Blogging from A to Z Challenge 2022: K is for Kansas Jayhawks Basketball

Earlier this month I wrote about the Kansas Jayhawks wining the NCAA Men's Basketball here. However that was not their first championship.

They won their first championship in 1952 highlights...

1988

2008

Thought it would be fun to use Kansas as the first team and look back at the Champions other three titles.

Roy Williams calls it a Career

 Roy Williams the legendary Coach of the North Carolina Tar Heals and Kansas Jayhawks announced his retirement from coaching.

Why is he legendary? He is a Hall of Famer enshrined in the College Basketball Hall of Fame and The Basketball Hall of Fame. Williams is the only Coach to win over 400 games at two Division One schools and the only Coach to lead two schools to at least four Final Fours. Roy coached three National Championship teams at North Carolina. Obviously along the way he was awarded many awards.

His career record 903-264. 46 of his players went into the NBA. He leaves behind an incredible legacy in college basketball. He will be missed by his peers, fans and players. However at the age of 70 his life continues in retirement.

R.I.P John Chaney

John Chaney was well on his way to having a successful coaching career before he become the coach at Temple. Ten seasons at Division II Cheyney State and the Coach had put together a 225-59 record. He finished first in his conference nine out of ten years. He even garnered a National Championship at that level and was named Coach of the Year.

In basketball loving Philadelphia Chaney became the Coach of the Temple Owls. In a 24 year career at Temple he compiled a 516-253 record. He was named Coach of the Year in 1988. His teams won eight regular season conference titles and six conference tournament championships.

A 741-312 record as a head coach earned him inductions in the Basketball Hall of Fame and the Collee Basketball Hall of Fame. The great coach passed away January 29, 2021 at the age of 89.

He will be missed by his fans, friends and family.

NCAA Tournament: Kentucky flexes their might

My bracket was busted early this year. I usually pick much better ut I guess March Madness caught up with me.

I didn't pick the Kentucky Wildcats to win it all. Certainly they are the favorites, undefeated and the best team in the tournament. The undefeated part is why I didn't pick them. No one goes undefeated was my thought process.

The Wildcats have improved their record to 37-0! They opened the dance by beating the Hampton Pirates 79-56.

Next they cruised by the Cincinnati Bearcats 64-51...

Last night they simply crushed the West Virginia Mountaineers 78-39. Up next the Wildcats face a 32-5 Notre Dame squad for a chance for the Final Four.

R.I.P Dean Smith

Dean Smith the legendary former head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels has passed away at the age of 83.

Dean Smith won 879 games in his coaching career. His teams won two National Championships and appeared in 11 NCAA Final Fours. The Atlantic Coast Conference has always been known as a power basketball conference. Winning 17 regular season conference titles and 13 conference tournaments adds to his status.He was a four time National Coach of the Year and nine time conference coach of the year.He was also the coach of the 1976 Gold Medal winning Olympic Basketball team.

If Hall of Fame memberships equals greatness Dean Smith had it covered.

He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983, the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006, the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1981, the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 1996 and the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007.

Maybe his greatest stat was 96.6% of his athletes received their degrees! A true legendary coach for North Carolina and perhaps a model of what coaches should be,

March College Hoops 1

Well it is March and I have been writing a bunch on college basketball. The madness has started at least for me! I will break it down by the teams I have covered all season long Georgia Tech and Florida,  Hopefully, I will find some highlights to add to it as well.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Georgia Tech ended February by upsetting the Maryland Terrapins. The loss moved Maryland over on the bubble. You can read my recap here. Highlights below...

The Yellow Jackets started March off with a loss to the North Carolina State Wolfpack You can read that recap here. Here are some highlights...

Then Georgia Tech enjoyed their biggest win of the season. The Yellow Jackets upset the Miami Hurricanes.You can read all about it here. Below are highlights...

Georgia Tech lost their regular season finale to the Boston College Eagles in a close game. You can read the recap here. You can see the highlights from that game below...

In the opening round of the ACC Tournament, Boston College showed the world it was easy to beat the same team twice. Georgia Tech was whipped in a rematch with Boston College. You can read about it here.
Olivier Hanlan had an incredible game. Here are some highlights from that game..

Florida Gators

The Florida Gators delt a blow to Alabama's NCAA Tournament hopes with a 64-52 come from behind win. You can read my recap here.

