Pat Summitt, the head coach for the Tennessee Lady Vols Women’s Basketball team, called it a career on April 19. For fans of women’s basketball in the NCAA Division I ranks, Pat Summitt is a household name.

After 38 years, Summitt stepped down from her job eight months after being diagnosed with early onset dementia, Alzheimer’s type. Summitt handed over her whistle to Holly Warlick, a former player of Summitt’s and assistant coach for the past 27 years.

Summitt is the winningest coach in college basketball history, with her win-loss record standing at an impressive 1,098-208. Summitt’s Lady Vols won their sixteenth overall Southeastern Conference last month. The Lady Vols made it to the NCAA Tournament all 38 years of Summitt’s career, never being seeded lower than No. 5 and never finishing the season with a losing record. Summitt also led her teams to 18 Final Fours and eight National Championships. The 18 Final Four appearances are tied with both the UCLA and North Carolina men’s teams for the most appearances in NCAA history. Summitt even has two basketball courts named after her (UT Martin and University of Tennessee). Continue reading →

First of all, congratulations to the Kentucky Wildcats for winning the 2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. There is something that can be said for a team that best navigates the 69-team tournament over the course of three weeks. It is certainly no small accomplishment.

This Kentucky team is different than the traditional national champion squad. This team was coached by John Calipari, who is notorious for recruiting players who are “one and done,” or players that will only play one year in college before leaving for the NBA. This Kentucky team was comprised with three one and done players: Marcus Teague, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Anthony Davis.

Now, keep in mind that as of right now, none of these three players have officially declared for the NBA draft, but it is expected they will. This situation raises the age-old question of who benefits from the one and done rule. As it stands, players in the NBA must be at least 19-years-old before they can be drafted. Continue reading →

I wrote only a few weeks ago about the excitement and the heartbreak of the NCAA Championship Tournament. Let’s be clear: I love March Madness, I don’t like the NCAA. The case of Jamar Samuels is the latest reason why.

Samuels is a senior on the Kansas State Wildcats men’s basketball team. He was undoubtably one of the team’s core players. Just minutes before an NCAA Tournament game on March 17, Samuels was suspended for the game against the Syracuse Orange over concerns about his eligibility. K-State lost the game to Syracuse, thus ending their season and Samuel’s career as a Wildcat.

The suspension was an act of pure hypocrisy by the NCAA. Jamar Samuels was suspended for taking $200 from a former AAU coach and family friend. Better yet, that $200 was used by Samuels so that he could keep from going hungry. He couldn’t afford to eat. Samuels comes from a poor family, which left the AAU coach to lend him some money. Taking the money is clearly an NCAA violation, but that is not what I’m arguing. I want some better compensation for NCAA student-athletes. Continue reading →

March is here, finally. There are not too many months that bring back memories of such excitement and frustration as the third month of the year. This year is no different. This year may be just a little crazier.

For those who don’t know, I am talking about the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The 68-team mosh pit of a tournament that takes place every March has many nicknames, The Big Dance, The Tourney, but it is known by most as March Madness.

I, like many, filled out my bracket. Also, like many, my bracket has more missed picks than right ones. If you printed out and stacked all the possible bracket combinations, then you couldn’t fit the stacks of paper in the universe. The universe. I’m no math major, but those seem like pretty slim odds of guessing the whole thing right. But what would it be worth to guess the bracket right? Sure you may get $1 million dollars or a new car, but would it really be worth it? I don’t think so. Continue reading →