#BIAHRoadTrip The Diary Part XV - Final Destination

4:45PM Day 22
Somewhere on I-80
Somewhere in Nebraska
Total Miles; 4,781

Road Trip Part-I
Road Trip Part-II
Road Trip Part-III
Road Trip Part-IV
Road Trip Part-V
Road Trip Part-VI
Road Trip Part-VII
Road Trip Part-VIII
Road Trip Part-IX
Road Trip Part-X
Road Trip Part-XI
Road Trip Part-XII
Road Trip Part-XIII
Road Trip Part-XIV


There's a reason we didn't end our road trip in Lawrence, KS. There's a reason we didn't call it quits after 2,500 miles, 20 days and 12 games.

The Utah State student section.

That's what was the driving force behind the creation of this trip. We'd watch late-night WAC games on ESPN and see these stark-raving mad students, all chanting in unison, heckling the refs and opponents. We just had to get in on the action, just once.

After 20 grueling days and 2,500 miles, we finally made it to Logan, UT.

And I can honestly say that the entire experience met and exceeded every single expectation I had.

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After a treacherous 11-hour drive from Denver, which featured some of the most beautiful landscape I've ever seen, we arrived in Logan, UT, a tiny mountain town in the most northeastern part of state, about two hours north east of Salt Lake City.

After getting caught up with work on Thursday morning, we set out to find ourselves some lunch. We stumbled upon "Logan's Heroes", a tiny, nondescript deli located at the corner of Main Street and 1st Street.

Listen, Rob is from the NYC-metro area and I'm from the DC-metro area, so we know a good deli when we see it. This didn't look like a good deli. But after 15 minutes, some good chatter with the owner, who told us what to get, we were sold.

By the time I was done eating, I was thoroughly convinced that if I lived in Logan, this would be my go-to spot for lunch every day.

Next to the Yellow Sub in Lawrence, KS this was the best sandwich I've had all trip. Friendly people, and fantastic food in a quaint environment. Check, check and check.

After getting more work done, we met up with our host-for-the-day, Kraig Williams of the Deseret Times, at "Mo' Bettah Steaks", a Hawaiian steakhouse. Yeah, I know, Hawaiian food in Utah probably doesn't sound too appetizing, but the Steak-n-Pork combo was off-the-charts good.

Rob can attest to this. "I feel like I could drink an entire bottle of the terayaki sauce."

We hadn't even stepped foot on Utah State's campus, and already the food had exceeded our expectations.

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If you know anything about Utah State and their student section, then you know about "Wild" Bill Sproat. He's the larger-than-life super-fan who ESPN has gone ga-ga over because of his innovative costumes and creative free-throw distractions.

We figured that by the end of the night, maybe we'd say hello to him and take a picture with him. That's it, that's all.

But when we walked through the front door to the D. Glenn Smith Spectrum, I bet you can guess who the first person we ran into was.

Donning his custom No.22 "Wild Bill" Utah State jersey, Sproat greeted us and talked to us for a good 20 minutes about his background, Utah State, and well, just about everything in between.

Rob profiled Sproat, so I'll let him go into detail about it, but let me just tell you that even Bill exceeded my expectations. He's just an all-around awesome guy. He's one helluva story-teller, hilarious as all get out, and is as friendly and as welcoming as anybody we've encountered.

But Sproat warned us that the turnout may not be great. Utah State is in a "down year", having graduated six seniors after last season, and the students have just come back from Winter Break. He wasn't sure we'd be viewing the best atmosphere.

But if you've watched a Utah State game on TV, then you know that even a marginal effort by the student section is bigger and louder than most full capacity BCS-conference student sections.

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Sure, the arena wasn't packed to the brim. There were a decent amount of seats, colored in 70s-themed orange and yellow, that were still empty. The student section, which can fill up to about 4,000 students, was only about 80% filled.

Regardless, it was pandemonium. There was a buzz circulating throughout the Spectrum prior to tip-off. The students piled in, sprinting in order to get the best seats behind the basket.

While we took in the scene, we were met by numerous different students and staff members who had heard about our trip and were surprised to see we were making a stop in Logan. We told them, much to their surprise, that we were there to see them.

"This is why we decided to make the road trip. We are here to see you guys in action."

I talked to the head of The Hurd, the organization that handles all the student section planning and preparations. I talked to him about their coordination, planning new chants, and the reputation of their student section.

I have to say, I was sorta taken back at everybody's, well, hesitation to admit that they had the best student section in the country. Because well, it's a well-known fact amongst us media-type that no school does it quite like Utah State.

"The casual fan thinks Duke or Kansas has the best students. But any knowledgeable hoops-head should know that you guys do it the best" I said.

I was met with a half-puzzled, half-pleased reaction.

Maybe they weren't aware that ESPN broadcasts to states outside of Utah, or maybe they just didn't realize that most colleges don't have a student section nearly as passionate, coordinated and rowdy as them. After all, you wouldn't expect it from a tiny WAC school in northeast Utah.
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Before we settled in to our seats on press row, we made sure to get involved in the "I Believe We Will Win" chant. It's legendary. Sure, a lot of different schools do it, but theirs is the best. it's so good in fact, it was sampled for a hip-hop music video.




"Wild Bill" pulled Rob into the front row, and well, we were off. This was why we drove 2,500 miles. Why we left our jobs and families for 22 days.




The game was riddled with fouls, but featured the ebbs and flows that cause a student section to erupt several times.

That's one of my favorite parts of the college game. That momentum-swinging three-pointer, followed by a timeout. There aren't many moments in hoops that are better than that. The whole place goes crazy, and at Utah State they don't go crazy, they go bonkers, berserk, and border on clinical insanity.

I need to once again point out how stunned I was with the quality of the dance team/cheerleaders. At this point, we'd been to Kentucky, Missouri and Kansas. Schools with big student bodies and extremely-attractive co-eds.

My expectations for the USU cheerleaders were not very high.

I mean, come on, what should I have expected? It's a well-known fact that the cheerleading squads at smaller/private/religious schools just aren't at the same level of say, Pac-12 or SEC squads.

I can firmly say that they exceeded expectations. And for what seems like the bajillionth time on this trip, I cursed myself for attending a small liberal arts college on the East Coast.

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When the game finished up, we tried to get from press row to the locker room in order to interview some players. But to our amazement, we were greeted by several different waves of students, thanking us for making the trip to Logan and apologizing about the quality of game and student support.

"Are you kidding me?" I said to one fan. "If this was a 'down game', I don't know if my ear-drums could handle a game against BYU or Utah. You guys are the best."



It seemed like wave after wave of fans came over to greet us. It was amazing. I legitimately felt like a celebrity. But it didn't end with the students. Other writers and reporters knew who we were.

"Oh, you must be the travelling bloggers." said one writer. "Are you one of the guys doing the road trip? I recognized you from the videos. Great stuff." Said another. Again, my expectations were not only met but completely exceeded.

But once again, it didn't end there.
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Right before we were about to head up the ramp into the locker room, we ran in to "Wild" Bill again, who invited us to attend a post-game meal at "Angie's Diner: Where The Locals Eat". He said that most of the players and fans meet up there to get some grub following a home game.

I was sold.

I didn't want any of this to end.

Angie's is your standard-issue college-town diner. Lots of booths, lots of fatty foods.

When we walked in, the place was packed. I saw a booth-full of fans turn and look to see who was entering. One of of them turned to their friends and said "Those are the guys from Ballin' is a Habit" right when we walked in.

If you know anything about me, you know I have, or at least pretend to have a fairly large ego. I played goalie in high school and college, the only individual position in a team sport. I don't like sharing fame or attention. I don't want to be one of seven midfielders. I want to be one of one goalies. I am the youngest of three in my family. I want all eyes on me.

But as much as I want it, it rarely ever happens. So for four hours on a Thursday night in January, I felt like a rock-star.

When we joined Sproat and his crew of eight guys at the back table, we were welcomed with open-arms. For 45 minutes we heard stories, told stories, ate triple cheese-burgers, drank artery-clogging milkshakes, and watched Sproat interact with everybody that walked past us.

When a group of girls walked by, Sproat stopped them and tried to introduce them to us, but apparently they already knew who we were.

"You are the guys from Ballin' is a Habit, right? the road trip guys right?"

And there I am, once again dumbfounded that these people know who I am, starring at a pack of college girls like I'm a 18-year-old freshman.....with vanilla milkshake dribbling down my lip.

Nice, Troy. Nice.

After we finished our food, and discussed including "Wild" Bill in Season-II of the #BIAHRoadTrip, along with Drew Franklin of Kentucky Sports Radio (We are going to make this happen), we said our goodbyes and went back to our hotel.

But not before Sproat filled us in on the two new costumes he is going to unveil later in the season. I've been sworn to secrecy, but honestly, it's better if you just wait.

It's going to border on legendary-status.

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So that's it. That's why we traveled damn-near across the country.

Was it worth it?

Well let's see.

I don't know how I'm going to pay rent next month. I haven't talked to my boss in 20 days, haven't done laundry in 15 days, don't know if my apartment is still standing. My family might think I'm dead, I'm not sure if anybody has fed my dog in three weeks and I will probably have to replace my car in the near future.

So, what it worth it?

Absolutely. 1000% I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

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A few news and notes:

- "Wild" Bill need your help. See, he's ran into a bit of a social networking problem. He had a solid Twitter account, but forgot what his password was. Unfortunately, he also forgot what the password was for the email account connected to the Twitter. He needs the help of somebody with the computer skills to hack in to Twitter and get him access.

Contact us at ContactBIAH@gmail.com so we can help him out.

- This isn't our last Diary entry. We are grinding out a 34-hour drive back to Washington, D.C. and will update you on our long road home. We already have one EPIC early morning story to recant to you.

So stay tuned.
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Logan's Hero: Meeting "Wild Bill"

LOGAN, UT - Jenn Sterger isn't the only college fan sports fan that has used skimpy outfits to parlay face time on ESPN into fame.

Utah State superfan "Wild Bill" Sproat is easily recognizable. He's the big-bellied Aggie fan that has become a cult icon for his costumes, which range from a teapot to a hula dancer. Since Utah State plays in the WAC, Wild Bill's prominent spot directly behind the basket earned him plenty of TV time and, given the uniqueness of his appearance and his outfits, plenty of attention. He left the 2010 WAC Tournament early to fly to ESPNU studios in Charlotte, flying back out to Spokane for USU's NCAA Tournament appearance. After that trip, he immediately joined up with MTV's show "Thrill Billies", traveling around the country with Travis Pastrana and his crew.
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Previewing your college hoops weekend

Game of the Weekend: Sat. 1:30 pm: No. 16 Mississippi State @ No. 13 Florida

At the end of the day, the SEC is Kentucky and every body else. That's not an insult directed at the rest of the league, the Wildcats are just that good. The battle for second place is where the intrigue is going to come into play and, at times, there have been four teams that have looked like they deserved that title. Mississippi State are two of them.

This is an interesting game for a couple of reasons. On the one hand, Florida is at their best when they play inside-out, getting Patric Young touches and allowing him to create opportunities for his talented perimeter players by drawing attention from the defense. But Young is playing on a bad ankle, one that has forced him to come off of the bench, and Mississippi State has one of the best front lines in the country. Arnett Moultrie has a legitimate shot to win SEC player of the year and Wendell Lewis and Renardo Sidney are both capable of posting double-doubles.
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Friday's Shootaround: Wisconsin picks up a big win, at home?

No. 25 Wisconsin 57, No. 17 Indiana 50: Its really unfair to judge Indiana too heavily on what happened in the Kohl Center on Thursday night. You don't win on the road in the Big Ten this season, and while the Badgers have struggled early on in the season in their own building, this is still Wisconsin. The final difference ended up being seven points, but this was a one possession game until the final minute. That, frankly, is not a bad performance by any stretch and it shouldn't really change any opinion that you currently have of Indiana.

What this win should tell you is that the Badgers may actually be closer to the team that we thought they were early in the season. This is a different group that last year, when the Badgers couldn't stop anyone and flourished thanks to an offense that was as potent as anyone in the country. Without Jon Leuer and Keaton Nankivil, Bo Ryan's club simply isn't the same team on that end of the floor. What they are is a group that can absolutely lock down defensively. They don't need to score to win. Case in point -- the Badgers shot 39.6% from the floor and 4-17 from three in this one.
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POSTERIZED: Murder He Wrote(n)

Did. He. Just. Do. That?

