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  3.  <title>Mid-Major Madness -  All Posts</title>
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  6.  <updated>2025-06-17T06:37:00-07:00</updated>
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  10.    <published>2025-06-17T06:37:00-07:00</published>
  11.    <updated>2025-06-17T06:37:00-07:00</updated>
  12.    <title>Upgraded Timmons Arena joins the ranks of state-of-the-art mid-major playing venues</title>
  13.    <content type="html">  
  14.  
  15.    &lt;figure&gt;
  16.      &lt;img alt="Timmons Arena" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/lshGnNMxNLZG6lSvklCoq4WWfug=/0x0:1170x780/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/74137177/IMG_6100.0.jpg" /&gt;
  17.        &lt;figcaption&gt;The new court at Timmons Arena. | John Hooper, Mid-Major Madness&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  18.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  19.  
  20.  &lt;p&gt;A look back at the history of Furman’s home arenas as the Paladins get set to play in the newly renovated facility&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="dFhwO1"&gt;“If you build it, they will come.”&lt;/p&gt;
  21. &lt;p id="cjFCPo"&gt;That was certainly true in “Field of Dreams.” It’s been a little different path for Furman hoops and far less simple than it once was for a fictional cornfield in Iowa.&lt;/p&gt;
  22. &lt;p id="PXYGUa"&gt;For Furman basketball, it’s been a long road and more about capitalizing on the rare opportunity to win on the biggest stage of the NCAA Tournament coinciding with large donations from major benefactors that have resulted in an upgraded home floor for the Paladins.&lt;/p&gt;
  23. &lt;p id="utZCbE"&gt;Some will call it “The House that Bob Richey Renovated.” &lt;/p&gt;
  24. &lt;p id="GI6wAq"&gt;While that is true, it was major donations from the original donors — the Timmons Family —and $10 million from Ravenel Curry III during Furman’s championship season in 2023 that also had as much to do with the renovation as the winning done by Richey, Mike Bothwell and Jalen Slawson.&lt;/p&gt;
  25. &lt;p id="RbvYEU"&gt;Furman’s 2024-25 season was not just challenging from the fact that it lost 70.8% of its scoring from the 2023-24 season, but every game seemed like a road game. The team played in an unfamiliar facility for its home games throughout the 2024-25 campaign. &lt;/p&gt;
  26. &lt;p id="30baj8"&gt;Originally, the plans for Timmons Arena was to become the most state-of-the-art venue in the Southern Conference when it was first built some three decades ago.  &lt;/p&gt;
  27. &lt;p id="6hyvex"&gt;However, the reality is the conception of the idea of creating a multi-purpose on-campus facility that housed both home basketball games, as well as other things like concerts was easier said than done. Somewhere along the way, the signals got mixed and the design caused far more issues than it did in providing the kind of game experience and overall experience for the fan than had been originally conceived in the idea of it. &lt;/p&gt;
  28. &lt;p id="Rl6c6Q"&gt;The facility was oddly shaped with pull-out bleachers and a teal green railing that obstructed the first couple of rows on the second level. The Paladins struggled to produce a consistent winning product on the hardwood. Furman’s basketball team was not a team to be reckoned with, and thus, the arena wasn’t a venue feared by teams around the league to visit. Other than the poor shot sight lines, from 1998-2015, Furman’s Timmons Arena was a place that was not a place that evoked fear into the opposition.&lt;/p&gt;
  29. &lt;p id="Q9snjh"&gt;Fast-forward 28 years after the first game was played in the arena and a solution has been made to figure it all out: make the arena what it was originally to be—a multi-purpose facility that is one of the most state-of-the-art venues in the SoCon. &lt;/p&gt;
  30. &lt;p id="myKHkq"&gt;Following a $40-million renovation and complete re-configuration of the arena, the Paladins are set to re-enter their old venue following a 25-win 2024-25 campaign that saw the Paladins play at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena for home games.&lt;/p&gt;
  31. &lt;p id="0Xjsb2"&gt;For years, fans and opponents complained about everything from the Timmons Arena’s odd design to the shooting site lines, which were a problem for plenty of opposing head coaches. Alterations were made to both seating and other parts of the facility, such as enhanced backdrops and VIP seating for fans, which featured a Wicked Weed beer garden and seating behind each basket. That helped hide most from the extreme amount of space that had to be compensated for as the arena essentially placed a 94-foot hardwood floor inside of a trapezoid, which was tilted on its size with how the court fit inside the strange design.&lt;/p&gt;
  32. &lt;p id="lkcXKC"&gt;When it first opened some of the seating was fine, but certainly there were issues. Especially with the pull-out bleachers and space left over, as well as other minor ones that involved the railing obstructing the overall view for fans in the first few sections on the second level. That caused constant battles for the security and fans in attendance. Throughout the game the usher had to continuously return to their seat after standing to watch the game at the railing, which of course obstructed the view for those sitting behind that said fan. &lt;/p&gt;
  33. &lt;p id="hPqUqg"&gt;Still, there were some early sellout crowds that even with the awkward seating, when teams like South Carolina and Georgia paid visits, fans were willing to put up for a little of that awkwardness to see a game, and it was usually fans that showed up to see either the Gamecocks and Bulldogs rather than the Paladins. &lt;/p&gt;
  34. &lt;p id="JldbDb"&gt;The arena’s odd design also made for some rather strange acoustics, especially when it came to having concerts in this particular venue. While it was constructed to house both concerts and basketball, in recent years it’s proven to be far more the basketball and graduation venue, rather than being one to host concerts. &lt;/p&gt;
  35. &lt;p id="B9UdXk"&gt;Modeled after Charlotte’s Cricket Arena, the facility originally started out as a 5,500-seat arena, which seemed almost like a trapezoid, with end zone seating that extended behind each goal diagonally. There were places in the far corners of the arena that seemed almost light years away from the actual playing surface.&lt;/p&gt;
  36. &lt;p id="ew0n4h"&gt;The opening of Timmons Arena during the 1997-98 season coincided with some pretty dark days for the Furman’s men’s basketball program as it struggled to find its niche in its new on-campus facility alone with being competitive in the upper echelon of the Southern Conference more often than not.&lt;/p&gt;
  37. &lt;p id="AldiKo"&gt;Prior to the arena opening its doors to the public on Dec. 30, 1997, the Furman men’s hoops program had made its home away from its current campus in the heart of its old one—downtown Greenville. The first basket from the field scored in the arena by Furman was a jumper from about 12-feet out made by Daniel Quigley, as Furman went on to a 72-69 win over Northeastern Illinois. &lt;/p&gt;
  38. &lt;p id="7asM8i"&gt;Following the 1997-98 academic year, Northeastern Illinois disbanded its athletic department. The Golden Eagles participated as an NCAA Division I program as members of the Mid-Continent Conference before the school decided to no longer sponsor athletics. &lt;/p&gt;
  39. &lt;p id="i87QJM"&gt;There’s no word on just what opposition will provide the first test inside the new arena, but it is rumored that it could be another exhibition game similar to the one the Paladins played last October against a power conference foe when Furman welcomed eventual Final Four participant Auburn into The Well for a charity game to benefit Cleveland Park in downtown Greenville, which had suffered some damage from the remnants of Hurricane Helene that had rolled through the Upstate of South Carolina a month earlier. &lt;/p&gt;
  40. &lt;p id="Fg81xK"&gt;In this day and age, it is tough, especially for successful mid-majors to get major power conference foes to agree to playing a game at their home venue. Furman’s best option for a power conference foe to pay a visit might be an early exhibition game similar to what they were able to do last year with the exhibition hosting Auburn.&lt;/p&gt;
  41. &lt;h2 id="UcbDjf"&gt;A History of Where the Paladins Called Home&lt;/h2&gt;
  42. &lt;p id="fiRSni"&gt;They’ve been playing basketball at Furman University since 1908, and it’s the third-oldest sport at the school, however, it was the first to be known as “The Paladins.” &lt;/p&gt;
  43. &lt;p id="dzOGDS"&gt;Up until 1961, the school didn’t have one uniform mascot, as the now defunct baseball program was known as the “Hornets” and the football team was referred to as the “Purple Hurricanes” and the basketball team was the lone program referred as “The Paladins.” The Paladin mascot was the one that would eventually stick with all the school’s sports teams.&lt;/p&gt;
  44. &lt;p id="CUFv0M"&gt;Just like the oldest sport in school history — the football team — the Furman basketball team is also responsible for playing the first basketball game in state history, when on Oct. 30, 1908, the Paladins took on South Carolina and claimed a 22-19 win over the South Carolina Gamecocks.&lt;/p&gt;
  45. &lt;p id="uPfW0C"&gt;From 1952-1996, the Furman men’s basketball program played its home games in both Textile Hall (1952-58), and after that, the tradition of the ‘Downtown Dins’ continued at the Memorial Auditorium (1958-96). &lt;/p&gt;
  46. &lt;p id="FHQNka"&gt;During its hey-day of hoops from the late 1970s-early 1990s, Furman drew extremely well to to Memorial Auditorium (1958-96), with crowds anywhere from 2,500-4,000 fans the usual norm. When the Paladins hosted No. 10 East Tennessee State on Feb. 12, 1992, an overflow crowd of both Furman and ETSU fans witnessed the largest crowd to ever see Furman basketball game in its downtown home as better than 5,000 fans were on hand to witness the Paladins record one of their biggest regular-season wins in program history when Furman slid past Keith “Mister” Jennings and the East Tennessee State Buccaneers, 103-94.&lt;/p&gt;
  47. &lt;p id="xQLcQR"&gt;The Memorial Auditorium played host to the Southern Conference Basketball Championship on two occasions in 1975 and 1976 with the Paladins winning one of those two league titles (1975) and VMI (1976) claimed the other a year later.&lt;/p&gt;
  48. &lt;p id="VmtNG1"&gt;Prior to its time hosting men’s hoops games at Memorial Auditorium, the Paladin basketball program hosted games at the Old Textile Hall. Here, Furman’s own Frank Selvy did something that will live in college basketball lore for years to come, scoring 100 points in a 149-95 win over Newberry College in the first nationally-televised hoops game in the state of South Carolina. Just last November, Selvy, who is more affectionately known as the “Corbin Comet” was enshrined in the College Basketball Hall of Fame.&lt;/p&gt;
  49. &lt;p id="3ryE9x"&gt;On Feb. 26, 1996, Furman played its final game in Memorial Auditorium, which saw the Paladins drop an 88-79 overtime loss to regular-season champion Davidson. That game closed out the old Brown Box in somewhat sad fashion for a place that had given Furman basketball so many joyful moments throughout the years.&lt;/p&gt;
  50. &lt;h2 id="eBXk21"&gt;Timmons Arena’s Inaugural Season&lt;/h2&gt;
  51. &lt;p id="qVaBMN"&gt;It’s often the case that a venue can conjure up great memories from the past just by its appeal to the senses as a whole. Many remember the great smell of popcorn and the feeling heat generated by the crowds packed inside the old Memorial Auditorium, and that was one of the first things I would come to miss as Furman transitioned its men’s home basketball venue from Memorial Auditorium to its temporary home of Herman Lay Physical Activities Center (PAC) on-campus, which could only accommodate about 850 spectators at full capacity.&lt;/p&gt;
  52. &lt;p id="d2g5dr"&gt;The 1996-97 Paladins would just have to make do, and after a 10-17 season, it would be time for the hiring of a new head coach, as Joe Cantafio departed to make way for new head coach Larry Davis, who came aboard after serving as Clem Haskins’ top assistant at Minnesota from 1994-97.&lt;/p&gt;
  53. &lt;p id="xLgvpn"&gt;The first-year head coach was part of the Timmons Arena historical legacy as he was the head coach of the first Furman men’s basketball team to ever play in the venue. A 72-69 win over Northeastern Illinois would be the first of what figured to be many great memories to come in the facility. &lt;/p&gt;
