NCAA Tournament

[gordonmann]

Well, how about those Patriots?

Certainly justified their ranking tonight and did the ASC proud. Coach Hassell is pretty good for a "hardened sinner."

[Ralph Turner]

Well, how about those Patriots?

Certainly justified their ranking tonight and did the ASC proud. Coach Hassell is pretty good for a "hardened sinner."

Thanks Gordon.  (You talk like one who knows the lay of the land!)  I am grateful for your kind words.

I am glad that GFU and UTT could face off on a neutral court.  I firmly believe that HPU only defeated Hope in the 2008 Elite 8 game because of home court advantage before a loud sellout crowd in the Brownwood Mausoleum**. Had HPU had to go to Hope, I think the outcome would have been different.

In the early 2000's when the HSU Cowgirls were making their runs and national observers got to compare ASC ball to a known quantity. we got "lots of respect".  We had 2 champs in that era from Texas, Trinity in 2003 and HPU in 2008.

I am hoping that we can get the level back up with UTT's success.  ETBU gave UTT hard games. Let's see how that translates into some some recognition.

(** HPU played in the Brownwood Coliseum which was notorious for its bad court and poor lighting, lighting that had not been upgraded since its was built in the 1960's.

HPU had several games of more than 2000 fans in the 2006-07 season, but did not get to host beyond the 2nd game. The City of Brownwood upgraded the lighting and bought a court that was being sold by the New Jersey Nets, if I remember.

The upgrades were in place for HPU's perfect 28-0 season.  They got to host the 16/8 games. )

[gordonmann]

That night of the Hope/Howard Payne game is one of my favorite memories of covering Division III sports. A nice dinner with you and Dave Collinge, a great game and you gave me Dr. Pepper with pure cane sugar to take home. Doesn't get any better than that.

[Ralph Turner]

Good!  UTT gets Wartburg on a neutral floor.

I'll bet the team in orange wins!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

What a season of Division III basketball and it isn't quite over with yet! The men might have crowned their championship, but the women have one more game to go.

On this episode of Hoopsville, Dave McHugh looks back at the two championship weekends with help from Ryan Scott, Gordon Mann, and Adam Turer. We look at the championship for St. Thomas and the near perfect miss by Benedictine. We also take a look at the two semifinal games in women's basketball and the upcoming championship between St. Thomas and Tufts to be played in Indianapolis.

Dave also talks to Page Moir, head coach for Roanoke, who suddenly announced on Tuesday he is stepping down from the position and looking for something new to challenge him.

You can watch the show in its entirety or listen to the podcast above.

Guests include (in order of appearance):
- Page Moir, Roanoke men's coach
- Keith Bunkenburg, No. 2 Benedictine men's coach
- Steve Fritz, St. Thomas athletics director and former men's coach
- John Tauer, No 1. St. Thomas men's coach
- Ryan Scott, D3hoops.com Mid-Atlantic reporter
- Gordon Mann and Adam Turer, women's semifinals report
- Jeff Hans, No. 1 Thomas More women's coach
- Carla Berube, No. 7 Tufts women's coach

You can also tune into the podcast(s) after the show has aired:
SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hoopsville/id1059517087

Don't forget you can always interact with us:
Website: www.d3hoopsville.com
Twitter: @d3hoopsville or #Hoopsville
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Hoopsville
Email: hoopsville@d3hoops.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/d3hoopsville

[Smitty Oom]

First time poster on the women's side, but I have a question I have been struggling with the past few days. Is there any interest by the WNBA for Sydney Moss? She is the most dominant college basketball player right now (Maybe Stewart from UConn would have an argument for that, but her surrounding team is better comparatively). So, is there any word on that?

[gordonmann]

Good question. We'll have to ask the Thomas More folks at some point.

[Mr. Ypsi]

First time poster on the women's side, but I have a question I have been struggling with the past few days. Is there any interest by the WNBA for Sydney Moss? She is the most dominant college basketball player right now (Maybe Stewart from UConn would have an argument for that, but her surrounding team is better comparatively). So, is there any word on that?

I would guess the WNBA would be VERY interested.  My question would be does Sydney Moss have any interest in them?  My understanding was always that she went from D1 to D3 so basketball would be less of a 'job', and she could be a genuine student.

[BruinFan]

To the D3 historians,
Have any other coaches taken a team to the Final Four at both the Division 3 and Division 1 levels?

Congrats to Scott Rueck who just accomplished it with Oregon State after previously taking George Fox in 2009. It is a great story. He held open try-outs when he went to Oregon State in 2010 in an attempt to find any talent he could to round out a depleted roster. He has since built the program using the same coaching philosophies and looking for the same character qualities in the athletes that he had at George Fox.

I hope a couple of you that will attend the championship weekend in Indy will get a chance to say hello to Scott and congratulate him in person.

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/15088719/scott-rueck-coaches-oregon-state-beavers-first-final-four

[gordonmann]

Bo Ryan won the Division III titles with UW-Platteville in 1998 and 1999 and took the Wisconsin men to the Final Four in 2014-15.

I hope to see Scott and maybe even get some interview time with him in Indianapolis, but I know he'll be busy. He's a great coach and a great guy so I'm very happy for his success.

[bballfan13]

Bo Ryan also won DIII titles with Platteville in 1991 and 1995.  And he took them to the Final Four in 1992.

Would be interesting for Gordon to get an interview with Geno Auriemma and his thoughts on what his former player, Carla Berube, has done at Tufts.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

There is a story on the front page of Geno talking about Thomas More and repeating... not sure he talked about Carla.

Gordon, myself, and others will be in Indy... we will do what we can. LOL

[BruinFan]

Thanks to Gordon, bballfan13, and Dave for the replies and information.

Dave and Gordon have a great time in Indy - I'm jealous.

There is a fun very short video of Breanna Stewart in a boxing ring last summer with Scott Rueck when he was an assistant coach with the USA PanAm games team. The end of the video is ominous, but in Scott's defense Breanna has a significant reach advantage.

[bballfan13]

Have fun in Indy Gordon and Dave.  You guys always do a great job!

[gordonmann]

Thanks, guys.

I'll have to look for the Rueck/Stewart Ultimate Fighting Video.