Yup.

He did.

Washington's Tony Wroten Jr. is still working out the freshman kinks, but there is no denying that this kid is going to be a star.

In some professions, they call this "Sweet Chin Music"



UW Men's Basketball on WhoSay

What he did to that poor Arizona State defender is just mean. It's bad enough that the Sun Devils are down-right atrocious. Now they have to go out and get humiliated.


But was it as good as these?

Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Dayton, 1/25
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Missouri, 1/25
Larry Nance Jr., Wyoming vs. San Diego State, 1/24
Dion Dixon, Cincinnati vs. Syracuse, 1/23
Victor Rudd Jr., South Florida vs. St. John's, 1/17 (DotY Candidate)
C.J. Fair, Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh, 1/16
TrayVonn Wright, North Dakota State vs. South Dakota, 1/14
Bandja Sy, New Mexico State vs. Utah State, 1/12
Kenny Hall, Tennessee vs. Mississippi State, 1/12
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Duquesne, 1/11
Kadeem Batts, Providence vs. Louisville, 1/10
Karam Mashour, UNLV vs. CS-Bakersfield, 1/6
Tony Snell, New Mexico vs. Houston Baptist, 1/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgia Tech, 1/3
Trevis Simpson, UNC-Greensboro vs. Miami, 1/2
Orion Outerbridge, Rhode Island vs. Boston College, 1/2
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Indiana, 12/31
DeShon Minnis, Texas Tech vs. Southeastern Louisiana, 12/30
Keith Gabriel, VMI vs. Old Dominion, 12/22
Eric Etherly, Loyola (Md.) vs. Kentucky, 12/22
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. Texas-Arlington, 12/21
P.J. Hairston, North Carolina vs. Texas, 12/21
Robbie Hummel, Purdue vs. IPFW, 12/20
Robert Brown, Virginia Tech vs. North Florida, 12/19
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Kansas State, 12/17
Torye Pelham, Southern Mississippi vs. Ole Miss, 12/17
Quincy Diggs, Akron vs. Florida A&M, 12/17
Anthony Davis, Kentucky vs. Chattanooga, 12/17
Langston Galloway/C.J. Aiken/Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Villanova, 12/17
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. UC-Santa Barbara, 12/16
Jared Cunningham, Oregon State vs. Howard, 12/15
Raheem Appleby, Louisiana Tech vs. McNeese State, 12/14
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Detroit, 12/12
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. UW-Green Bay, 12/11
Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Creighton, 12/10
Dion Waiters, Syracuse vs. George Washington, 12/10 (DotY Candidate)
Victor Oladipo, Indiana vs. Kentucky, 12/10
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, 12/10
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. Washington, 12/6
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. Marquette, 12/6
Deville Smith, Mississippi State vs. West Virginia, 12/3
Terrence Jones, Kentucky vs. North Carolina, 12/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgetown, 12/1
Anthony Marshall, UNLV vs. UNC, 11/26
Michael Kidd-Glichrist, Kentucky vs. Portland, 11/26/11 (DotY Candidate)
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/25
Rodney Williams, Minnesota vs. DePaul, 11/24
Thomas Robinson, Kansas vs. Duke, 11/23
Stan Okoye, VMI vs. Ohio State, 11/23
Kyisean Reed, Utah State vs. Southern Utah, 11/19
Ra'Shad James, Iona vs. Western Michigan, 11/18
Alandise Harris, Houston vs. Arkansas, 11/18
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Jackson State, 11/18
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Wichita State, 11/18
Eric Griffin, Campbell vs. North Carolina A&T, 11/18 (DotY Candidate)
Olek Czyz, Nevada vs. Pacific, 11/17
Chris Watson, Pikeville vs. Mountain State, 11/16
Ray Willis, North Carolina Central vs. Wagner, 11/16
Mike James, Lamar vs. Ohio, 11/15 (DotY Candidate)
Quincy Acy, Baylor vs. San Diego State, 11/15
Deniz Kilicli, West Virginia vs. Kent State, 11/15
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. West Virginia, 11/15
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Oakland, 11/14
Isaiah Brown, East Tennessee State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/12
Michael Lyons, Air Force vs. Army, 11/11
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Morgan State, 11/11
Jeremy Lamb, UConn vs. Columbia, 11/11 (DotY Candidate)
Andre Drummond, UConn vs. CW Post, 11/4
Moe Harkless, St. John's vs. CW Post, 10/26


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18-4, 11 straight wins, five all-leagues players: why is no one talking about Oral Roberts?

You can find the rest of the features from the #BIAHRoadTrip here

TULSA, OK - On Saturday night, I had the chance to see one of the nation's best-kept secrets play as Dominique Morrison scored 22 points in a 93-86 win over Summit League rival Oakland. Morrison is a four-year starter at Oral Roberts and a guy that has been all over the all-Summit teams throughout his career. And this season, he's playing the best basketball of his career. While his per-game averages aren't all that much better than what he posted as a junior, in league play he's averaging a league-best 23.5 ppg while shooting 56.3% from beyond the arc.

Should I mention that ORU is currently 10-0 in the Summit League, on an 11 game win streak and currently own a 22 point win over the only team in the conference within striking distance, South Dakota State?
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Wednesday's Shootaround: No. 2 goes down

Oklahoma State 79, No. 2 Missouri 72: In the most surprising result of the night, Missouri went into Gallagher-Iba Arena and got dropped by the struggling Pokes, who were able to fight back from a deficit midway through the second half despite having starter Markel Brown tossed for his celebration of two thunderous dunks.

Missouri didn't play their best game, and that is far from a secret. Outside of Ricardo Ratliffe, who had 25 points and 12 boards on 10-17 shooting, the Tigers shot 33.3% from the floor. They were just 4-19 from three. The biggest culprit was Marcus Denmon, Missouri's all-american guard, who was just 4-16 from the floor. Perhaps the biggest issue that the Tigers had was that they weren't getting any shots created off of the penetration of their guards. When the Tigers have just eight assists as a team and aren't hitting (or are settling for) threes, they are susceptible.
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POSTERIZED: Ronald Roberts dunks on Dayton

Oklahoma State's Markel Brown tole the show on Wednesday night with his two monstrous dunks against Missouri, even drawing a technical on the second slam.

But Ronald Roberts of St. Joe's threw down a dandy of his own.

It's not often that you see somebody get #POSTERIZED off of a windmill jam, but well, if you've watched St. Joe's at all this year, then you know Roberts is capable of doing what ever he wants when he takes flight.



I love windmill dunks. Even if they are made in the open-floor. But when you add a foolish defender into the equation, you have something truly special.


Roberts continues to climb up the "Dunker of the Year" charts with his leaping abillity and creativity.

I would love to see Roberts go against Xavier's Dez Wells in an Atlantic-10 Dunk-Off.


But was it as good as these?

Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Missouri, 1/25
Larry Nance Jr., Wyoming vs. San Diego State, 1/24
Dion Dixon, Cincinnati vs. Syracuse, 1/23
Victor Rudd Jr., South Florida vs. St. John's, 1/17 (DotY Candidate)
C.J. Fair, Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh, 1/16
TrayVonn Wright, North Dakota State vs. South Dakota, 1/14
Bandja Sy, New Mexico State vs. Utah State, 1/12
Kenny Hall, Tennessee vs. Mississippi State, 1/12
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Duquesne, 1/11
Kadeem Batts, Providence vs. Louisville, 1/10
Karam Mashour, UNLV vs. CS-Bakersfield, 1/6
Tony Snell, New Mexico vs. Houston Baptist, 1/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgia Tech, 1/3
Trevis Simpson, UNC-Greensboro vs. Miami, 1/2
Orion Outerbridge, Rhode Island vs. Boston College, 1/2
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Indiana, 12/31
DeShon Minnis, Texas Tech vs. Southeastern Louisiana, 12/30
Keith Gabriel, VMI vs. Old Dominion, 12/22
Eric Etherly, Loyola (Md.) vs. Kentucky, 12/22
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. Texas-Arlington, 12/21
P.J. Hairston, North Carolina vs. Texas, 12/21
Robbie Hummel, Purdue vs. IPFW, 12/20
Robert Brown, Virginia Tech vs. North Florida, 12/19
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Kansas State, 12/17
Torye Pelham, Southern Mississippi vs. Ole Miss, 12/17
Quincy Diggs, Akron vs. Florida A&M, 12/17
Anthony Davis, Kentucky vs. Chattanooga, 12/17
Langston Galloway/C.J. Aiken/Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Villanova, 12/17
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. UC-Santa Barbara, 12/16
Jared Cunningham, Oregon State vs. Howard, 12/15
Raheem Appleby, Louisiana Tech vs. McNeese State, 12/14
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Detroit, 12/12
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. UW-Green Bay, 12/11
Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Creighton, 12/10
Dion Waiters, Syracuse vs. George Washington, 12/10 (DotY Candidate)
Victor Oladipo, Indiana vs. Kentucky, 12/10
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, 12/10
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. Washington, 12/6
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. Marquette, 12/6
Deville Smith, Mississippi State vs. West Virginia, 12/3
Terrence Jones, Kentucky vs. North Carolina, 12/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgetown, 12/1
Anthony Marshall, UNLV vs. UNC, 11/26
Michael Kidd-Glichrist, Kentucky vs. Portland, 11/26/11 (DotY Candidate)
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/25
Rodney Williams, Minnesota vs. DePaul, 11/24
Thomas Robinson, Kansas vs. Duke, 11/23
Stan Okoye, VMI vs. Ohio State, 11/23
Kyisean Reed, Utah State vs. Southern Utah, 11/19
Ra'Shad James, Iona vs. Western Michigan, 11/18
Alandise Harris, Houston vs. Arkansas, 11/18
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Jackson State, 11/18
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Wichita State, 11/18
Eric Griffin, Campbell vs. North Carolina A&T, 11/18 (DotY Candidate)
Olek Czyz, Nevada vs. Pacific, 11/17
Chris Watson, Pikeville vs. Mountain State, 11/16
Ray Willis, North Carolina Central vs. Wagner, 11/16
Mike James, Lamar vs. Ohio, 11/15 (DotY Candidate)
Quincy Acy, Baylor vs. San Diego State, 11/15
Deniz Kilicli, West Virginia vs. Kent State, 11/15
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. West Virginia, 11/15
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Oakland, 11/14
Isaiah Brown, East Tennessee State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/12
Michael Lyons, Air Force vs. Army, 11/11
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Morgan State, 11/11
Jeremy Lamb, UConn vs. Columbia, 11/11 (DotY Candidate)
Andre Drummond, UConn vs. CW Post, 11/4
Moe Harkless, St. John's vs. CW Post, 10/26

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POSTERIZED: Markel "Bad News" Brown

What is there to say about Oklahoma State's Markel Brown? The dude can fly. This is his #POSTERIZED series, and frankly, his most impressive.

The 'Pokes got a stunning 79-72 win against No.2 Missouri at the Gallagher-Iba Arena on Wednesday night. While it was LeBryan Nash who had the best performance of the night, Brown provided the highlight of the night.

In fact, he had two SPECTACU-LARGE slams (Still tyring to get footage of the first one), and the second one could very well end up being Dunk of the Year.

No joke.





But why on Earth does Brown get T'd up? This was one of the worst calls I've seen in a while. I didn't realize that looking at people was illegal.

In a sense, this was the oh-so-rare "walk-off" slam-dunk. Sure, it wasn't a game-winning dunk, but since it was his second technical foul, he literally "walked off" the court right after the dunk.


But was it as good as these?

