’t have an answer. Anunoby’s name had been left off the list. “They hadn’t put his name back on the roster after he got hurt,” his dad recalls. Still, Crean saw something. He pounced. “He didn’t mess around,” OG remembers. “He called me every day for the next week. He told me how much confidence he had in me, and made an offer. Some coaches said they had to see more. He said he didn’t.” The visit to Bloomington, in the fall of Anunoby’s senior year, sealed the deal. Anunoby Sr. was struck by Crean’s willingness to lead the campus tour. “Most coaches have an assistant do that,” he says, “and it really impressed me that he didn’t.” There was also this: When Anunoby Sr. researched the IU coach, and his history of developing talented wing players, he stumbled on a few names he’d already heard of. He saw Dwyane Wade’s name. He saw Victor Oladipo’s name. He liked what he saw. It felt right. It felt like home. So when OG made the final call, weighing 27 offers from the likes of Iowa, Mississippi, Georgia and Wichita State, Indiana was the choice. And when his son told him, Anunoby Sr. smiled, knowing that basketball goal he’d bought for him all those years ago – to say nothing of his son’s hard work – had taken him further than he could have ever imagined. It had earned his son a college scholarship to one of the nation’s blue-blood programs. OG would become a Hoosier. * * * No, it’s not O.G. It’s not Anuby. OG is short for Ogugua, but so many people had a hard time pronouncing it when he was younger they decided to shorten it. OG. No periods. Told of ESPN analyst and WFNI-AM 1070 radio host Dan Dakich’s frequent praise of his son – “The next time I have a son, I’m going to name him OG,” Dakich has joked numerous times during IU telecasts – OG Anunoby Sr. laughs. “We’re flattered!” Told of what OG stands for in street slang – original gangster – and he laughs harder. Buy Photo IU's OG Anunoby (3) blocks the shot by Wisconsin forward Nigel Hayes, Jan. 5, 2016. (Photo: Matt Kryger / IndyStar) “I didn’t know that!” His son is an original, to be sure. Teammates describe him as ... “weird.” Says junior Troy Williams, one of Anunoby’s closest friends off the floor: “It’s one of the first things I learned about OG when he got here. The man is weird.” The two became friends last summer, holding impromptu dunk contests after workouts (imagine that show). “I sort of just took him under my wing,” Williams adds. Bielfeldt affectionately calls him “a clown.” He clarifies: “He’s always cracking funny jokes. He’s sarcastic. But that’s off the floor. He just doesn’t get caught up in the spotlight.” Buy Photo OG Anunoby is described affectionately as a "clown" by teammates. (Photo: Michelle Pemberton / IndyStar) Not yet at least. He’s still a freshman. Crean has talked of how, throughout this season, Anunoby had to learn how to sustain his intensity. His impact would come in spurts. At times he would play like a freshman. He’s still raw. The mistakes came. But so did the growth. After not scoring more than six points in any game in nonconference play, Anunoby dropped eight or more eight times in the Big Ten. He remembers, four years ago as a high school freshman, watching the likes of Oladipo and Yogi Ferrell and Cody Zeller lead the Hoosiers to a Big Ten championship. “I loved watching that team,” Anunoby says. Now he’s a key part of the Hoosiers’ latest title team. Most Indiana games are sprinkled with one or two or three O(M)G moments, an are-you-kidding-me finish at the rim, a ferocious block, the sort of plays that end up on "SportsCenter" by night’s end. Crowds erupt. Heads turn. Jaws sink. Momentum swings. And OG Anunoby just stands there and nods. What’s next?

The B1G is all about $$$ and the $$$ the conference receives for television rights and advertising revenue.

