Raul,

Hey man, It's Andrew Tulowitzky from Oglethorpe University.  How are you doin?? Hope all is well with you.  I was inquiring about that Rocky Top league I've been hearing about.  I am still pretty active with basketball as I play 2-3 times a week and am still in efforts of playing overseas, talkin to an agent now about playing in either luxembourg or Belgium.  I actually ran into Alex Bowers a few weeks ago, is he playing in that league?  Anyways, is that Rocky Top league available to only state of Tennessee college players or how does that work?  I would really like to play in a top notch league like that maybe next summer, but I was just trying to get some information in regards to the league.  Anything would be helpful.  Thanks!

Ralph:

I definitely agree that if OU wants to win it all they have to get a post who can dominate the paint... thats definitely what they were missing in comparison to all of the other teams at the final four..  I just hear from every coach and every referee that displacement and hand checking were going to be the emphasis this year in the women's game.. but yet very few hand checks were called and not one displacement foul was called in the consolation game.. if its going to be an emphasis then those calls need to be called throughout the duration of the game..

OU is definitely improving its toughness.. they got thorugh two very tough interior teams on their way to the final four in Thomas More and Kean..  but I just think they ran out of gas.. traveling all over the country and only playing with 6 or 7 players can really take its toll on a team that plays the way OU does.. add to that the lack of displacement and hand check calls and its very tough to beat those teams that were in the final four..

by the way.. after watching Howard Payne in the opening minutes of the first final four game I thought they were a little nervous and didnt play particularly well in the first few minutes.. however the rest of the game and in the championship game they looked great.. they may not be the most talented team.. but I think they have all of the pieces..  and they play absolutely perfect together.. plus they have on of the best one on one players in which teams struggled to guard when the shot clock is winding down..  congrats to HPU.. at least a south team took home the title

OU women had a great year.. i can bet that there's not alot of people who expected them to go as far as they did and beat so many good opponents along the way.. it seemed as if they just ran out of gas.. hats off to Messiah on Friday they played well and executed perfectly.. however I was not very pleased with the officiating on Saturday.. the big girls from UWW just bullied their way around in the paint and never got called for anything.. im pretty sure they would have outrebounded OU by twenty with some solid officiating.. but instead the rebound total was 69-30.. no disrespect to UWW because I thought they were a good team but they obviously benefitted from the way the game was being called.. maybe the officials were still hung over from the previous night (I spotted some officials at an irish pub on Friday night in Holland doing some drinking.. Im being serious by the way)

enough of being bitter.. Depauw finished the year ranked 5th followed by OU at 6th.. i figured this might be the case being that OU didnt play particularly well over the weekend and that 3 of their 7 losses came at the hands of Depauw.. Congrats to both.. that is very good for the SCAC to have two teams ranked in the top 10.. also Trinity played #11 Mcmurry very tough...

Last thing I would like to add.. Corbett from Oglethorpe guarded 4 all-american players along their way to the final four: Thiem from Thomas More, Vespa from William and Smith, Beyruti from Kean, and Lobach from Messiah... she absolutely locked down Theim.. Vespa had a below average game with 6 or 7 turnovers.. Beyruti did score 25.. but many of those points came after the game was pretty much decided and she only shot 8-21.. and Lobach had at best an average game.. she did a great job on all 4 and that would lead me to believe that maybe she deserved a little credit for her defense and maybe should have been considered a strong candidate for defensive player of the year.. her intensity on the defensive end was unmatched and OU will miss her defense and leadership next year..

I know.. The hoosiers are my team as well.. they have really struggled of late.. hopefully they can get it together and at least get one win in the tourney and maybe scare NC in the second round.. I think Notre Dame probably has the best shot at getting to the sweet sixteen though

anyway.. really looking forward to the OU womens game tomorrow.. the rest of the SCAC wish them luck..

pbrooks3, I appreciate the the different routes you've given me.. i was looking at a few different ways to get to Holland.. still havent decided which route to go.. I guess I'll just decide when I get there..

on a side note about the D1 tourney.. being an indiana guy.. im not very happy that the 3 best tourney teams from indiana (in my opinion) are in the same bracket.. big game tonight for Gody and the Irish as they hope to avoid an upset by the cinderella story George Mason team..

Making the drive from Atlanta to Holland, MI tomorrow night.. ive flown the last two weekends and just can afford another weekend of flying considering plane tickets are anywhere from 700-1500 dollars.. mapquest says 12 hours and 15 minutes.. however im expecting more like 13-14 hours.. I'll be leaving in plenty of time to make up for any unforseen events along the way..

really excited for the girls and coaches at OU.. this is a very special time for them and win or lose this weekend I know everyone will be so proud of all their hard work and accomplishments.. however, I have a good feeling as I have the last few weeknds

The OU fan club should be a little larger this weekend, as I know a few students are going to be making the trip.. although in a 3200 capacity gym we might not look like we've got more than we usually do..