Next the Florida Gators clinched the top seed in the SEC with a big win over Vanderbilt.YOu  can read my recap here. Highlights are below..

The Gators wrapped up the regular season with a loss at Kentucky. You can read my recap here.Here are some highlights from that game...

My next basketball post will have more about some conference tournaments I have been covering so stay tuned....

College Hoops Update!

We are inching closer to March Madness! The best part of the college basketball season. It has been about three weeks or so since I shared my recaps on college basketball. I will do that now since my weekend is going to be crazy busy (which means cool things to blog about soon!)

Georgia Tech

I'll start with there loss to the North Carolina Tar Heels. As poorly as ACC play has gone for the Yellow Jackets this game was not a surprise. You can read my recap here. Highlights below..

Then there was Georgia Tech's first ACC win over Wake Forest. They won with authority and you can read my recap here. More highlights below..

I did miss to recaps Georgia Tech lost both games one was to FSU. However, I did recap their win over Virginia. You can read that here.

Florida Gators

Switching gears to a team that wins more. First the Gators beat their rivals the Georgia Bulldogs again. You can read the recap here. Here are some highlights..

Then the gators rolled past some more Bulldogs, this time Mississippi State. The recap is here. Then the Gators shut down South Carolina you can read that recap here.

No luck on highlights n those games. Then the Gators beat then #16 Mississippi you can read about it here. Below are some highlights.

The Gators luck ran out in Arkansas. You can read about the Razorbacks big upset here. Highlights below..

Well there are the recaps I have written since last time. I will have some more up soon and I will blog later this month as we get ready for the Tournaments.

College Basketball Update

Well since my last blog post on college basketball I have written several more recaps.

We will start with...

Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech lost in overtime at home against Virginia Tech. The Yellow Jackets could have used a win over the Hokies. You can read my recap here. Below are highlights..

Next Georgia Tech got beat by the Duke Blue Devils. You can read the recap here.

Florida Gators

The Florida Gators have fared much better than Georgia Tech. The Gators whipped the LSU Tigers 74-52 in Baton Rouge. You can read my recap here.

Next the Gators visited Texas A&M and whipped them 68-47. You can read my recap here.

Finally the #17 Missouri Tigers were supposed to challenge the Gators but Florida crushed them 83-52.You can read the recap here.

Like I said I was picking up the basketball coverage. I was lucky enough to find highlights for all the games for the blog. I will be back soon with another post.

A bit on John Wooden

I'd be liar to say I remember John Wooden who passed away this month at the ripe age of 99. He coached his last game in the Spring of 1975 as UCLA won a championship. He left coaching as a champion. He won 10 of those in 12 seasons which is quite an achievement. He coached an amazing four 30-0 teams. he compiled a 664-162 record as a coach.

Wooden new basketball and he knew how to win. Through this he became great, was able to write or co-write several books and probably made more money in speaking engagements than he ever did as a coach. One could learn a lot about life, winning, and coaching from Wooden. He also stood up for what he believed was right. I could right a longer appreciation about him, but better ones have already been written and things said by people who knew him such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge his passing since I do write about sports. His life does deserve a moment of appreciation.

More Basketball...

I've been writing a bunch about college basketball. A lot of football but that will be another blog. Been writing so much I haven't been able to check into the blog as much.

Need info on the brackets you can read it here.

Who do I think was snubbed? The Big Dance Surprises? It can be read here.

A preview of the SEC Championship game which was published after the game. Really, I did write it before the game. You can read it here. Even a preview of the SEC Tournament is here. If your an ACC fan, I have your preview here.

Like I said I have been really busy with over 20 articles published this month. Work, Family, Play, volunteering, and writing.

Gearing up for March Madness

Well I have started writing about college basketball it must be March! I kicked things off with an article about the North Carolina tar Heels struggles. UNC finishes 16-16 after a loss to Georgia Tech. The Tar Heels may get a NIT bid based on name alone. They should be end of season bound.

Next up I did a preview of the CAA Conference tournament. I predicted the winner Old Dominion over William & Mary. The score was 60-53, I predicted 63-58. Pretty good predictions. To read about some other fine teams from a powerful mid-major conference read here.

Then I did previews of the SEC Tourney and ACC Tourney. If you like college basketball, I have more articles on their way soon.