COLUMN: Composure beyond his years By Justin Sokeland on March 9, 2016 in Bedford North Lawrence Boys Basketball New Albany sophomore Romeo Langford lets his game demand the attention, rather than any self-promotional antics. New Albany’s Romeo Langford shines in the state spotlight with attracting any attention “True art tries not to attract attention in order to be noticed.” – Jose Bergamin Basketball, in today’s “Look at me!” Youtube society, has become the theater for the absurd. Almost every dunk is followed by fist-pounding the chest with a scream, or a short pose and muscle flex for the camera. Almost every 3-pointer is punctuated by hand gestures and salutes, and now the latest craze is the ridiculous scripted pantomimes on the bench after a teammate’s success. ESPN spent more time during a recent Monmouth broadcast showing the reactions off the floor than it did the action on it. Attracting attention, somehow going “viral” on any of the social media platforms, seems to be the primary goal. Round and round it goes, where it stops, nobody knows. They just want to reach out and grab ya. Every time you call my name, I heat up like a burning flame. Yet Indiana’s most viral name is Romeo. And he shuns the selfie spotlight. New Albany sophomore Romeo Langford is the latest Hoosier phenom, headed for greatness on other levels, destined for instant first-name-only recognition. Oscar. Damon. Romeo. He’s already drawing comparisons to those legends. Time will ultimately tell if he’s worthy of that, but he’s on that trajectory.   Romeo Langford is averaging 29.2 points per game this season. His game is exceptional. His numbers (700 points this season, 1,158 for his 50-game career, a single-game school record of 44 twice this year) are astounding, his abilities are extraordinary. Yet his single greatest characteristic has no measurable statistics. He lacks the desire for attention. Call it composure, temperament, control or poise. As good as he already is, as great as he could become, Langford doesn’t care about the accolades, doesn’t celebrate an accomplishment, doesn’t accept honor without humility. That is earning him far more respect than his highlight reel. Where does that come from? In this age, when teens have been buried in an avalanche of self-promotion, how does a 16-year old kid avoid the pitfalls of indulgent propaganda? “I’d like to take credit for it, but I can’t,” New Albany coach Jim Shannon said. “You have to throw that credit to the parents, but I also think that’s just who he is. “People who excel in their professions have that X factor, they carry themselves a little different than the average guy. I guess if we knew how you come up with that, we’d bottle it, sell it and make a lot of money. I think a lot of it is God given.” Crash. Langford has almost ripped the rim off one of the baskets at Seymour’s historic Scott Gymnasium, causing an explosion in the stands. He never even cracked a smile. Swish. Romeo has buried three straight treys, and the opponents are reeling, and he’s already back on defense. Thud. Langford has hit the deck, hard, and simply gathers himself to walk to the free-throw line without a glare or an acknowledgement of pain. Langford has many dunks on his highlight reel, yet he never shows his emotions following a fantastic play. “His demeanor on the court is far advanced for his age,” said Bloomington South coach J.R. Holmes, who has coached many great ones and has seen even more during his 45 years on the sidelines. Holmes compares Langford’s demeanor to former Mr. Basketball Jordan Hulls. “He hits threes, he turns and plays defense. He misses a shot, he doesn’t show the emotions. He just plays. “He doesn’t show the emotion of the game or the badness of basketball, the way kids act now, when a dunk is the greatest thing in the world or they hit a three and act like it was the first time in their life. I’ve never seen him do that.” Evansville Reitz coach Michael Adams tells the story of a scouting trip earlier this season, when he watched New Albany conquer Evansville Central. “He went to block a shot, and because of the train wreck, he got undercut and hit the floor hard,” Adams said. “And he actually hit his face. And I was watching because I thought he might have a concussion. A lot of kids would have rolled around and made a big deal about it. “He quietly gets up – and he always accepts the official’s call – walks to the lane and you never would have known he just fell hard. He didn’t want anyone to see, but he kind of reached up to feel his face and see if it was OK. And then he went on and made about five plays in a row. What that showed me was a sense of toughness you just don’t see in sophomores.” New Albany’s Romeo Langford scored 458 points as a freshman. If underclassmen were eligible for the Mr. Basketball award, Langford would be a frontrunner, based on his sheer numbers (29.2 points, 9.1 rebounds) and the grocery cart full of college offers he already possesses from recruiters. But it’s his on-court character that makes him special. “I’m not so sure he’s not the best player in the state as a sophomore,” Adams said. “I love his composure beyond his years. He allows the game to come to him. He doesn’t look like he’s ever pressing anything. He’s a great teammate, I like his temperament. “The kid is phenomenal. He impresses you in so many areas. I couldn’t say enough great things about the kid.” Great teammates share the ball, and Langford has two others (Isaac Hibbard and Josh Jefferson) averaging in double figures. Great teammates deflect the glory to others, and take them on recruiting visits to enjoy that glimpse into an enviable lifestyle. Great teammates diffuse any selfishness. Romeo Langford “He’s a joy to coach, and I think he sets the tone for what we’ve got going on right now,” Shannon said. “There’s no jealousy. Sometimes when you have that one kid that gets all the attention, you have to nurture the rest of them. That hasn’t been a problem.” So what is his ceiling? Damon? Comparisons to the last true Hoosier Hero might be premature. He’s still off Damon’s state-record scoring pace. Bailey had 1,345 through 50 career games, and 1,509 after his sophomore year, and Bailey averaged 27.2 and 31.4 his last two years. Langford would need two fantastic, injury-free years with deep tournament runs to get close. And it’s doubtful 41,000 would show up to watch him play right now. And he probably doesn’t care about that. His coach certainly doesn’t. “I’m just glad we’ve got him the rest of this year,” Shannon said, “and a couple of more years.”

  Excited is a sentiment I think most of us share.  Even the Zeller, Oladipo, et. al., team didn't seem to generate this kind of excitement entering the tournaments and I think it was because we had started the infamous end of season swoon and we had nagging doubts about what was ahead.  This season, we're finishing on an extremely high note and our optimism is so much higher.

Don't know why, but Troy simply has brain farts during most games and too many brain farts in some games.  I cringe when I see him bring the ball across mid-court, drops his head and shoulders and look out, it's gonna be a wild Troy drive to the bucket.  Some are spectacular in their finish; some are spectacularly bad.  Please Troy, load up on the Beano until April 5.

Wayne, your powers of prediction are quite astounding, now about next week's Powerball numbers...... :laugh: