OVC

In the most recent installment in his "Coaching Greats" interview series CHN writer Jon Teitel spoke with former Jacksonville State head coach Bill Jones. In 24 seasons at the school Jones won 449 games and a Division II national title, and was good enough in slow-pitch softball as a pitcher to become a Hall of Famer in that sport as well.  

Jon Teitel: You played basketball at Marshall County High School for legendary coach Tom Richey. What made Richey such a great coach, and what was the most important thing you ever learned from him?

CHN writer Jon Teitel was able to catch up with Murray State head coach Steve Prohm as part of his NCAA Tournament interview series, following up on the Racers' OVC tournament title and automatic bid. Prohm's Racers are 30-1 in his first season at the helm, and this veteran group has the potential to go a long way in the Big Dance.

Jon Teitel: You spent five years as an assistant to Billy Kennedy at Murray State. What makes Kennedy such a good coach, and what is the most important thing you ever learned from him?

Our game prediction guru Greg Mengelt has been on fire this year. He'll be picking every conference tournament game over the next 2 weeks.

Three tickets to the NCAA tournament will be punched on Saturday, beginning with the Big South title game matching seven-seed VMI and regular season champion UNC Asheville. Eddie Biedenbach's Bulldogs have avoided the turmoil on the opposite side of the bracket, which saw both Coastal Carolina and Campbell fall in the quarterfinals. Duggar Baucom's Keydets were the ones who knocked off CCU, as they shot an impressive 14-for-28 from three in their 85-68 win over the Chanticleers.

Our game prediction guru Greg Mengelt has been on fire this year. He'll be picking every conference tournament game over the next 2 weeks. Read more about Championship Week at CollegeHoops.net.

Friday will be a busy night in regards to conference tournaments, with eight leagues paring down their respective fields. But there's no team on the slate more in need of a win than BYU, who takes on six-seed San Diego in the second quarterfinal of the night. The uncertainty that surrounds forward Noah Hartsock's knee injury doesn't help matters for Dave Rose's team, but whether or not he's able to play the Cougars need to avoid a misstep agains the Toreros.

Johnny Dee went off on Pepperdine on Thursday night, scoring 30 points to lead San Diego to the 76-54 win.

Our game prediction guru Greg Mengelt has been on fire this year. He'll be picking almost conference tournament game over the next 2 weeks.

 

Three more conferences begin tournament action on Thursday night, which includes four quarterfinal match ups in the NEC. The higher-seeded teams host all four games, which includes regular season champion and top-seed LIU-Brooklyn hosting a Sacred Heart team they've beaten twice this season. But this isn't your usual 1/8 matchup as LIU head coach Jim Ferry pointed out earlier this week, as both meetings have been close.

LIU won at Sacred Heart by six (87-81) on January 5th and their meeting in Brooklyn was a wild 103-91 overtime track meet.

It's that time of the year again. With conference tournament action beginning today, it was a perfect time for Jon Teitel to present CollegeHoops.net's All-Conference Teams. Part one focuses on the teams who will enter conference tournament play this week, and the rest of the conferences will be posted next week. Player of the Year selections are in italics.  

 

 

It may feel like it was only yesterday when college basketball fans were excited about the prospect of playing a game on an aircraft carrier, but the most important time of the season is here. Championship "Week" ("Fortnight" sounds more appropriate) begins on Monday, February 27th and won't end until Selection Sunday on March 11th.