Congrats to Kulavic on making the all-region team.. congrats to Farrell, Scholbe, Prato-Matthews, and Williams as well for making all-south..  and to the great lakes all-region players in Pruzin and Fernandez

In new jersey right now where the lady petrels have won another outstanding game.. They played really well and kean decided to continue to let findlay get open looks.. Findlay had a great individual performance on a night where the whole team played well almost the entire game.. OU is playing with so much confidence right now and at this point anything can happen.. I really look forward to flying up to michigan for the final 4.. I might do what I've done the last two weeks.. Miss the first game and travel for the second game.. That strategy has seemed to work so far.. Also wanted to congratulate Depauw on another great season and that you always represent the SCAC well with great team play and 100% effort

vozdelos: 
yeah.. I was only frustrated with the officials once or twice throughout the game.. and of course I let them know about it.. It was actually one of the best officiated games ive seen.. they let them play physical.. from the start I thought that would hurt OU due to lack of size.. but they withstood and played great team defense..

OU had about 50 fans that traveled.. maybe a little more, maybe a little less..  we were actually louder than Thomas More's 1000 fans at some points with our constant defense chants.. Thomas More's fans were very mild mannered, I had to refrain myself several times from saying things I would normally say because I knew the Thomas More fans wouldnt respond back.. Thomas More fans were very respectful but not a group of fans that you could battle back and forth between

At one point.. a few Thomas More baseball players came and sat inches from a few of our fans.. one of our fans clever response "did you guys come to get a closer look of us kickin your a**"  i thought it was pretty humorous and figured you would get a laugh from that as well..

Crazy trip to KY this weekend.. Flight drives like a maniac and the weather was terrible (14 inches of snow we had to fight on the way up).. not the best combination

OU played a very solid game on Saturday night.. they had one lull early in the second half but they responded very nicely to Thomas More's run.. the OU girls out toughed a Thomas More team thats known for their toughness.. The girls did their best in the paint outrebounding Thomas More by 20.. Corbett and Findley shut down their best player, thus resulting in frustration out of her the whole game.. overall, probably the most complete game OU has played all year.. solid game all around and they limited their turnovers, which is what you have to do against great teams

Very proud of the girls.. hoping they can win on Friday night so I can fly up to New Jersey for the elite 8 game on Satuday night.. also.. good luck to depauw girls and the millsaps boys this weekend

On the road right now.. Flight and I are about 100 miles from lexington.. No bad weather yet.. Just rain.. Pbrooks3 thanks for the recommendation.. We'll be sure to give it a try.. And yes wes flight can't spell plus he's from the south.

Lucky for Flight that i'll be traveling with him.. Being from Indiana, I've driven in the heavy snow on several occasions.. so hopefully we'll be ok..

Good Luck to both Depauw and OU tonight.. rep the SCAC well..

Hopefully OU gets that first tourney win under their belt.. at least they better.. I took an extra day off work to make the trip for saturday nights game   

Not a Millsaps fan, but having played against pretty much the same Millsaps team last year, I would say that I know them well enough to give a little rundown on the Millsaps team. 

They are very athletic, and usually with athletic teams, they have a tendency to turn the ball over quite a bit.. but not this Millsaps team.. they take care of the ball well and do a decent job on the offensive end of exploting the defense's weaknesses.  Very solid staring 5.. much better than the bench but they can go about 8-9 deep and not lose a whole bunch..

The center for Millsaps, Montgomery is one of the quickest leapers I've ever seen, gets back up in the air quick resembling a shawn marion type.. only his jumping.. not his game

Millsaps is very solid.. no obvious weaknesses .. they have quickness, shooting, athleticism, solid defensively, and play pretty smart as a whole

Dont want to give away too much on Millsaps.. since i have to represent the SCAC and pull for both Centre and Millsaps.. honest opinion is that Millsaps is actually a better team than Centre.. only because Centre misses that dominant post presence that can block shots and defend the paint

I have alot of respect for the Maryville team and especially Coach Lambert having played against Maryville 8 times from 2003-2007.. I havent seen maryville play this year.. and no disrespect to them.. but since Im pulling for the SCAC.. so I'll say Millsaps by 6 (75-69)

So Flight:  which game should I plan on coimng to?? no way I can make both.. but I dont know if I want to risk missing the Friday game because they have to win Friday before they can play on Saturday..

any suggestions?? are u gonna make both games or just one of them?? maybe we can carpool up if you are going to just one game??

Womens Tourney set: 

Depauw hosts Denison.. i would suspect a win there for Depauw.. that may set up a Depauw/Wilmington match up in the second round.. bet that would be a good game to see

Trinity travels to Mcmurry in which should be a pretty good game.. 3 of the 4 losses for Mcmurry came at the hands of powerhouse Howard Payne so I would suspect that they are a very good team

OU travels to KY to play in-state rival Piedmont.. rematch of an early season game in which OU won by 19.. OU has played well against Piedmont the last few years.. I hope this game won't be any different.. although I would suspect a much closer game.. a win would set up a game at host Thomas More on Sat..

Good luck to all SCAC teams.. hopefully OU can grab their first NCAA tourney victory

lets make this clear:  I definitely was not stating that Coach Huffman should not have received Coach of the Year.. I was just questioning why he didnt get one vote and 5 or 6 other coaches received votes.. 

Wes: I appreciate you clearing that up that I was never questioning why Coach Huffman received COY.. im not here to cause a big ordeal and im glad that you realize that..