  54. &lt;p id="p7obDC"&gt;With those 109 wins since the start of the 2015-16 season, the Paladins have won 43.4% of their total 251 total victories over the past nine campaigns. The Paladins have lost no more than three home games in any of the previous nine campaigns at Timmons Arena, including having lost no more than two on the home hardwood in each of the previous five.&lt;/p&gt;
  55. &lt;h2 id="nywTRb"&gt;Downtown ’Dins&lt;/h2&gt;
  56. &lt;p id="VaxleO"&gt;When the Paladins once played downtown, it was sometimes a challenge to get students from campus approximately six and a half miles from downtown to see games at the “Big Brown Box” as it was once affectionately known. &lt;/p&gt;
  57. &lt;p id="0iGfDS"&gt;Back in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic changed a lot for fans of college sports throughout the nation, Furman, which was under the direction of new Director of Athletics Jason Donnelly, made a dedicated effort to reconnect with the downtown fan and help cash in on Greenville’s success as being one of the top cities in the southeast to move to.&lt;/p&gt;
  58. &lt;p id="Vi73PI"&gt;With that forward vision by Donnelly, which also coincided nicely with a basketball program starting to hit its stride under head coach Bob Richey, it would lead to Furman re-visiting some the great moments it had enjoyed in downtown through the years. That included a record-setting crowd in 2022, as the Paladins drew 6,096 fans at Bon Secours Wellness Arena for a 67-66 win over defending SoCon champion Wofford.&lt;/p&gt;
  59. &lt;p id="0ZHyNf"&gt;Furman played the entire 2024-25 season in downtown Greenville at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. The Paladins finished out the season with a 25-10 record and played in three different venues during the season. Furman got creative to engage a new and ever-changing city, while trying to bring basketball back to fans that at one time regularly attended games at Memorial Auditorium or Textile Hall but who had lost touch since Furman’s move to an on-campus home. &lt;/p&gt;
  60. &lt;p id="HmF2qA"&gt;Furman played twice on the campus of Bob Jones and once at the historic Legacy Charter College (formerly Parker High School Gym), which is the oldest high school playing facility in the Upstate. It added to the legacy and rich history that Furman basketball has worked hard to establish and maintain throughout the metropolitan downtown area of Greenville, which of course was also the home of Furman’s campus until 1952.&lt;/p&gt;
  61. &lt;p id="jWbCqs"&gt;The Paladins finished the 2024-25 season by posting what was a 13-3 record on three different temporary home venues while Timmons Arena underwent a $40-million facelift. Since 1998, the Paladins have taken the floor 31 times at Bon Secours Wellness Arena (formerly known as the BILO Center), and have posted a 19-12 record at “The Well” all-time, which includes having won 15 of their past 19 games inside the facility.&lt;/p&gt;
  62. &lt;p id="MGeXBV"&gt;According to Furman’s Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Jason Donnelly, “The Well” and fan engagement in greater downtown Greenville will continue to be a big part of Furman basketball in years to come. &lt;/p&gt;
  63. &lt;p id="hE9AYK"&gt;“We’ve consistently had record-breaking attendance in The Well when we go downtown,” he said. “We’re going to continue to invest in Greenville and have a desire to want to invest in Greenville, but we’re going to be selective with what we do and how we go about it. It might not be next season, but if Duke called me tomorrow and told me that they would come to Greenville and play Furman. Well, that game would be at The Well. We’re just going to evaluate it on who the opponent is and what the opportunity is.”&lt;/p&gt;
  64. &lt;h2 id="y8SsNO"&gt;The Evolution of Timmons Arena&lt;/h2&gt;
  65. &lt;p id="8MgRO4"&gt;If you’ve followed Furman basketball for the past three decades or more, you’ll recall the many different evolutions of Timmons Arena.&lt;/p&gt;
  66. &lt;p id="qVeKOj"&gt;It has gone from being the exciting, new on-campus facility, to being an oddly shaped arena that offered Dippin’ Dots ice cream as one of its main perks along with bad acoustics to go with bad basketball, to being an arena that, over the past decade has become one of the most hostile facilities in the Southern Conference for the opposition to garner a win, and one that Furman and its fanbase have finally learned to embrace as home.&lt;/p&gt;
  67. &lt;p id="JRVHkC"&gt;With the hiring of first Niko Medved prior to the 2013-14 season, and then some four years later, the hiring of Bob Richey, those two coaches have now elevated the program to not only one of the best in the Southern Conference, but also one of the best in mid-major basketball over the past 11 seasons. &lt;/p&gt;
  68. &lt;p id="p6qie5"&gt;Since the start of the 2015-16 season, Furman has been nearly unbeatable at Timmons Arena, posting what is a 109-19 record, which includes a 63-10 mark against Southern Conference foes. In all home venues over that same span, the Paladins have posted a combined mark of 127-24.&lt;/p&gt;
  69. &lt;p id="5zMfFn"&gt;The Paladins have made it a home, but it hasn’t always been easy. Drawing the same hearty and loyal fanbase that once attended games in downtown Greenville at the Memorial Auditorium and before that, Textile Hall, has been a challenge and a constant work in progress. &lt;/p&gt;
  70. &lt;p id="1wvnt6"&gt;Since Furman’s rise to Southern Conference prominence over the past 11 seasons, the Paladins have also seen a rise in the level of opponents willing to come play at Timmons. Some high-profile mid-majors like Belmont (2022 and 2023) and Loyola-Chicago (2019) have brought a certain excitement that the program lacked in the previous two decades.&lt;/p&gt;
  71. &lt;p id="NjPGYG"&gt;Sure, Furman had hosted the likes of power conference foes like South Carolina, Georgia and Clemson before, as well as welcoming in stars like generational talent Stephen Curry from former Southern Conference rival Davidson, or a College of Charleston team on the verge of being ranked in its first season as a league member in 1998. However, never before had the buzz been about Furman basketball from a fan’s perspective. &lt;/p&gt;
  72. &lt;p id="ptlInc"&gt;During those days prior to Furman’s turnaround as a program, which dates back to its run all the way to the tourney title game as the No. 10 seed in 2015, fans were most often filling the Timmons Arena seats and pull out bleachers to see the opposition—be it South Carolina, Clemson or Georgia, or Curry or that record-setting CofC team from 1998-99. &lt;/p&gt;
  73. &lt;p id="hquvm3"&gt;If you could chart a defining turnaround for Furman basketball, it might be the 2016 CIT buzzer-beating win over Louisiana Monroe, with Daniel Fowler knocking down the game-winning shot. &lt;/p&gt;
  74. &lt;div id="o7et66"&gt;
  75. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  76. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;On This Date In Furman History (Mar. 15, 2016) — This Daniel Fowler stick back at the buzzer beats Louisiana-Monroe, 58-57, in CIT first round action, and an hour later across campus Carter Grote belts a walk-off, three-run HR to defeat College of Charleston, 9-7. &lt;a href="https://t.co/dVMwLrMB7J"&gt;pic.twitter.com/dVMwLrMB7J&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Furman Paladins (@FurmanPaladins) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/FurmanPaladins/status/1239144309338730496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;March 15, 2020&lt;/a&gt;
  77. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  78. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  79.  
  80. &lt;/div&gt;
  81. &lt;p id="aPtGpj"&gt;Others might say it came in a loss to close the 2014-15 regular-season, which saw the Paladins drop a 62-60 contest to Wofford, who would end up repeating as Southern Conference champions in 2015. Whatever the case, the 251-105 all-time record inside the facility, despite the hiccups of shortcomings of it over the years, has been one of the best home records in the league over the better part of the past three decades. &lt;/p&gt;
  82. &lt;h2 id="lXK7Ui"&gt;All-Time Seasonal Home Records at Timmons Arena&lt;/h2&gt;
  83. &lt;p id="fQw4SW"&gt;1997-98  &lt;strong&gt;   &lt;/strong&gt;  6-4&lt;/p&gt;
  84. &lt;p id="L82Rua"&gt;1998-99     8-4&lt;/p&gt;
  85. &lt;p id="LlV1Es"&gt;1999-00    10-3&lt;/p&gt;
  86. &lt;p id="7ZqpMn"&gt;2000-01      6-5&lt;/p&gt;
  87. &lt;p id="bxKYII"&gt;2001-02     11-4&lt;/p&gt;
  88. &lt;p id="1M03rJ"&gt;2002-03       10-5&lt;/p&gt;
  89. &lt;p id="9qzjyR"&gt;2003-04     10-4&lt;/p&gt;
  90. &lt;p id="yM84C0"&gt;2004-05     11-2&lt;/p&gt;
  91. &lt;p id="AXSNQ4"&gt;2005-06       11-3&lt;/p&gt;
  92. &lt;p id="ZJC7GH"&gt;2006-07       9-3&lt;/p&gt;
  93. &lt;p id="YnOiWV"&gt;2007-08       5-6&lt;/p&gt;
  94. &lt;p id="r2FJpf"&gt;2008-09       6-7&lt;/p&gt;
  95. &lt;p id="K3JSqQ"&gt;2009-10     8-6&lt;/p&gt;
  96. &lt;p id="9CIFMA"&gt;2010-11       11-2&lt;/p&gt;
  97. &lt;p id="ohH3Eu"&gt;2011-12       9-5&lt;/p&gt;
  98. &lt;p id="CZpUmO"&gt;2012-13       5-9&lt;/p&gt;
  99. &lt;p id="dIrxBm"&gt;2013-14       6-8&lt;/p&gt;
  100. &lt;p id="lneMlD"&gt;2014-15        7-7&lt;/p&gt;
  101. &lt;p id="8nWIkY"&gt;2015-16        14-2&lt;/p&gt;
  102. &lt;p id="Se9wt2"&gt;2016-17        11-3&lt;/p&gt;
  103. &lt;p id="QyQamt"&gt;2017-18        13-3&lt;/p&gt;
  104. &lt;p id="yuWG3l"&gt;2018-19        13-3&lt;/p&gt;
  105. &lt;p id="c7gFTs"&gt;2019-20        12-0&lt;/p&gt;
  106. &lt;p id="lxFP5X"&gt;2020-21        11-1&lt;/p&gt;
  107. &lt;p id="EuzwLY"&gt;2021-22         10-1&lt;/p&gt;
  108. &lt;p id="pTDaer"&gt;2022-23        12-2&lt;/p&gt;
  109. &lt;p id="dmaeGM"&gt;2023-24          12-3&lt;/p&gt;
  110. &lt;h3 id="AJGaYI"&gt;All-Time Timmons Arena Record &lt;/h3&gt;
  111. &lt;p id="eMOqV8"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;251-105&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  112. &lt;h2 id="pqWuvl"&gt;Timmons’ New Look&lt;/h2&gt;
  113. &lt;p id="aqDMKd"&gt;If I were to describe the “new look” Timmons Arena, it would most likely not do it complete justice, as I know that with so many enhancements added to help make the fan experience more pleasurable, as well as other upgrades that were even catered to improve the overall experience of the visiting team, I know I would most likely leave out something major.&lt;/p&gt;
  114. &lt;p id="7RhX8x"&gt;With that said, it’s somewhat of a surprise to hear Donnelly detail that the upgrades made to Timmons Arena were not only a want, but also a need. There was a lot that went into the plans to upgrade Timmons Arena, and according to Donnelly, there were even considerations of building a brand-new arena, which would have costs at minimum likely double what a total upgrade would cost. &lt;/p&gt;
  115. &lt;p id="bOxtaL"&gt;With that being said, one of the advantages that Donnelly and his staff had was the ability to look at recent upgrades within mid-major basketball within the area, with the southeast playing host to several of the best mid-major atmospheres in college basketball within driving distance. Places like High Point, Wofford and Elon were a few of the more recent upgrades, while others like College of Charleston, which first opened in 2008, were also considered for its design and overall atmosphere.&lt;/p&gt;
  116. &lt;p id="KrqRzc"&gt;Add to that the fact that Donnelly came from Villanova, where he was able to head up and oversee the 2017-18 upgrade of Finneran Pavilion, which first opened in 1986. As fate would have it, the third game inside the revamped Finneran Pavilion for the defending national champions was against Richey’s Furman Paladin team, which handed the Wildcats a 76-68 overtime setback early on in the season. &lt;/p&gt;
  117. &lt;div id="ndIREf"&gt;
  118. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  119. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;FURMAN DOWNS NOVA IN OT!  &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;8 days after beating Loyola Chicago, the Paladins take down a 2nd member of the 2018 &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FinalFour?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#FinalFour&lt;/a&gt; - No. 8 Villanova! &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoDins?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#GoDins&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://t.co/wQc7RPhZ3x"&gt;pic.twitter.com/wQc7RPhZ3x&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/MarchMadnessMBB/status/1063952446702141442?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;November 18, 2018&lt;/a&gt;
  120. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  121. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  122.  
  123. &lt;/div&gt;
  124. &lt;p id="Ti2v4j"&gt;It was a crossroads for Donnelly, who had overseen the plans to upgrade Finneran Pavilion, and would end up being the one to lead the upgrade in his post as the Director of Athletics at Furman a few years later. &lt;/p&gt;
  125. &lt;p id="R7K3mO"&gt;“One of the advantages I kind of had with the renovation for Timmons Arena is that I was able to oversee the renovation project for Finneran Pavilion at Villanova as the senior associate athletics director and executive director of athletics development,” he said. “So I had a chance before Timmons to go through that whole process of architectural design, fundraising, revenue generation, fan experience. One of the really cool things was the exploration of looking at other arenas and kind of figure out what we wanted to do.&lt;/p&gt;
  126. &lt;p id="zuc21a"&gt;“At Villanova’s facility, they had the size and the scale to be able to handle a major renovation and the two components there being that because it was in a suburban neighborhood (The Mainline) you couldn’t expand the building and you couldn’t change the seating footprint. The benefit for us at Furman is that we had a little more leeway and space to work with. Timmons was actually built to be larger and so then it was really about maximizing space and maximizing the opportunity specific to Timmons. The different buildings we looked at were [included] Villanova, Xavier, The Cintas Center, Charleston, High Point, Wofford and Elon. We really knew what we wanted to accomplish with Timmons and the whole goal of the whole process was to make sure we maximized every possible space of the arena while also keeping a budget that would be realistic of the job at hand.”&lt;/p&gt;
  127. &lt;div id="421D4L"&gt;
  128. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  129. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Happy Purple Friday everyone! Love the progress &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/Harper_GC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@Harper_GC&lt;/a&gt; is making in Timmons Arena! Lots of work still to be done but looks better than imagined. Excited to open the new home for &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/FurmanPaladins?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@FurmanPaladins&lt;/a&gt; in the months ahead! &lt;a href="https://t.co/MFTO1OohCy"&gt;pic.twitter.com/MFTO1OohCy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Jason Donnelly (@JDFurmanPaladin) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/JDFurmanPaladin/status/1933608763824746766?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;June 13, 2025&lt;/a&gt;
  130. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  131. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  132.  
  133. &lt;/div&gt;
  134. &lt;p id="0q3N3q"&gt;In my tour, which I took last week with Furman basketball sports information director Jordan Caskey and Senior Associate Athletics Director Erin Mayes, the new arena felt like a college basketball arena, and more importantly, when you drive on-campus through the back entrance of Furman, you no longer have to wonder where Timmons Arena is, as it is readily apparent from the entrance. A new glass entrance and mezzanine are a look of pure class, while a parkway highlighted by bricks with the names of major donors and other significant benefactors to Furman basketball are literally written brick-by-brick as you enter Furman’s newly upgraded basketball palace. &lt;/p&gt;
  135. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  136.        &lt;img alt="Timmons Arena" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qdwV2qmfhCA6Zw1kJU4_mVBVw1o=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26029479/IMG_6102.jpeg"&gt;
  137.      &lt;cite&gt;John Hooper, Mid-Major Madness&lt;/cite&gt;
  138.      &lt;figcaption&gt;The newly-renovated exterior of Timmons Arena.&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  139.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  140. &lt;p id="l8iU9C"&gt;One arena the newly-renovated Timmons Arena reminded me of was a smaller version of Neville Arena at Auburn.  &lt;/p&gt;
  141. &lt;p id="0YJ9p1"&gt;Even in an empty arena it was evident that for the first time Timmons Arena for the first time felt like an actual college arena. I think one of the big reasons for that is the natural enclosure on both ends of the arena. According to Mayes, the seating capacity will be about 2,750, and that total includes standing room only with all open space occupied. That is an increase of about 250 fans from the previously listed max capacity.&lt;/p&gt;
  142. &lt;p id="a3PjJt"&gt;The most striking thing about the new arena is the glass on the outside. You know it’s a basketball facility, and you don’t have to look for it. You know you have found the on-campus basketball facility, and the outside of the arena offers a glimpse of the newly fashioned aesthetic upgrades to the facility. It also offers a preview of all the surprises inside, which includes everything from new locker rooms and even auxiliary locker rooms should Furman host a multi-team event (MTE) in the future. &lt;/p&gt;
  143. &lt;p id="ZoCEZG"&gt;Also, for opposing SoCon head coaches that might be reading this, the shooting sight lines and backdrops are actually like a regular-arena now, and without so much space behind the goals, making it a much easier venue to adjust to than it previously was. In that seating behind the goals, it will be the new seating area and student zone similar to what you might see at places throughout the league, such as the Ramsey Center at Western Carolina or East Tennessee State’s Freedom Hall. &lt;/p&gt;
  144. &lt;p id="tX6BH2"&gt;For the fan experience, there are suites that are available to be rented out on game days, with my personal favorite being the one in the far corner of the arena that seats 12. It’s the best vantage point in the facility. It was almost not a thing, as it was within six inches of the box not being able to be included in the arena. All told, the arena will feature eight private suites, two party suites and two premium club spaces (the Ingram Courtside Club and the Herring VIP Suite) as well as the Rogues Hospitality Deck.&lt;/p&gt;
  145. &lt;p id="bLJUQW"&gt;For the fan of Furman’s athletic history, there will be an interactive screen where you can access moments from Furman sports history, and that will include all sports and not just basketball. It’s similar to a museum experience in that you get at some of the other schools that have major basketball programs, such as Allen Fieldhouse at Kansas or Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium. At Timmons Arena just inside the concourse, there is a 30-foot screen that is interactive and will give a visual catalog of Furman’s athletics history depending on the sport you choose and what moment or player you select.&lt;/p&gt;
  146. &lt;p id="4Hbu36"&gt;When it comes down to it, Furman’s vision is one that has hinged on the perfect storm of events, with the NCAA Tournament win over Virginia playing a major role in being able to help achieve such a goal for the $40 million upgrade along with major gift donations of $10 million by Ravenel Curry III in January 2023 and donations from the Timmons Family, which have now been a part of both the original plans for the on-campus facility and the renovation. They donated $4 million to the project back in 1998. &lt;/p&gt;
  147. &lt;p id="NMmKyy"&gt;You could say that the upgraded Timmons is the house that Curry, the Timmons Family, and Richey all had a major influence on the original vision for an upgrade. &lt;/p&gt;
  148. &lt;p id="6JcWqZ"&gt;Finally, not only was the upgrade a necessity, but with schools like Wofford, High Point and Elon opening high-level facilities, there was an unspoken pressure for Furman to make a similar type of improvement to its declining basketball facility.&lt;/p&gt;
  149. &lt;p id="TAn7qD"&gt;According to Donnelly, the facility is already paying dividends before even hosting one game or event after its new facelift. &lt;/p&gt;
  150. &lt;p id="sp3OEN"&gt;“The revenue impact of the facility is one thing people don’t talk about that is already making a difference,” he said. “We’ve already exceeded any revenue numbers that we previously have ever had... We just started selling the building, and we already have more opportunities with the building with recruiting, with retention, and for revenue that we’ve ever had before.”&lt;/p&gt;
  151. &lt;p id="Dt6R5Q"&gt;With seven regulars back along with a highly-touted freshman class of five star-studded signees and one addition from the transfer portal (Clemson small forward Asa Thomas), Furman figures to once again be among the favorites to claim the 2025-26 regular-season and tournament titles in the SoCon. That will blend nicely with the excitement building around such a nicely renovated, and now modernized and state-of-the-art Timmons Arena.&lt;/p&gt;
  152.  
  153. </content>
  154.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.midmajormadness.com/2025/6/17/24450328/upgraded-timmons-arena-joins-ranks-of-state-of-the-art-mid-major-playing-venues"/>
  155.    <id>https://www.midmajormadness.com/2025/6/17/24450328/upgraded-timmons-arena-joins-ranks-of-state-of-the-art-mid-major-playing-venues</id>
  156.    <author>
  157.      <name>John Hooper</name>
  158.    </author>
  159.  </entry>
  160.  <entry>
  161.    <published>2025-06-06T08:43:36-07:00</published>
  162.    <updated>2025-06-06T08:43:36-07:00</updated>
  163.    <title>From Australia to Pocatello with Malta in between: Ashleigh van Vliet returns to Idaho State as assistant coach</title>
  164.    <content type="html">  
  165.  
  166.    &lt;figure&gt;
  167.      &lt;img alt="Ashleigh van Vliet" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TM--2mfaoupDSbKdDwa66bj5F1o=/0x30:734x519/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/74120715/Ash_ISU.0.png" /&gt;
  168.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Ashleigh van Vliet played at Idaho State and won at conference championship in 2012. | Courtesy of Ashleigh van Vliet&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  169.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  170.  
  171.  &lt;p&gt;The former Bengal played in Europe and for the Maltese national team and is now back in the program&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="Od2Y9d"&gt;Ashleigh van Vliet was the first recruit for Idaho State head coach Seton Sobolewski. She then helped lead the Bengals to the Big Sky championship and NCAA Tournament in 2012 and a WNIT bid as a senior. She is now back on campus to begin her first season as an assistant coach.&lt;/p&gt;
  172. &lt;p id="b4ZKpZ"&gt;But her playing career stretched far beyond Pocatello. The Australian competed in England, France and Malta and played for the Maltese national team, which competes in FIBA Division C and the Games of the Small States of Europe every two years.&lt;/p&gt;
  173. &lt;p id="FNe4Ia"&gt;van Vliet returned to the United States and coached at the high school and AAU levels before returning to ISU.&lt;/p&gt;
  174. &lt;p id="2WE4yL"&gt;She recently spoke with Mid-Major Madness’ Ian Sacks. Below is their conversation:&lt;/p&gt;
  175. &lt;p id="KNp9WR"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ian Sacks: What makes Idaho State so special? First, to bring you there as a player and now to bring you back as a coach?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  176. &lt;p id="ZRjOFq"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ashleigh van Vliet:&lt;/strong&gt; Going through the recruiting process, many, many, many years ago, obviously it was scary for myself being in Australia. And then just kind of trusting the coaches and the process to move my whole life overseas. I just remember having really great conversations with Coach Sobolewski and the assistants at the time.&lt;/p&gt;
  177. &lt;p id="JWYhjE"&gt;I was really lucky in Australia. One of my coaches was actually from Texas, so she knew Coach Sobolewski. Having someone kind of on the inside and knowing Coach was super helpful. With some of the conversations that we had, I just really liked what they had to say. I was really just looking for an adventure.&lt;/p&gt;
  178. &lt;p id="PzKpU2"&gt;I joke about it now, but I remember telling my coach in Australia, I don’t care where I go, I want to go somewhere warm. And he said how’s Idaho? I said I don’t know anything about it, but it sounds great.&lt;/p&gt;
  179. &lt;p id="16sqAd"&gt;From the moment I got on campus, the girls were great. I’ve made some amazing friendships over the years that I played and beyond. The coaching staff was awesome and really helped me settle.&lt;/p&gt;
  180. &lt;p id="PKukIw"&gt;I was really lucky. My freshman year, we actually had a senior from Romania. And so just having that international connection, she really mentored me and took me under her wing.&lt;/p&gt;
  181. &lt;p id="MDvfx6"&gt;And then the community here. As someone not from America, it was a little intimidating at first, but I just felt like the community here at Pocatello really embraced me. They have a fantastic grandparents program. So, after games, a lot of the girls would go and talk to family because their family would come down to the games. But I didn’t obviously have my family every game, but I just remember the community really embraced me, and I always had someone to talk to after a game. So, I have fantastic memories of being a player here.&lt;/p&gt;
  182. &lt;p id="9fcyQc"&gt;When the opportunity kind of came back around to be a coach, I didn’t really even have to think about it. Even though I’m not from Pocatello, it feels like a home away from home.&lt;/p&gt;
  183. &lt;p id="Idvcfj"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;IS: How has the school and the program and the campus grown and changed from the time you stepped on campus as a freshman to now?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  184. &lt;p id="T3uhk8"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AVV:&lt;/strong&gt; My husband was a football player here. So, we’re both really familiar with the athletics program, and we always kind of laugh. It’s new, but familiar. Obviously, they’ve done some fantastic upgrades with a lot of the facilities, which is awesome to see. But then it’s still Pocatello. It’s still the same campus. It’s still a pretty cozy vibe, I would say.&lt;/p&gt;
  185. &lt;p id="CeNAQm"&gt;I’m pretty lucky as a new coach. Obviously, there’s a lot of things that I need to learn, but I’m lucky in the situation that I don’t have to learn a brand-new campus. I already know where a lot of the facilities are and a lot of the things are. It’s nice to see how much it’s grown and how much of an input people have really poured back into the school.&lt;/p&gt;
  186. &lt;p id="l0foFb"&gt;For me, I adored playing here because it was big, but it wasn’t too big and overwhelming.&lt;/p&gt;
  187. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  188.        &lt;img alt="Ashleigh van Vliet" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/I-tZqogEEFraWWF17RyzAnmW9oM=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26020014/Ash_ISU2.png"&gt;
  189.      &lt;cite&gt;Courtesy of Ashleigh van Vliet&lt;/cite&gt;
  190.      &lt;figcaption&gt;Ashleigh van Vliet tallied 1,341 points and 751 rebounds as a four-year starter for ISU.&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  191.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  192. &lt;p id="CO9uJm"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;IS: That’s a great blend there of that middle size. You mentioned Coach Sobolewski in your first answer. What’s your relationship with Coach?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  193. &lt;p id="QB8Qos"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AVV:&lt;/strong&gt; He and I have always had a really great relationship. I know as a player, he was exactly what I needed at the right time. He pushed me. He challenged me. I credit him for my career after ISU. He really believed in me, the player. He pushed me to be more than that stereotypical post, back to the basket. He really believed in my skills and ability and developed them.&lt;/p&gt;
  194. &lt;p id="44tg3L"&gt;During the time that I was here, he and I had multiple conversations about what does my career look like playing-wise and then what does it look like beyond playing. He and I had a lot of conversations about me getting into college coaching. It’s something we talked about multiple times.&lt;/p&gt;
  195. &lt;p id="D3Obi1"&gt;I always joke the timing just was never right. There were some opportunities to coach, but I was still playing at the time, and so I wanted to continue playing. And then I have a four-year-old son. So, it was kind of right around the time that I just had my son. So, the timing just didn’t really work. But then when this next opportunity popped up, it was just perfect timing.&lt;/p&gt;
  196. &lt;p id="fSfTZU"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;IS: That was my next question. Did you ever envision yourself getting into coaching?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  197. &lt;p id="lnghJs"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AVV:&lt;/strong&gt; Prior to coming to the college basketball scene, no. I think teaching or something along that line, maybe like a PE teacher. That’s pretty standard for basketball players in Australia. Usually, you go and teach high school PE or something.&lt;/p&gt;
  198. &lt;p id="MsXakv"&gt;And then I know for myself, when I came to college, I just fell in love with just the whole atmosphere. It’s an amazing dynamic. Certainly, when I played, it was a different landscape than it is today. But I really loved the environment and the atmosphere. And so, I would say probably my junior or senior year, it was kind of a vision that I was seeing for myself getting back into coaching.&lt;/p&gt;
  199. &lt;p id="b5h0bi"&gt;Then, we were overseas. We were in Europe. I was playing, and as I said, I just had my son. We knew that we kind of wanted to be closer to family. My husband’s family is from America, and then obviously my family is from Australia. We were really kind of debating about where the best fit for our family was going to be. I think just the amazing opportunities in college coaching really drew us back to the States.&lt;/p&gt;
  200. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  201.        &lt;img alt="Ashleigh&amp;amp;nbsp;van Vliet" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FcF4rb9dVsJSCIkNA1_6OX7F0HM=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26020015/Ash_Tregueux.png"&gt;
  202.      &lt;cite&gt;Courtesy of Ashleigh&amp;nbsp;van Vliet&lt;/cite&gt;
  203.      &lt;figcaption&gt;Ashleigh van Vliet played in England, France and Malta after college.&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  204.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  205. &lt;p id="fn5Ii9"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;IS: I wanted to ask you to expand more on your post-ISU playing career. Your travels have taken you far and wide and all over the globe. What have been some of the best parts of all of those experiences?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  206. &lt;p id="aiRQxU"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AVV:&lt;/strong&gt; I think it was the surprisingness of it. I played kind of semi-professionally. It’s comparable to college. You play in a university league in England. I never envisioned myself even traveling to England. It looked like a cool place, but I never had a desire to travel there.&lt;/p&gt;
  207. &lt;p id="N98IoQ"&gt;Then my playing career took me to France. And I always joke that I took high school French just as a subject to take and never thought I’d actually use it. It came kind of in handy, I guess.&lt;/p&gt;
  208. &lt;p id="V0WRt4"&gt;For me, the most surprising place we lived was Poland. It’s probably one of my favorite places that I’ve lived in. Probably because I had such a stereotype of Poland. I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into. But it ended up being just a beautiful city we lived in.&lt;/p&gt;
  209. &lt;p id="ITMH5l"&gt;It was awesome in terms of living in Central Europe. We spent Christmases in Germany. We went to Latvia, Brussels. We traveled all over Europe just because we were so centralized to everything.&lt;/p&gt;
  210. &lt;p id="5Gabf5"&gt;I kind of finished my career in Malta, which is special for me because my dad was born in Malta, and so I’m actually half Maltese. I played with the national team since 2009. I always got an opportunity to go for national team camps, but I never got a chance to live there and fully enjoy the culture.&lt;/p&gt;
  211. &lt;p id="nmEllb"&gt;That’s an amazing Mediterranean island. I remember we spent Christmases on the beach, which is a pretty cool experience.&lt;/p&gt;
  212. &lt;p id="G6x58m"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;IS: That sounds amazing. Christmas on the beach sounds just ideal. I’m someone who loves warm weather, so that sounds amazing. But you led right into the next thing that I wanted to ask. Tell people more about Malta and what that experience was like playing on the national team.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  213. &lt;p id="fu9t2g"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AVV:&lt;/strong&gt; I always kind of joke. I knew my dad was Maltese. I didn’t really know what that meant. I remember looking it up one day on my computer and thinking, ‘oh man, there’s some dirt on my screen.’ And realizing that’s the island of Malta. It’s teeny tiny. I looked it up once, I think 17 miles north to south. So, it’s a little speck of an island.&lt;/p&gt;
  214. &lt;p id="fg33Au"&gt;My dad was born there, and then he moved back to Australia. I was lucky enough. I had somebody in Malta reach out and say, ‘hey, we’re with the national team. Would you want to come and do a training camp and potentially play?’ At the time I thought, ‘well, this can’t be real. It’s a little too good to be true.’&lt;/p&gt;
  215. &lt;p id="b6XOpY"&gt;My father and I went, and that was a really special moment. It was the first time my dad had been back in 40 years. Just getting to experience that with him was really awesome.&lt;/p&gt;
  216. &lt;p id="VtnR7i"&gt;I was lucky enough to make the team. I played from 2009 to 2023. Obviously with COVID and some small pauses in there just because of all of that. It was an amazing experience. I got to travel to some countries that ordinarily I would have never gone to: Montenegro, Armenia, Macedonia, some of the lesser-traveled places.&lt;/p&gt;
  217. &lt;p id="DrbwVZ"&gt;It was a fantastic opportunity to play. I was 18 when I played in the first national team competition. As a little 18-year-old, I’m playing against grown women, professional athletes. That was really, really fun and special. It challenged me. It was also fantastic because it was during the summer. So, when I was playing college, I was getting to do a full-blown training camp. I was doing competitions. It really kept me sharp during my college career.&lt;/p&gt;
  218. &lt;p id="y4u4Ad"&gt;The last competition I competed in was 2023. And that was kind of a special one because Malta actually hosted the tournament. They hadn’t hosted, I think, since 2002. That was a really nice way to kind of finish my career in front of a lot of friends and family. My husband’s family all came to watch. And having my son there, being able to watch his mom play was pretty special.&lt;/p&gt;