Larry Nance Jr., Wyoming vs. San Diego State, 1/24
Dion Dixon, Cincinnati vs. Syracuse, 1/23
Victor Rudd Jr., South Florida vs. St. John's, 1/17 (DotY Candidate)
C.J. Fair, Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh, 1/16
TrayVonn Wright, North Dakota State vs. South Dakota, 1/14
Bandja Sy, New Mexico State vs. Utah State, 1/12
Kenny Hall, Tennessee vs. Mississippi State, 1/12
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Duquesne, 1/11
Kadeem Batts, Providence vs. Louisville, 1/10
Karam Mashour, UNLV vs. CS-Bakersfield, 1/6
Tony Snell, New Mexico vs. Houston Baptist, 1/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgia Tech, 1/3
Trevis Simpson, UNC-Greensboro vs. Miami, 1/2
Orion Outerbridge, Rhode Island vs. Boston College, 1/2
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Indiana, 12/31
DeShon Minnis, Texas Tech vs. Southeastern Louisiana, 12/30
Keith Gabriel, VMI vs. Old Dominion, 12/22
Eric Etherly, Loyola (Md.) vs. Kentucky, 12/22
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. Texas-Arlington, 12/21
P.J. Hairston, North Carolina vs. Texas, 12/21
Robbie Hummel, Purdue vs. IPFW, 12/20
Robert Brown, Virginia Tech vs. North Florida, 12/19
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Kansas State, 12/17
Torye Pelham, Southern Mississippi vs. Ole Miss, 12/17
Quincy Diggs, Akron vs. Florida A&M, 12/17
Anthony Davis, Kentucky vs. Chattanooga, 12/17
Langston Galloway/C.J. Aiken/Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Villanova, 12/17
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. UC-Santa Barbara, 12/16
Jared Cunningham, Oregon State vs. Howard, 12/15
Raheem Appleby, Louisiana Tech vs. McNeese State, 12/14
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Detroit, 12/12
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. UW-Green Bay, 12/11
Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Creighton, 12/10
Dion Waiters, Syracuse vs. George Washington, 12/10 (DotY Candidate)
Victor Oladipo, Indiana vs. Kentucky, 12/10
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, 12/10
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. Washington, 12/6
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. Marquette, 12/6
Deville Smith, Mississippi State vs. West Virginia, 12/3
Terrence Jones, Kentucky vs. North Carolina, 12/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgetown, 12/1
Anthony Marshall, UNLV vs. UNC, 11/26
Michael Kidd-Glichrist, Kentucky vs. Portland, 11/26/11 (DotY Candidate)
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/25
Rodney Williams, Minnesota vs. DePaul, 11/24
Thomas Robinson, Kansas vs. Duke, 11/23
Stan Okoye, VMI vs. Ohio State, 11/23
Kyisean Reed, Utah State vs. Southern Utah, 11/19
Ra'Shad James, Iona vs. Western Michigan, 11/18
Alandise Harris, Houston vs. Arkansas, 11/18
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Jackson State, 11/18
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Wichita State, 11/18
Eric Griffin, Campbell vs. North Carolina A&T, 11/18 (DotY Candidate)
Olek Czyz, Nevada vs. Pacific, 11/17
Chris Watson, Pikeville vs. Mountain State, 11/16
Ray Willis, North Carolina Central vs. Wagner, 11/16
Mike James, Lamar vs. Ohio, 11/15 (DotY Candidate)
Quincy Acy, Baylor vs. San Diego State, 11/15
Deniz Kilicli, West Virginia vs. Kent State, 11/15
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. West Virginia, 11/15
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Oakland, 11/14
Isaiah Brown, East Tennessee State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/12
Michael Lyons, Air Force vs. Army, 11/11
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Morgan State, 11/11
Jeremy Lamb, UConn vs. Columbia, 11/11 (DotY Candidate)
Andre Drummond, UConn vs. CW Post, 11/4
Moe Harkless, St. John's vs. CW Post, 10/26


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#BIAHRoadTrip The Diary Part XIV: The Laramie Controversy and Casino Royale

1:45 PM Day 20
Somewhere on I-70
The Rocky Mountains, CO
Total Miles: 3629

Road Trip Part-I
Road Trip Part-II
Road Trip Part-III
Road Trip Part-IV
Road Trip Part-V
Road Trip Part-VI
Road Trip Part-VII
Road Trip Part-VIII
Road Trip Part-IX
Road Trip Part-X
Road Trip Part-XI
Road Trip Part-XII
Road Trip Part-XIII

We've been on the road for the past two days, making our final push towards Utah State, so we apologize for the lack of content.

But that doesn't mean things haven't been interesting.

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When we last left you, we were headed to Lawrence, KS to visit Allen Field House and watch the Kansas Jayhawks play the Texas A&M Aggies. 


Before the game, we went to The West Coast Saloon to grab a burger, and the place was packed to capacity with Jayhawk fans. We must have been the only guys in there not wearing blue and red. The burgers were legit, but we were running late (Thanks to Rob, as usual) so we had to inhale them and head over to The Phog.

Allen Field House is absolutely incredible. Everything about it is spectacular: the physical structure, the arena itself, the concourse area, the atmosphere, the fans, everything. Every single fan in the arena was wearing blue or red. Now, we didn't see a lot of costumes, but there wasn't a single person in there that wasn't wearing Jayhawk apparel.

(Name that "Morri")

At the majority of the BCS-conference games we've been to, our media seats have been in the upper deck, away from the floor. But surprisingly enough, we were seated right underneath the basket closest to the Aggies bench.

The one problem was that we were right behind the Kansas cheerleaders. 


I'm not complaining about having to look at cheerleaders for 40 minutes, but they stood up like RIGHT IN FRONT OF US for the majority of the game, so while my view was nice, my view of the game was rather obstructed.

The experience at The Phog was incredible, just incredible. I want to go back there, like, now.

After the game we went back to our hotel to get some work done before we set off on our treacherous voyage through the Rockies towards Logan, UT.

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But before we even got to the road, controversy struck.

At roughly 3:00AM CST, I referenced the travel problems SDSU was having in getting to Laramie, WY, where we would be driving through within the next 48 hours.

. Rob ecstatically stated that we should wake up at 6:00AM and drive 11 hours directly to Laramie, WY to cover the game. I explained to him why this wouldn't work: We didn't have credentials, we needed sleep, the game was at 6:00PM, which would mean we may not even make it to the arena by tip-off. Reasons also included my inability to trust Rob driving my car in mountainous terrain, and well, my general trust in Rob. And from here, Rob began to throw a tantrum.



But before I was done, he had taken his idea to Twitter.

Within moments, I was a villain, and tyrannical leader hellbent on ruining all his fun.

I brushed off his continued efforts to convince me to do it, and I went to sleep.

At roughly 8:11AM, I was woken up to numerous pillow-shots to the head, followed by screams of "TROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY". Rob looked at me and said "Are we doing this?"

"No Dice". I said, and went back to sleep.

When we finally departed Lawrence, Rob was like a child spurned by his parents at the toy store.

The drive from Lawrence was brutal. It's long, flat, barren and straight.



Rob spent the majority of the trip reminding me that I ruined the trip and that I'm a "Debbie Downer". Rob did an interview with 1450 AM Sports Buzz Louisville and spent a majority of the call explaining to people in Louisville why I'm the worst friend ever.



However, it would not be too long before Rob had completely forgotten about the SDSU/Wyoming game completely.

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We drove for what seemed like days. We finally stopped in Denver, CO to spend the night with Kyle Dickmann, a former standout Kentucky High School basketball player and co-benchwarmer with Rob at Vasser College.

We were planning on grabbing some local food and beverage, getting some work done, and calling it a night. But Kyle had other plans. Within 30 minutes of arriving, it was decided that we would be heading up to Blackhawk, CO to visit the Ameristar Casino. The decision was unanimous.

But here's the thing. I'm a horrific gambler. I'm a terrible poker player. I am way too shrewed to wager money on anything. Plus, I've never been to a casino. Oh, and did I mention that I'm close to exhausting all my funds and will struggle to pay rent next month?

Nonetheless, I was all in.

When we arrived, we were briefed on how to play craps, which of all the casino games, gives you the best odds at winning money.

Right from the start, it was apparent to everyone that I was a novice. I put two hands on the dice (a no-no), I placed a $7 bet multiple times (a no-no), I placed a bet late and swatted the dice out of the air ( A huge no-no). On my first toss, I threw both dice off the table. On my second toss, the dice didn't even make it to the far wall. 

'

It was brutal.

Craps is a game of severe peaks and valleys. You get up big, and you get down even bigger. I was down to my last chip on numerous occasions. Rob went to the ATM twice, we got up and we got down, but we were able to sustain most of the momentum swings.

Then Mr. Miagi stepped up to the table. 

In the span of ten short minutes, a tiny Asian man with a solid mustache rolled some of the hottest dice I've ever seen. He was hitting everything. Hardway-10s, doubles, the field, the pass line, everything. If you had chips on the table, you were winning. This guy was flat-out feeling it. 

By the time he finally rolled the dreaded 7, Kyle was up $150, I was up $90, Rob was leading the way with $300.

At that point, it was obvious that we had to leave. I was grinning ear-to-ear. I don't win money. Ever. Yet here I am, a novice craps player, walking out of my first casino with $75. 

This doesn't happen. This isn't suppose to happen. But it did, and the next few days of the #BIAHroadtrip are on the house.

Literally.

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Like I said in the beginning of the post, we are currently in the Rocky Mountains, right near the border of Colorado and Utah. It is one of the most beautiful landscapes I've ever seen.

For the past 14 days, we've been driving across the most boring section of the entire country. But it was totally worth it considering what's right outside our car window.

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#POSTERIZED: Larry Nance Jr. does the "Jumpman"

In case you haven't been following along with the #BIAHroadtrip, we briefly debated trekking from Lawrence, KS to Laramie, WY in order to cover the SDSU vs. Wyoming game. The only problem was Rob started pushing for this idea at 3:00AM and Laramie, WY is 11 hours away from Lawrence, KS.

There will be more on this controversy in the near future, but for now let's discuss the "highlight-reel dunk of the year" candidate that Wyoming's Larry Nance Jr. threw down last night.

You've probably seen the dunk, but if not, here it is:



I'll be honest. I'm not too terribly impressed with this dunk. Sure, it probably got the crowd rockin', but it just kinda doesn't fancy me too much.

Yes, it's true, this dunk is a great silhouette of the Michael Jordan "Jumpman" logo. But Nance didn't jump nearly as high of the ground as Jordan did, so the dunk just ends up looking goofy.

That being said, it's still kinda impressive.

But was it as good as these?

Dion Dixon, Cincinnati vs. Syracuse, 1/23
Victor Rudd Jr., South Florida vs. St. John's, 1/17 (DotY Candidate)
C.J. Fair, Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh, 1/16
TrayVonn Wright, North Dakota State vs. South Dakota, 1/14
Bandja Sy, New Mexico State vs. Utah State, 1/12
Kenny Hall, Tennessee vs. Mississippi State, 1/12
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Duquesne, 1/11
Kadeem Batts, Providence vs. Louisville, 1/10
Karam Mashour, UNLV vs. CS-Bakersfield, 1/6
Tony Snell, New Mexico vs. Houston Baptist, 1/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgia Tech, 1/3
Trevis Simpson, UNC-Greensboro vs. Miami, 1/2
Orion Outerbridge, Rhode Island vs. Boston College, 1/2
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Indiana, 12/31
DeShon Minnis, Texas Tech vs. Southeastern Louisiana, 12/30
Keith Gabriel, VMI vs. Old Dominion, 12/22
Eric Etherly, Loyola (Md.) vs. Kentucky, 12/22
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. Texas-Arlington, 12/21
P.J. Hairston, North Carolina vs. Texas, 12/21
Robbie Hummel, Purdue vs. IPFW, 12/20
Robert Brown, Virginia Tech vs. North Florida, 12/19
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Kansas State, 12/17
Torye Pelham, Southern Mississippi vs. Ole Miss, 12/17
Quincy Diggs, Akron vs. Florida A&M, 12/17
Anthony Davis, Kentucky vs. Chattanooga, 12/17
Langston Galloway/C.J. Aiken/Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Villanova, 12/17
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. UC-Santa Barbara, 12/16
Jared Cunningham, Oregon State vs. Howard, 12/15
Raheem Appleby, Louisiana Tech vs. McNeese State, 12/14
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Detroit, 12/12
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. UW-Green Bay, 12/11
Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Creighton, 12/10
Dion Waiters, Syracuse vs. George Washington, 12/10 (DotY Candidate)
Victor Oladipo, Indiana vs. Kentucky, 12/10
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, 12/10
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. Washington, 12/6
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. Marquette, 12/6
Deville Smith, Mississippi State vs. West Virginia, 12/3
Terrence Jones, Kentucky vs. North Carolina, 12/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgetown, 12/1
Anthony Marshall, UNLV vs. UNC, 11/26
Michael Kidd-Glichrist, Kentucky vs. Portland, 11/26/11 (DotY Candidate)
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/25
Rodney Williams, Minnesota vs. DePaul, 11/24
Thomas Robinson, Kansas vs. Duke, 11/23
Stan Okoye, VMI vs. Ohio State, 11/23
Kyisean Reed, Utah State vs. Southern Utah, 11/19
Ra'Shad James, Iona vs. Western Michigan, 11/18
Alandise Harris, Houston vs. Arkansas, 11/18
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Jackson State, 11/18
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Wichita State, 11/18
Eric Griffin, Campbell vs. North Carolina A&T, 11/18 (DotY Candidate)
Olek Czyz, Nevada vs. Pacific, 11/17
Chris Watson, Pikeville vs. Mountain State, 11/16
Ray Willis, North Carolina Central vs. Wagner, 11/16
Mike James, Lamar vs. Ohio, 11/15 (DotY Candidate)
Quincy Acy, Baylor vs. San Diego State, 11/15
Deniz Kilicli, West Virginia vs. Kent State, 11/15
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. West Virginia, 11/15
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Oakland, 11/14
Isaiah Brown, East Tennessee State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/12
Michael Lyons, Air Force vs. Army, 11/11
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Morgan State, 11/11
Jeremy Lamb, UConn vs. Columbia, 11/11 (DotY Candidate)
Andre Drummond, UConn vs. CW Post, 11/4
Moe Harkless, St. John's vs. CW Post, 10/26

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Wednesday's Shootaround: Big road win for Michigan

No. 22 Michigan 66, Purdue 64: The Wolverines picked up a huge win on the road against the Boilermakers, hanging on for the win after Purdue missed two good looks from three in the final minute. One of those looks came off the hands of Robbie Hummel with 12 seconds left in the game. Making this win all the more impressive is that the Wolverines did it despite getting just a mediocre performance out of Trey Burke. Tim Hardaway, Jr., didn't exactly snap out of his shooting slump, but he did score 19 points to pace the Wolverines.

The enormity of this win cannot be understated for Michigan. Believe it or not, while this boosts them to 6-2 in Big Ten play and all alone in first place, it is also their first win on the road on the season. And while Purdue may not be the kind of powerhouse that they have been the past two seasons, this is still a tough team to beat in their arena. More than anything, Michigan needed this confidence heading into the stretch run. They have ten games left on their schedule. Six of them are away from Ann Arbor.
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Conner Teahan is living his dream, but would trade it all back. Why?

You can find the rest of the features from the #BIAHRoadTrip here

LAWRENCE, KS - Conner Teahan is living the dream.

He grew up a mere 30 minutes from the University of Kansas in Leewood, KS, and, like most people that grow up a mere 30 minutes from Lawrence, he's been a lifelong, diehard Jayhawk fan.

"There aren't going to be many bigger KU fans than I was. I'd be crying when they lost," Teahan said with a laugh after scoring five points in a 64-54 win over Texas A&M at Phog Allen Fieldhouse on Monday night. "Whenever I thought about what I wanted to do in college, the number one priority was play basketball at KU. That's all I wanted to do and I got the opportunity to."

Every kid grows up with a dream like that.
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#POSTERIZED: Dion Dixon is Dynamite

It seems like the we haven't seen a #POSTERIZED dunk in quite some time. I for one can't stand it. The average D-I game features at least four dunks per 40min, so you have to figure that there would be at least one #POSTERIZED-worthy dunk per day. Either team defense has been ratcheted up, or people are slacking on their responsibilities of notifying me.

Luckily Dion Dixon has my back.

Sure, the Cincinnati Bearcats weren't able to hand Syracuse their second-straight loss, but notching a SportCenter "Top Play" in the process ain't too shabby either.



Like I've stated before, a good #POSTERIZED dunk doesn't necessarily need a defender getting blown up. As Dixon shows us, all you need is some speed, and some explosive hops.


But was it as good as these?

Victor Rudd Jr., South Florida vs. St. John's, 1/17 (DotY Candidate)
C.J. Fair, Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh, 1/16
TrayVonn Wright, North Dakota State vs. South Dakota, 1/14
Bandja Sy, New Mexico State vs. Utah State, 1/12
Kenny Hall, Tennessee vs. Mississippi State, 1/12
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Duquesne, 1/11
Kadeem Batts, Providence vs. Louisville, 1/10
Karam Mashour, UNLV vs. CS-Bakersfield, 1/6
Tony Snell, New Mexico vs. Houston Baptist, 1/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgia Tech, 1/3
Trevis Simpson, UNC-Greensboro vs. Miami, 1/2
Orion Outerbridge, Rhode Island vs. Boston College, 1/2
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Indiana, 12/31
DeShon Minnis, Texas Tech vs. Southeastern Louisiana, 12/30
Keith Gabriel, VMI vs. Old Dominion, 12/22
Eric Etherly, Loyola (Md.) vs. Kentucky, 12/22
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. Texas-Arlington, 12/21
P.J. Hairston, North Carolina vs. Texas, 12/21
Robbie Hummel, Purdue vs. IPFW, 12/20
Robert Brown, Virginia Tech vs. North Florida, 12/19
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Kansas State, 12/17
Torye Pelham, Southern Mississippi vs. Ole Miss, 12/17
Quincy Diggs, Akron vs. Florida A&M, 12/17
Anthony Davis, Kentucky vs. Chattanooga, 12/17
Langston Galloway/C.J. Aiken/Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Villanova, 12/17
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. UC-Santa Barbara, 12/16
Jared Cunningham, Oregon State vs. Howard, 12/15
Raheem Appleby, Louisiana Tech vs. McNeese State, 12/14
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Detroit, 12/12
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. UW-Green Bay, 12/11
Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Creighton, 12/10
Dion Waiters, Syracuse vs. George Washington, 12/10 (DotY Candidate)
Victor Oladipo, Indiana vs. Kentucky, 12/10
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, 12/10
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. Washington, 12/6
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. Marquette, 12/6
Deville Smith, Mississippi State vs. West Virginia, 12/3
Terrence Jones, Kentucky vs. North Carolina, 12/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgetown, 12/1
Anthony Marshall, UNLV vs. UNC, 11/26
Michael Kidd-Glichrist, Kentucky vs. Portland, 11/26/11 (DotY Candidate)
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/25
Rodney Williams, Minnesota vs. DePaul, 11/24
Thomas Robinson, Kansas vs. Duke, 11/23
Stan Okoye, VMI vs. Ohio State, 11/23
Kyisean Reed, Utah State vs. Southern Utah, 11/19
Ra'Shad James, Iona vs. Western Michigan, 11/18
Alandise Harris, Houston vs. Arkansas, 11/18
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Jackson State, 11/18
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Wichita State, 11/18
Eric Griffin, Campbell vs. North Carolina A&T, 11/18 (DotY Candidate)
Olek Czyz, Nevada vs. Pacific, 11/17
Chris Watson, Pikeville vs. Mountain State, 11/16
Ray Willis, North Carolina Central vs. Wagner, 11/16
Mike James, Lamar vs. Ohio, 11/15 (DotY Candidate)
Quincy Acy, Baylor vs. San Diego State, 11/15
Deniz Kilicli, West Virginia vs. Kent State, 11/15
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. West Virginia, 11/15
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Oakland, 11/14
Isaiah Brown, East Tennessee State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/12
Michael Lyons, Air Force vs. Army, 11/11
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Morgan State, 11/11
Jeremy Lamb, UConn vs. Columbia, 11/11 (DotY Candidate)
Andre Drummond, UConn vs. CW Post, 11/4
Moe Harkless, St. John's vs. CW Post, 10/26





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Tuesday Morning Dump

- We were at the game and saw this sign in action. Everyone on press row laughed. Well played Kansas students, well played.

- Today's must-read comes from the New York Times: Living in fear of the N.C.A.A (or "Why Ryan Boatright is ineligible....again")

- It's obvious to tell that Syracuse is not the same team without Fab Melo. But despite the big-man's absence, the Orange remain the best team in the Big East. But the Orange could benefit from a tighter rotation

- Who's hot and who's not: ACC Edition

- Should the Wichita State Shockers be ranked in the top-25?

- Bo Ryan has some issues with the same transfer rules that allowed his school's football team to get Russell Wilson

- Murray State forward Ivan Aska has been cleared to play following a hand injury that kept him out of the last six games

- Arkansas forward Marvell Waithe will miss tonight's game against Auburn due to a lingering calf injury. Speaking of Arkansas, former-Sooner Fred Gulley has enrolled in Fayettesville

- Siena upset Iona in the stunner of the night. Gaels guard Scott Machado had only three assists, a season-low

- Georgia freshman Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is the type of player who a school like Georgia gets only "once every 20 year"

- Navy will join the Big East in 2015. DePaul is still pushing to get the Midshipmen approved for basketball......

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Tyshawn Taylor is the most important player on Kansas

You can find the rest of the features from the #BIAHRoadTrip here

LAWRENCE, KS - There's no question who the best player on the Kansas basketball team is.

He also happens to be the guy that most pundits will tell you is the best player in the country.

That's Thomas Robinson. At 6'9", 240 lb of muscle, Robinson has come into his own as a monster this season, the latest in a line of terrific front court players that Bill Self has churned out in his time in Lawrence. At this point, Robinson's story is no longer a secret. He lost his mother only a couple of weeks after both of his maternal grandparents passed away. Since then, he's entire life has focused on a singular goal: make it to the NBA so that he can provide for his eight year old sister, Jayla.

The hard work has paid off. Robinson, a relentless force on the glass, is averaging 17.7 ppg and 12.1 rpg as the focal point for a team that has overcome mediocre expectations to become the favorite to win the Big 12 and a legitimate top five team in the country.

The problem?
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Bill Self gets advice from the most unlikely of sources

LAWRENCE, KS - Kansas head coach Bill Self wasn't too thrilled with his team's performance in their 64-54 win over Texas A&M on Monday night.

He thought they lacked effort and made numerous mental gaffes.

But Tommy Lasorda, yes, that Tommy Lasorda, the eccentric, Slim Fast-promoting former-Dodgers manager, the same guy who went to Twitter just hours before the game to ask "what Rock Chalk Jayhawk" meant, had some sage advice for Bill Self after the game.

“He said, ‘Hey, you looked great.’ I said we didn’t look good at all,” Self said with a smile on his face in the media room following the the Jayhawk's 64-54 win over Texas A&M.

Self has always been a baseball fan, and noted that he has tried his best to stay up to date with all the advanced statistics. He's even used baseball fiction to help motivate his team in the past.

Lasorda was in town for a fundraising event, and was at the game with his niece and her husband, a KU alum.

As Self tells it, "[Lasorda] said, 'You don't understand. Stats don't matter.' I said, 'If your starting pitcher gives up five runs in six innings and you just hang on to win, you're happy?' He said, 'I'm happy. I'm happy.' He said, 'You’ve got to enjoy the wins.' He's right. We do. I just didn’t think tonight we were very good, but A&M had a lot to do with it, too."

Self is right, too.

The Aggies were the first team to hold the Jayhawks to under 65-points at Allen Field House this season. Kansas shot a dismal 20% (4-2) from behind the arc and did not score in the final 3:26 of the first half.

You don't go to Allen Field House in late-January and expect to hear a baseball anecdote, let alone see a Hall of Fame manager. But on a night where the Jayhawks looked less than stellar against an inferior opponent, expect the unexpected.
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Tuesday's Shootaround: Syracuse and Kansas win, Iona blows another lead

No. 4 Syracuse 60, Cincinnati 53: Coming off of an embarrassing, 76-67 loss to Notre Dame -- a loss that was no where near as close as the final score indicates -- Syracuse was looking to make a statement on Monday night. People have begun to speculate that the Bearcats may actually be the second best team in the Big East, and while that may end up proving to be true in the long run, the Orange made a statement on Monday night as they went into Fifth Third Arena and left with a win.

There were a few things to take note of in this game. For starters, it was nice to see Kris Joseph go into take over mode for a while. I'm not one of those people that harps on the fact that they don't have a go-to player (I think they do, but that's another post for another time), but I do believe that if they are going to make a run to the Final Four, they need Joseph to be more assertive offensively. His combination of size, athleticism and slashing ability makes him a difficult cover for anyone, and he showed that tonight as he finished with 17 points on 8-11 shooting from the floor. Scoop Jardine also deserves credit as he finished with 13 points and six assists without turning the ball over.
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