  219. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  220.        &lt;img alt="Ashleigh&amp;amp;nbsp;van Vliet" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qLlizniYJdxAOo0bWLJYOV8eIzY=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26020019/Malta_profile.jpg"&gt;
  221.      &lt;cite&gt;Courtesy of Ashleigh&amp;nbsp;van Vliet&lt;/cite&gt;
  222.      &lt;figcaption&gt;Ashleigh van Vliet with the Maltese national team.&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  223.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  224. &lt;p id="ozpsXK"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;IS: Do you know roughly how many countries you’ve traveled to?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  225. &lt;p id="gA34uN"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AVV:&lt;/strong&gt; I did the math once. I want to say, 20, maybe 25, somewhere in there. I played for a little over 10 years. Every year we got to travel to a different place. And then living in Poland, my husband and I really tried to take advantage of I mean you can jump on a bus [and go somewhere easily]. For our honeymoon, we jumped on a bus and drove 10 hours to Budapest for I think $20.&lt;/p&gt;
  226. &lt;p id="RfPhY2"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;IS: Amazing. How do you try to blend seeing the game from so many different styles from the international scene in your coaching style?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  227. &lt;p id="2BVFKw"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AVV:&lt;/strong&gt; That’s a really good point because I’ve been lucky enough to play in a lot of different programs and systems and styles. I do think I just have an advantage having played for Coach Sobolewski. I know his style of how he wants things done and how he executes things. So, from that standpoint, I feel like I’ll be able to, as the word says, assist him because I know his vision. I know what it looks like when it’s done correctly.&lt;/p&gt;
  228. &lt;p id="0NUnud"&gt;Blending my experience, I was pretty fortunate enough. I got to play the gambit of positions. I started as a forward at ISU. Then, I actually finished my career as a point guard.&lt;/p&gt;
  229. &lt;p id="vbPBFl"&gt;I don’t know how successful I was, but I was put in that position. So, I think I have an appreciation for all the positions and how integral they all work towards one another. I think in college I kind of was very single-minded. I was a post, and this is how post things are done. I now have a greater understanding of how all the positions function together.&lt;/p&gt;
  230. &lt;p id="IWxWTX"&gt;My biggest thing is mentoring the girls. For myself, when you get to college, physically, everyone can do all the skills, but there’s a huge mental aspect to playing basketball.&lt;/p&gt;
  231. &lt;p id="sHzfbQ"&gt;In the last couple years with the University has done a great job of really tapping into that mental side of it. When I was coaching high school, I saw myself kind of in that mom role, putting my arm around someone and saying ‘hey, we’re good. Next play.’ Or whatever it needed to be.&lt;/p&gt;
  232. &lt;p id="GBrNoH"&gt;I’m excited to see how I can blend my experience and my knowledge into the program.&lt;/p&gt;
  233. &lt;p id="vsggmU"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;IS: It’s really interesting how you started more as a power forward and transitioned more into a point guard role. It seems like you were maybe one of the forerunners of what we’re seeing in today’s game, where it seems a lot more positionless and that players have the skills of both guards and post players. So many times you see a post stepping out and shooting a three. How do you feel like your experience can help with that?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  234. &lt;p id="RrWs0y"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AVV:&lt;/strong&gt; I think it’s awesome. I would say that I was very much pigeonholed growing up into ‘okay, you’re big. You go stand in the post.’ Coach Sobolewski was probably one of those first coaches that said, ‘no, you can step out. You can shoot. You can dribble.’ He really pushed and challenged me to develop that side of my game.&lt;/p&gt;
  235. &lt;p id="SVCP3C"&gt;I think it’s great. I coached club before this, and I was a really big proponent of ‘you’re not just a guard. You’re not just a post. Everyone needs to do all the skills.’ That’s what’s really great about Coach Sobolewski’s the system and his style of play. It’s very fluid. There’s no set position. Everyone’s kind of expected to handle the ball, to shoot, to drive, to kind of all contribute. There’s none of that traditional one through five. It’s a pretty fluid offense.&lt;/p&gt;
  236. &lt;p id="F6VyY8"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;IS: You mentioned the mentorship side of coaching. What are a couple of skills or life lessons that you look to instill in your players?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  237. &lt;p id="mB3cOA"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AVV:&lt;/strong&gt; I think I have a really great perspective. I’ve kind of done a lot of things in my career. And so just giving the girls perspective that maybe a bad play or a bad game, it’s not the end of the world. There’s a lot more to it. It’s not just that one single play.&lt;/p&gt;
  238. &lt;p id="fddNcu"&gt;That’s a really big thing I see, especially in youth athletics. Players get a little bit stuck on executing perfectly. We’re trying to play a perfect game in an imperfect game, and it’s never going to really work.&lt;/p&gt;
  239. &lt;p id="AGcHPe"&gt;Just instilling that kind of resilience of, ‘hey, we might make a mistake, but it’s what we do after it that’s really, really important.’&lt;/p&gt;
  240. &lt;p id="O9OFA5"&gt;The other thing would be, when I came and watched a couple games last year, would just be camaraderie. Which I believe the culture at ISU has already instilled. Some of the best teams I played on is because we didn’t necessarily have to be friends off the court, but we had that great relationship and that respect for each other. It goes a long way.&lt;/p&gt;
  241. &lt;p id="ZEU5if"&gt;So, just in terms of me being a mentor, just trying to help get that relationship going between all the players and just making it a really cohesive program.&lt;/p&gt;
  242. &lt;p id="vUS3iP"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;IS: Coach, we touched on so many different things. Anything else you can think of?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  243. &lt;p id="6fJGuU"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AVV:&lt;/strong&gt; I’m excited for this new opportunity. It’s a lot of learning and a lot of new skills that I’m developing, but I’m just really grateful for this. I’m really excited to see how the program grows and develops from here and how I can kind of help it.&lt;/p&gt;
  244.  
  245. </content>
  246.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.midmajormadness.com/2025/6/6/24443490/from-australia-to-pocatello-with-malta-in-between-ashleigh-van-vliet-returns-to-idaho-state"/>
  247.    <id>https://www.midmajormadness.com/2025/6/6/24443490/from-australia-to-pocatello-with-malta-in-between-ashleigh-van-vliet-returns-to-idaho-state</id>
  248.    <author>
  249.      <name>Ian Sacks</name>
  250.    </author>
  251.  </entry>
  252.  <entry>
  253.    <published>2025-06-02T11:10:00-07:00</published>
  254.    <updated>2025-06-02T11:10:00-07:00</updated>
  255.    <title>Unique, uber-talented transfer class has Takayo Siddle’s UNC Wilmington poised for continued success</title>
  256.    <content type="html">  
  257.  
  258.    &lt;figure&gt;
  259.      &lt;img alt="Delaware v North Carolina-Wilmington" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qg8o5N2sN3i0qB7Jly68Gn2sNvc=/0x0:3600x2400/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/74113459/2214039578.0.jpg" /&gt;
  260.        &lt;figcaption&gt;WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 11: Head coach Takayo Siddle of the North Carolina-Wilmington Seahawks holds up the championship trophy after the finals of the Jersey Mike’s CAA Men’s Basketball Tournament against the Delaware Fightin Blue Hens at CareFirst Arena on March 11, 2025 in Washington, DC. | Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  261.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  262.  
  263.  &lt;p&gt;A turbulent, exciting offseason has UNCW ready to climb back to the top, in its own particular way&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="jsmloe"&gt;There are two seasons in Wilmington: beach and basketball. &lt;/p&gt;
  264. &lt;p id="FZ3piz"&gt;Warm days are spent catching waves and cold nights are spent at Trask Coliseum watching their beloved Seahawks. Everything in between? Doesn’t really matter. It’s just there to pass the time.&lt;/p&gt;
  265. &lt;p id="W4G3SK"&gt;It was a good year on Carolina’s east coast, then. A hot summer gave way to a dominant basketball campaign, as Coach Takayo Siddle’s bunch rode a 27-8 (14-4 in-conference) record to a No. 2 seed in the CAA Tournament. Once there, they dispatched Hampton, squeezed past Charleston in a nail-biter, and survived a scare from Delaware to secure their spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017.&lt;/p&gt;
  266. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  267.        &lt;img alt="Syndication: Wilmington News Journal" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Wn-26igOyetzk9epVjkeZvmUCj4=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26012590/usa_today_25644281.jpg"&gt;
  268.      &lt;cite&gt;William Bretzger-Delaware News Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  269.      &lt;figcaption&gt;UNCW head coach Takayo Siddle celebrates in the trophy presentation after the Seahawks won the CAA championship, Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at the CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C.&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  270.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  271. &lt;p id="Zcna3i"&gt;On the biggest stage, they adjusted themselves well, pushing No. 3 seed Texas Tech to its limits in the first half before taking a narrow lead with 13:58 to play. They might have finished the job if not for Tech’s Kerwin Walton, who drained eight 3-pointers to nudge David’s slingshot ever-so-slightly off course as the powerhouse Red Raiders eked out the victory and closed the book on the plucky Seahawks’ season. &lt;/p&gt;
  272. &lt;p id="qPdlM6"&gt;As the result was put beyond doubt and the clock ticked towards the final buzzer, Siddle paused for a moment, gazed out over the court, and waved the proverbial white flag. By the time the horn sounded moments later, Siddle was already at halfcourt, vehemently congratulating Red Raiders head coach Grant McCasland under a giant scoreboard reading &lt;em&gt;#3 Texas Tech 82, #14 UNCW 72.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  273. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  274.        &lt;img alt="NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament First Round-NC-Wilmington at Texas Tech" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_0UI80FOY-G3nojOfh9CRxg-XR4=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26012607/usa_today_25728295.jpg"&gt;
  275.      &lt;cite&gt;Nick Tre. Smith-Imagn Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  276.      &lt;figcaption&gt;Mar 20, 2025; Wichita, KS, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Grant McCasland and North Carolina-Wilmington Seahawks head coach Takayo Siddle meet after the Red Raiders defeated the Seahawks in a first round men’s NCAA Tournament game at Intrust Bank Arena.&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  277.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  278. &lt;p id="olEQHe"&gt;By all measures, the 2024-25 season had been a successful one. Maybe if Siddle were a lesser coach, or a professional in a different industry, he’d sit back and reflect on a wonderful year, a first CAA Tournament championship and a program-changing NCAA Tournament bid. Maybe he’d allow himself some time to appreciate what he and his group had accomplished before getting right back on the horse, as they say.&lt;/p&gt;
  279. &lt;p id="XafsKQ"&gt;College basketball is a cutthroat industry, though, and there’s rarely time for that. Just ask UConn’s Dan Hurley, who famously got right back on the recruiting trail mere hours after winning his second consecutive national championship. When one journey ends, another begins, and Siddle and his assistants had eyes on next season before the game-worn jerseys even found their way into a washing machine.&lt;/p&gt;
  280. &lt;p id="zHEDr1"&gt;The beginning of what quickly became a remarkable offseason looked like this: UNCW’s season ended late night on a Thursday, the team landed back in Wilmington on Saturday, and by Monday, Coach Siddle and his staff were officially back at work, meeting with potential returners and getting a grip on the transfer portal.&lt;/p&gt;
  281. &lt;p id="yiiWaG"&gt;“On that Monday, it was straight to the meetings with the current roster,” Siddle told &lt;em&gt;Mid-Major Madness&lt;/em&gt;. “As a staff, we had already communicated and talked about our plan of attack in the portal… I wanted to meet with the potential returners first, and we wanted to go into the portal and upgrade at each position.”&lt;/p&gt;
  282. &lt;p id="WTSB50"&gt;Before too much longer, the UNCW brass had identified their targets and begun the recruitment process. Siddle has his requirements — “no knuckleheads” for one — but if those are met, the staff goes ahead and makes initial contact. If the player’s interested (and who wouldn’t be, really? Have you seen Wilmington?) coaches are patched through to the student-athlete himself, and the process really clicks into gear.&lt;/p&gt;
  283. &lt;p id="VL49S0"&gt;From there, it’s constant communication; on the phone and over text, mostly. This segment of recruiting is very personal. Siddle and Co. don’t promise flashy things. They don’t blaspheme. They don’t put the player’s name up in lights. Instead, they get to know them as a person, and vice versa. &lt;/p&gt;
  284. &lt;p id="bJvIGf"&gt;If all goes well, as it so often does, the player visits campus, where he’s wowed by Wilmington’s high-level facilities and admittedly beautiful coastline. He takes a photo in UNCW’s iconic teal uniforms, mingles with players and coaches (who feel like “they already know each other” after weeks of communication), and steps into Coach Siddle’s office for a “Beyond Basketball” chat.&lt;/p&gt;
  285. &lt;p id="tAu6UV"&gt;Behind those doors, Siddle outlines his plan for each individual player, no holds barred. Nothing is ever promised. The only guarantee made in that room is that the player will be pushed. Culture is emphasized. Family concerns are heard and attended to, and &lt;em&gt;everything &lt;/em&gt;is laid out in front of them.&lt;/p&gt;
  286. &lt;p id="hchOMj"&gt;By the time dinner is served hours later (and I’m told it’s an impressive spread), talks with the family have taken place. If they go smoothly, which they usually do, the only thing left is the culmination of the process — the player’s signature — which is usually a formality by the time dessert is served.&lt;/p&gt;
  287. &lt;p id="tHrdc4"&gt;It’s an impressive system tailored to Coach Siddle and Wilmington, and it bore fruit this summer. Siddle and his staff netted a whopping six recruits in the school’s top-ranked all-time class, including Binghamton superstar Gavin Walsh, a power-conference 7-footer in Virginia Tech’s Patrick Wessler, and an four-star guards in Jahnathan Lamothe (North Carolina A&amp;amp;T), Christian May (Towson), Madison Durr (Monmouth) and the All-CAA Third Teamer CJ Luster II (Stony Brook).&lt;/p&gt;
  288. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  289.        &lt;img alt="NCAA Basketball: ACC Conference Tournament First Round - Virginia Tech vs California" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/uD0GxqFJFcNK0gVVTVIBOPmazxY=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26012608/usa_today_25642288.jpg"&gt;
  290.      &lt;cite&gt;Bob Donnan-Imagn Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  291.      &lt;figcaption&gt;Mar 11, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; California Golden Bears forward Rytis Petraitis (31) fights for the ball with Virginia Tech Hokies center Patrick Wessler (5) and forward Tobi Lawal (1) in the first half at Spectrum Center.&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  292.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  293. &lt;p id="84ujwn"&gt;Five of those six were indeed formalities at dinner. The sixth, Wessler, committed hours later on his ride back to his hometown of Charlotte, N.C. All in all, Siddle and the UNCW Seahawks secured a big-time recruiting class, all before the third week of April.&lt;/p&gt;
  294. &lt;p id="ATbOft"&gt;While the quality of UNCW’s transfer class was, and certainly remains, impressive, that isn’t the story here. Instead, the interesting part of the story revolves around the four guards, all of whom come from schools within UNCW’s conference, the CAA.&lt;/p&gt;
  295. &lt;p id="Hmg2ZJ"&gt;For a long time, intra-conference transfers were exceedingly rare; this was mostly due to athletes having to sit out a year for transferring. However, the NCAA allowed players to transfer without sitting out beginning in 2021.&lt;/p&gt;
  296. &lt;p id="iT2O3t"&gt;Even since then, though, intra-conference transfers across the NCAA have remained uncommon. Bigger conferences such as the ACC or SEC tend to see a few per offseason, but smaller one-bid conferences still generally see their departures head for other leagues. You can understand why, too — bigger conferences have more resources, more money, and more opportunity for nationwide attention.&lt;/p&gt;
  297. &lt;p id="FZSe6A"&gt;This offseason, no other mid-major across the &lt;em&gt;country &lt;/em&gt;has brought in more than two intra-conference transfers. Across the rest of the CAA &lt;em&gt;combined&lt;/em&gt;, there was one: Campbell’s Colby Duggan, who headed south to Charleston. &lt;/p&gt;
  298. &lt;p id="qE8TEH"&gt;So, when a school of UNCW’s stature brings in &lt;em&gt;four&lt;/em&gt;, it’s something of a surprise. Why? Is there an untapped advantage to recruiting players who already know the ins and outs of the conference? How did UNCW manage to convince four players who easily could’ve fled to larger conferences to stick around in the tiny CAA?&lt;/p&gt;
  299. &lt;p id="hohry2"&gt;To some degree, Siddle believes it was a coincidence. UNCW didn’t necessarily go out in the transfer portal looking for guys who already knew what the CAA was about. Instead, four of the recruits the Seahawks’ staff ended up liking the best just happened to hail from their own conference. In theory, that makes sense. It’s not the most outlandish idea that UNCW’s staff became the most enamored with players they spent all year scouting, preparing for and watching up close.&lt;/p&gt;
  300. &lt;p id="OkzSpx"&gt;Whether intentional or not, though, there is a real advantage to plugging players with conference experience into UNCW’s culture. In the days leading up to every game, Siddle and his staff preach something they like to call “the game before the game.” It’s a unique buildup period where players and coaches prepare each other for different environments. Uniquely, when on the road, the Seahawks often focus more on off-court factors than anything else. Siddle believes strongly in the idea that winning is all mental, and if his guys can prepare better than their opponents, they’ll have an advantage every single time.&lt;/p&gt;
  301. &lt;p id="FWUXMu"&gt;It’s a strategy that’s hard to argue with. Thanks in large part to his team’s meticulous preparation, the Seahawks have won at a staggering 99-37 clip (51-27 away from home) over the last four seasons, and Siddle credits that same mindset for guiding UNCW to three conference championship appearances in that span.&lt;/p&gt;
  302. &lt;p id="MAZP71"&gt;“When I’m trying to prepare them for NC A&amp;amp;T, and all the external factors that could really affect you,” Siddle said. “[The players] will understand that a little bit more because I’ll have Jahnathan [Lamothe] here to say ‘Oh, you’re right.’ Christian [May] has already been in there. These guys [Lamothe, May, Durr, and Luster] have already been there, and they understand what I’m saying, that these factors right here can’t affect us.&lt;/p&gt;
  303. &lt;p id="c0iRgB"&gt;“So I think the game before the game, when preparing them for going to all of these different places and playing against some of these different styles and coaches, I think we can all help each other understand what needs to happen before the game even goes on. If we can prepare like a mature team and think like a mature team, then we can have some success.”&lt;/p&gt;
  304. &lt;p id="Io13Fg"&gt;Things will admittedly be a bit different for the CAA Tournament; none of the incoming quartet have ever even reached a CAA championship game, let alone won the entire thing. But, Siddle is confident that for all the wisdom the transfers can bring to the table, the old guard can return the favor when it comes down to tournament time.&lt;/p&gt;
  305. &lt;p id="oYzzX2"&gt;“The preparation [for the CAA Tournament] that we did was probably a lot different than any school in our league,” he said. “The way we handle our week leading up to it… [the returners] can really help [the new guys] navigate through it, and so when we get there, their minds are in the right place, and they’re ready to go out there and be the most confident team and have the most fun.”&lt;/p&gt;
  306. &lt;p id="NXmHwG"&gt;You know who else has little in the way of CAA Tournament experience? Walsh and Pat Wessler, the two forwards that round out UNCW’s transfer class. Each rising junior is impressive in their own right: Walsh was among the NCAA’s best rebounders at Binghamton, and the 7-foot Wessler more than held his own in limited minutes at Virginia Tech. &lt;/p&gt;
  307. &lt;p id="P8j0uv"&gt;Walsh, though, is the crown jewel on Siddle’s six-player summer swing. It’s not like the Seahawks were the only school after him; Walsh chose UNCW over a huge list of interested schools that included UConn, USC, and Iowa. On the court, the 6-foot-8 forward oozes potential, combining elite rebounding, defensive versatility, and a picturesque, ever-improving offensive game that seems primed to explode in his junior season.&lt;/p&gt;
  308. &lt;div id="dCk6VQ"&gt;
  309. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  310. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;The following schools have expressed interest in Binghamton sophomore transfer forward Gavin Walsh (&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/thegavinwalsh?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@thegavinwalsh&lt;/a&gt;), via his agents Dan Poneman and George Hemmingsen:&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;UNC Charlotte&lt;br&gt;UMass&lt;br&gt;Bradley&lt;br&gt;Liberty&lt;br&gt;Williams &amp;amp; Mary&lt;br&gt;Binghamton &lt;br&gt;UC San Diego&lt;br&gt;Iowa&lt;br&gt;Delaware &lt;br&gt;Clemson&lt;br&gt;Oklahoma… &lt;a href="https://t.co/KfM3Am7DSD"&gt;pic.twitter.com/KfM3Am7DSD&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Luke Chaney (@lukechaney247) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/lukechaney247/status/1904715064642335001?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;March 26, 2025&lt;/a&gt;
  311. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  312. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  313.  
  314. &lt;/div&gt;
  315. &lt;p id="GxuOsR"&gt;To Siddle, that’s only the half of it.&lt;/p&gt;
  316. &lt;p id="RyGJkO"&gt;“He’s an impressive young man, [who] really fits our culture,” Siddle said. “He’s got a couple years left, so he’ll be able to be a leader in this program because he really embodies everything I look for in a player. He’s an everyday guy, obsessed with the process. I think he’ll really elevate our toughness, elevate our skill, elevate our versatility… I think he’ll provide some leadership.”&lt;/p&gt;
  317. &lt;p id="8uNa7K"&gt;Siddle was similarly effusive in his praise for Wessler, who he described as having “his best basketball ahead of him.” Wessler doesn’t have the same level of hype as Walsh, but securing a 7-footer who Siddle thinks can “elevate us in a lot of areas” will go a long way in a conference that historically lacks height.&lt;/p&gt;
  318. &lt;p id="HiXGfh"&gt;Even with all that talent, Siddle refused to set a goal or an expectation for this year’s team. If “some” success is the benchmark, as he jokingly suggested it might be, these Seahawks are poised to blow past that. Yes, they lost a huge chunk of their title-winning squad — big names such as Harlan Obioha, Khamari McGriff and Donovan Newby have either graduated or transferred — but they’ll return some excellent pieces in Nolan Hodge and Greedy Williams, and at least three of the six new guys figure to slot into what’ll be a dynamic starting lineup.&lt;/p&gt;
  319. &lt;p id="xIRMPY"&gt;When you combine all that talent with the veteran savvy of a roster loaded with CAA pedigree and a coach who’s done nothing but win, the sky’s the limit. Ask around — attempting to sustain success in today’s mid-major landscape is a fool’s errand — but if anyone’s got it figured out, it’s Siddle and his roving band of CAA mavens.&lt;/p&gt;
  320. &lt;p id="55kTBN"&gt;“I just want us to get better every single day, on the court and in our chemistry,” Siddle said. “If we can do those things, I think we’ll be sitting in a pretty good position.”&lt;/p&gt;
  321.  
  322. </content>
  323.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.midmajormadness.com/2025/6/2/24440132/unique-talented-transfer-class-has-takayo-siddles-unc-wilmington-poised-for-continued-success"/>
  324.    <id>https://www.midmajormadness.com/2025/6/2/24440132/unique-talented-transfer-class-has-takayo-siddles-unc-wilmington-poised-for-continued-success</id>
  325.    <author>
  326.      <name>Jacob Phillips</name>
  327.    </author>
  328.  </entry>
  329.  <entry>
  330.    <published>2025-05-29T09:11:30-07:00</published>
  331.    <updated>2025-05-29T09:11:30-07:00</updated>
  332.    <title>What’s your team’s coach eating?</title>
  333.    <content type="html">  
  334.  
  335.    &lt;figure&gt;
  336.      &lt;img alt="Mid-Major Menus" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xc__xiIq_PZAxKrS5kxdPn6aM3M=/0x6:3500x2339/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/74107470/mmm.0.png" /&gt;
  337.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Graphic by Hannah Butler.&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  338.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  339.  
  340.  &lt;p&gt;Pizza, steak, rice, chips, coffee...&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="pPG52G"&gt;Newly named UNLV men’s basketball coach Josh Pastner shared his love of rice in an interview with sports talk show host Damon Amendolara.&lt;/p&gt;
  341. &lt;p id="TppGnd"&gt;The Rebels coach told a story that while he was at ESPN, he had six plates of white rice in one day. He also described that he will ask for rice as a side when eating out at a restaurant.&lt;/p&gt;
  342. &lt;div id="J8zMP4"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5FBUuK2gPh8?rel=0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="accelerometer *; clipboard-write *; encrypted-media *; gyroscope *; picture-in-picture *; web-share *;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  343. &lt;p id="yYgIA4"&gt;“I’m a rice guy through and through,” he said. “I’ll mix anything with rice.”&lt;/p&gt;
  344. &lt;p id="x9Y9yb"&gt;So, that got us here at Mid-Major Madness wondering ... what foods coaches around the country simply cannot live without?&lt;/p&gt;
  345. &lt;p id="JYqtpj"&gt;Here’s what they told us:&lt;/p&gt;
  346. &lt;p id="8A5GVD"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Carla Berube – Princeton Women’s Basketball Head Coach&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  347. &lt;p id="l9XsJp"&gt;My morning protein smoothie! Sets me up for success for the day and tastes so good!&lt;/p&gt;
  348. &lt;p id="lB5s1z"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ginny Boggess – Toledo Women’s Basketball Head Coach&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  349. &lt;p id="7bwq0B"&gt;I can’t live without pizza. I prefer salty over sweet!&lt;/p&gt;
  350. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  351.        &lt;img alt="PLAIN CHEESE PIZZA ON RED..." data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fxfrxGA648DQE317a8lPzmisQ-0=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26006532/1032794262.jpg"&gt;
  352.      &lt;cite&gt;Photo by Photo Media/ClassicStock/Getty Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  353.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  354. &lt;p id="W1NTEp"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Flynn Clayman – High Point Men’s Basketball Head Coach&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  355. &lt;p id="5NbDXm"&gt;I love Kettle Corn. Crunchy. Sweet. Salty. Checks all boxes.&lt;/p&gt;
  356. &lt;p id="qZTcXt"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Nathan Davis – New Hampshire Men’s Basketball Head Coach&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  357. &lt;p id="HsIEpA"&gt;If you count coffee as food that would be it. Otherwise, I would go with steak-medium rare for the flavor and texture.&lt;/p&gt;
  358. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  359.        &lt;img alt="Steaming coffee cup." data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/oPG4PME9LkCkAf0OXzwqx8T-6UE=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26006533/522257772.jpg"&gt;
  360.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  361. &lt;p id="IfjqGV"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Eric Duft – Weber State Men’s Basketball Head Coach&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  362. &lt;p id="6SikWo"&gt;Steak. Grew up &lt;a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=4H+steer&amp;amp;sca_esv=35b0fc9359948ef2&amp;amp;rlz=1C1CHZN_enUS943US944&amp;amp;ei=caYyaMb_O73cptQPlZHyiAw&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwiG_ILi7b2NAxU9rokEHZWIHMEQ4dUDCBA&amp;amp;uact=5&amp;amp;oq=4H+steer&amp;amp;gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiCDRIIHN0ZWVyMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBhAAGBYYHjIGEAAYFhgeMgYQABgWGB4yBhAAGBYYHjIGEAAYFhgeSOQQUClY7w5wAXgAkAEAmAF8oAHHBKoBAzMuM7gBA8gBAPgBAZgCB6AC8gTCAg0QABiABBiwAxhDGIoFwgIQEAAYgAQYsAMYsQMYQxiKBcICDxAAGIAEGLADGEMYigUYCsICDhAAGLADGOQCGNYE2AEBwgIZEC4YgAQYsAMY0QMYQxjHARjIAxiKBdgBAcICChAAGIAEGEMYigXCAhUQLhiABBixAxjRAxhDGMcBGIoFGArCAgcQABiABBgKwgILEAAYgAQYkQIYigXCAgoQLhiABBhDGIoFmAMAiAYBkAYRugYGCAEQARgJkgcDNC4zoAezI7IHAzMuM7gH7QQ&amp;amp;sclient=gws-wiz-serp"&gt;raising steers in 4-H&lt;/a&gt;, and my wife’s parents have a lot of cattle. We have access to great beef. &lt;/p&gt;
  363. &lt;p id="Ax89ZI"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Julie Goodenough – Abilene Christian Women’s Basketball Head Coach&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  364. &lt;p id="C9pQ9u"&gt;Chips and guac. &lt;/p&gt;
  365. &lt;p id="PP1VmT"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Erika Lang-Montgomery – Longwood Women’s Basketball Head Coach&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  366. &lt;p id="rMtmlU"&gt;I love good BBQ brisket, pulled pork and the fixin’s! I think the sides are important. Sweet baked beans and different BBQ sauces to try. I also love cupcakes!&lt;/p&gt;
  367. &lt;p id="R80CsA"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shantay Legans – Portland Men’s Basketball Head Coach&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  368. &lt;p id="PghJEo"&gt;&lt;a href="https://classicbakes.com/recipes/teppanyaki-fried-rice-recipe"&gt;Teppanyaki fried rice&lt;/a&gt; (from a place like Benihana’s or something similar). I don’t know what it is, but I could eat that all day!! &lt;/p&gt;
  369. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  370.        &lt;img alt="Sawatdee To Go on Nicollet Mall — The new Sawatdee To Go located on the Nicollet Mall offers a variety of Thai favorites for people on the run. Each day features five or six specials, several different food combinations or one can order off the menu. Pi" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/DpAAK5DAnaYQLbmu5VIytmRra0w=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26006534/1154259111.jpg"&gt;
  371.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  372. &lt;p id="4i1G3c"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tracy Mason – Southern Utah Women’s Basketball Head Coach&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  373. &lt;p id="dFQiaq"&gt;I love chips and salsa! Definitely my favorite food because it’s easy and so good!&lt;/p&gt;
  374. &lt;p id="NnaaJv"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Samantha Quigley Smith – SIUE Women’s Basketball Head Coach&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  375. &lt;p id="Ije24L"&gt;PIZZA!!!!!!! All kinds, any time any day, Chicagoland through and through. So many good ones.&lt;/p&gt;
  376. &lt;p id="yaFyJu"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Kyle Rechilcz – Milwaukee Women’s Basketball Head Coach&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  377. &lt;p id="BX8mBr"&gt;My favorite food would have to be Chipotle. Favorite snack (if you are looking for something else) is apples with PB2 and chocolate chips.&lt;/p&gt;
  378. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  379.        &lt;img alt="SLUG: sm-dining DATE: 02-01-2007 CREDIT: Mark Gail/ TWP Wald" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ypmaTQpU6PJiID6H23G-0sXGMtY=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26006540/104569262.jpg"&gt;
  380.      &lt;cite&gt;Photo by Mark Gail/The The Washington Post via Getty Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  381.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  382. &lt;p id="5cEUwr"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tammi Reiss – Rhode Island Women’s Basketball Head Coach&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  383. &lt;p id="BvYhaY"&gt;Wings, man!!! Any type of wing!!! &lt;/p&gt;
  384. &lt;p id="T6dEWb"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Chanda Rigby – Troy Women’s Basketball Head Coach&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  385. &lt;p id="y5egKl"&gt;CRAWFISH! I’m from Louisiana and cannot live without boiled crawfish. &lt;/p&gt;
  386. &lt;p id="zPEuNq"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rob Senderoff – Kent State Men’s Basketball Head Coach&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  387. &lt;p id="TFpy8O"&gt;My favorite food is rigatoni ala vodka with chicken or sausage. Food I can’t live without is Special K cereal. I have that every morning. &lt;/p&gt;
  388. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  389.        &lt;img alt="1999 WNBA Finals - Game Three: New York Liberty v Houston Comets" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/uwWih6mUhaxb5aDtMta5n_H72VQ=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26006536/1052837642.jpg"&gt;
  390.      &lt;cite&gt;Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  391.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  392. &lt;p id="1xcBYC"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Jeremy Shulman – UT Martin Men’s Basketball Head Coach&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  393. &lt;p id="S0N9Om"&gt;I’m actually plant based (don’t eat meat) so that makes me unique!! And I absolutely LOOOVE Indian Food!!&lt;/p&gt;
  394. &lt;p id="Kkekra"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pat Skerry – Towson Men’s Basketball Head Coach&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  395. &lt;p id="eHJlKr"&gt;Pizza… unfortunately.&lt;/p&gt;
  396. &lt;p id="wyrQ1F"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Andrew Toole – Robert Morris Men’s Basketball Head Coach&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  397. &lt;p id="LPcMsq"&gt;French fries are probably my nemesis, and I do love a great steak, but favorite food would be a &lt;a href="https://www.jerseygirlcooks.com/pork-roll-egg-and-cheese-breakfast-sandwich/"&gt;pork roll egg and cheese breakfast sandwich&lt;/a&gt;! People not from Jersey don’t really know what that is, but it is incredible!&lt;/p&gt;
  398.  
  399. </content>
  400.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.midmajormadness.com/2025/5/29/24436777/whats-your-teams-coach-eating"/>
  401.    <id>https://www.midmajormadness.com/2025/5/29/24436777/whats-your-teams-coach-eating</id>
  402.    <author>
  403.      <name>Ian Sacks</name>
  404.    </author>
  405.  </entry>
  406.  <entry>
  407.    <published>2025-05-23T18:44:00-07:00</published>
  408.    <updated>2025-05-23T18:44:00-07:00</updated>
  409.    <title>Green Bay seeks to participate in The Basketball Tournament</title>
  410.    <content type="html">  
  411.  
  412.    &lt;figure&gt;
  413.      &lt;img alt="NCAA Basketball: Green Bay at Ohio State" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/iNftsgJMu96oiHM6WB3LUNbWJeE=/0x0:3600x2400/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/74099277/usa_today_24851674.0.jpg" /&gt;
  414.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Doug Gottlieb&amp;nbsp;and Green Bay went 4-28 last season. | Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  415.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  416.  
  417.  &lt;p&gt;Thought TBT, which awards its winner $1 million, was for former college players? Think again. &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="0leQKY"&gt;Summer is typically a slower time in the calendar year for college basketball teams. We’re several months removed from the season. The transfer portal has opened and closed.&lt;/p&gt;
  418. &lt;p id="rEfvVK"&gt;In fact, basketball-starved fans are typically in search of how to quench that thirst. While the WNBA is stronger than ever, there isn’t much outside of that.&lt;/p&gt;
  419. &lt;p id="rqYzNL"&gt;Well, there are a few other options. Ice Cube’s BIG3 and The Basketball Tournament. Ahh, here we are.&lt;/p&gt;
  420. &lt;p id="1SLtjh"&gt;The Basketball Tournament, called TBT, is a winner-take-all 64-team tournament for $1 million that’s been around for about a dozen years. Several of the teams center around former college players who join back together.&lt;/p&gt;
  421. &lt;p id="qrRSL8"&gt;Operative words: former college players.&lt;/p&gt;
  422. &lt;p id="g1vHMf"&gt;Maybe not so in the future as Green Bay filed a waiver requesting to compete in &lt;a href="https://tbthoops.com/"&gt;The Basketball Tournament&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  423. &lt;p id="9pFz0c"&gt;The request was made last week and states that TBT is not under NCAA jurisdiction and is not a legislated exemption. Therefore, the Phoenix argue that participation in the tournament can serve the same role for a program as a foreign summer trip that teams are allowed to participate in once every four years.&lt;/p&gt;
  424. &lt;p id="tgbqPs"&gt;“The idea of undergraduate teams or student-athletes participating and competing against retired players or current professionals overseas or any number of other types of teams that we get is really appealing to us,” TBT CEO Jon Mugar said, according to &lt;a href="https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/45285030/green-bay-files-waiver-play-basketball-tournament"&gt;ESPN&lt;/a&gt;. “We have a long track record of working with and partnering with universities through alumni teams, and now it makes a lot of sense to do that through their actual teams.”&lt;/p&gt;
  425. &lt;p id="qdGMqu"&gt;Horizon League commissioner Julie Roe Lach put her support behind Green Bay’s participation in TBT. The 2025 tournament is slated to run from July 18-Aug. 3.&lt;/p&gt;
  426. &lt;p id="7kycae"&gt;“When you play overseas, these teams that go to France, Spain, Belgium, whatever, those aren’t NCAA-sanctioned games,” Green Bay coach Doug Gottlieb said. “So, the NCAA’s argument is, ‘Hey, in summer competition, you can’t play these games in the United States. They’re not NCAA-sanctioned.’ So, if I played this exact same game three hours north of here in Canada, it’d be OK. It doesn’t make sense.”&lt;/p&gt;
  427. &lt;p id="CsS6EK"&gt;These trips abroad to play games can become expensive, especially for a mid-major program. Reminder that Gottlieb played professionally in Russia, Israel and France.&lt;/p&gt;
  428. &lt;p id="q77oWJ"&gt;Green Bay – which won just four games (tied for the second fewest in DI) in Gottlieb’s first season – filed a similar motion last year, but it was denied. That decision came too late for the team to appeal.&lt;/p&gt;
  429.  
  430. </content>
  431.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.midmajormadness.com/2025/5/23/24436225/green-bay-seeks-to-participate-in-the-basketball-tournament-this-summer"/>
  432.    <id>https://www.midmajormadness.com/2025/5/23/24436225/green-bay-seeks-to-participate-in-the-basketball-tournament-this-summer</id>
  433.    <author>
  434.      <name>Ian Sacks</name>
  435.    </author>
  436.  </entry>
  437.  <entry>
  438.    <published>2025-05-23T13:40:04-07:00</published>
  439.    <updated>2025-05-23T13:40:04-07:00</updated>
  440.    <title>Cedric Coward started his college career at Division III, now he’s going to the NBA  </title>
  441.    <content type="html">  
  442.  
  443.    &lt;figure&gt;
  444.      &lt;img alt="NCAA Basketball: Eastern Washington at Washington State" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/e-O2IuSGXtsf3Lyr6wv53oIODjg=/0x792:3452x3093/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/74099000/usa_today_24850621.0.jpg" /&gt;
  445.        &lt;figcaption&gt;James Snook-Imagn Images&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  446.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  447.  
  448.  &lt;p&gt;How David Riley found a gem and developed him at Eastern Washington&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="HbjjUC"&gt;The night before his second game as Eastern Washington’s head coach, David Riley had some free time, so he flipped on ESPN+ to watch his old boss, Shantay Legans, in his second game as Portland’s lead man.&lt;/p&gt;
  449. &lt;p id="Su5IIz"&gt;It was a mostly non-competitive game. Portland dropped 122 points, including 65 in the second half, to cruise to a win over Division III Willamette. But the biggest winner that night was a lanky, 6-foot-6 freshman for the Bearcats, who in just his third career game, already put together his second 20-plus point performance.&lt;/p&gt;
  450. &lt;p id="plyQrd"&gt;“This kid was just killing,” Riley told &lt;em&gt;Mid-Major Madness. &lt;/em&gt;“He was just posting up Moses Wood, and he hit a couple 3s. You see a DIII kid doing that against a good DI player, and you think ‘This kid has got a chance.’”&lt;/p&gt;
  451. &lt;p id="kLTAr4"&gt;It turns out, he had more than just “a chance.” That kid was Cedric Coward, an relatively unknown 18-year-old from Fresno, California. Riley never forgot his name, and brought him to Eastern Washington out of the transfer portal the next spring, where he developed into one of the best players in the Big Sky. Now, after Coward followed Riley to Washington State for the 2024-25 season, he’s on the verge of being a &lt;a href="https://www.midmajormadness.com/2025/5/12/24428715/nba-draft-cedric-coward-prospects"&gt;first-round pick in June’s NBA Draft&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  452. &lt;aside id="3crkko"&gt;&lt;div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Mid-major prospects to keep an eye on","url":"https://www.midmajormadness.com/2025/5/12/24428715/nba-draft-cedric-coward-prospects"}]}'&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/aside&gt;&lt;p id="4BnF7P"&gt;Coward scored 24 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and dished out five assists against the Pilots, which would end up being just another game in a terrific freshman campaign. He averaged 19.5 points, 12.0 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game in 2021-22, a bright spot as Willamette went 6-18 and 3-13 in the Northwest Conference.&lt;/p&gt;
  453. &lt;p id="G2zLif"&gt;Riley continued to keep tabs on Coward’s box scores for the rest of his freshman season, but didn’t find a ton of time to watch the film until he entered the transfer portal. Shortly after Coward put his name in the portal, Eagles’ assistant coach Arturo Ormond – a notable name in the Fresno basketball scene himself – was in communication with him, working quickly to bring him on a visit to EWU.&lt;/p&gt;
  454. &lt;p id="tEyjb6"&gt;Despite his gaudy numbers and desirable length, there wasn’t a ton of competition in Coward’s recruitment. It shocked Riley, but he knows why.&lt;/p&gt;
  455. &lt;p id="GkimS8"&gt;“People didn’t think DIII guys and DII guys were good, so they didn’t want to recruit them,” Riley said. “Maybe it’s an ego thing, because I played in (the Northwest Conference), and I’m like ‘Well, I could’ve played DI.’”&lt;/p&gt;
  456. &lt;p id="VgdSos"&gt;It’s an approach that Riley – a former star guard at Whitworth University – says comes from the necessity to recruit outside the box.&lt;/p&gt;
  457. &lt;p id="iJyc1h"&gt;“Go where the other people aren’t,” he said. “Eight years ago, you could’ve gotten a kid that was better than your league by getting a transfer, because nobody wanted transfers because they had to sit out for a year. Well then now that the portal is there, everyone wants transfers, and no one respected DII and DIII. We did really good with the DII and DIII guys, well, now everyone thinks they’re good, so they’re kind of overrecruited in my mind, and it’s honestly it’s the high school guys that are probably the underrecruited people now.”&lt;/p&gt;
  458. &lt;p id="OQO0Cj"&gt;Coward visited and committed to Eastern Washington, buying into Riley and the coaching staff’s plan to elevate his game to the next level. But even before he suited up in a game for the Eagles, he was catching eyes.&lt;/p&gt;
  459. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  460.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/pZEXjPABVUe1jfhBkhFT8NbVPXs=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26005177/IMG_1847.png"&gt;
  461.      &lt;cite&gt;Courtesy of David Riley&lt;/cite&gt;
  462.      &lt;figcaption&gt;Cedric Coward (left) and LeJuan Watts (right) with head coach David Riley (middle) on their visit to Eastern Washington in 2022. Watts would end up committing to EWU, following Riley to Washington State, and is now slotted in as a projected starter for Texas Tech next season.&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  463.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  464. &lt;p id="dPHQBv"&gt;A group of NBA scouts made the trip to Cheney to watch All-Big Sky Second Teamer Steele Venters at an Eastern practice in the lead up to the 2022-23 season, and while Riley was talking with Portland Trail Blazers assistant GM Mike Schmitz, Coward – at the time nursing a calf injury – walked by.&lt;/p&gt;
  465. &lt;p id="jqPdr1"&gt;“He walked over by us, picked up two basketballs with his hands, and just kinda walked away,” Riley said.&lt;/p&gt;
  466. &lt;p id="QibHXH"&gt;Schmitz kept his eyes on Coward as he walked toward the foul line and started shooting free throws, and asked Riley a question.&lt;/p&gt;
  467. &lt;p id="ubggbe"&gt;“Who is that guy?,” Riley recalls Schmitz saying. “That guy’s measurables are crazy, is he any good?”&lt;/p&gt;
  468. &lt;p id="H1NfpT"&gt;And Riley couldn’t give a clear answer, as he still hadn’t practiced much, let alone played in a game, but it planted the seed in his brain that the ceiling was higher than he may have thought.&lt;/p&gt;
  469. &lt;p id="TcR2uQ"&gt;In his first season with Eastern Washington, he averaged 7.3 points and 5.6 rebounds, coming off the bench as he got up to speed at the Division I level. Then, he took the next step.&lt;/p&gt;
  470. &lt;p id="2b7qKg"&gt;As a junior, Coward became the leading scorer and one of the top candidates for Big Sky Player of the Year, putting up 15.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game with a solid mark from distance.&lt;/p&gt;
  471. &lt;p id="12mgBM"&gt;Over those two years, he learned how much work he’d need to put in, and then put in that work.&lt;/p&gt;
  472. &lt;p id="BMeZlw"&gt;“He just didn’t know what he didn’t know when he first got here,” Riley said. “Once you put him in an environment, he’s such a high character kid and overachiever that he’s gonna do a little bt more than everyone else, and that’s kind of the way it progressed.”&lt;/p&gt;
  473. &lt;p id="BypQ1c"&gt;After going through the NBA Draft process last spring, Coward turned down the draft to follow his coach to Washington State. Six games into the season, he suffered a season-ending injury to his shoulder.&lt;/p&gt;
  474. &lt;p id="Xh53Gb"&gt;He entered the draft and transfer portal once again, committing to Duke before the NBA Draft Combine, where he measured in with a 7-foot-2 inch wingspan, and impressed in the drills and scrimmages.&lt;/p&gt;
  475. &lt;p id="V3M5KZ"&gt;Coward is soaring up draft boards, expected to be a mid-first round pick next month, all but eliminating the possibility that he suits up for the Blue Devils.&lt;/p&gt;
  476. &lt;p id="1fmXOV"&gt;“I’ve been in the gym with him every day for three years, we know he’s an NBA player, I don’t think that part is surprising,” Riley said. “But like, he played six games this year, and he’s about to go top 20. It’s insane. I’m just happy people are starting to see how good he can be and how special he is.”&lt;/p&gt;
  477. &lt;p id="B9rHug"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  478. &lt;p id="TCDa7k"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  479.  
  480. </content>
  481.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.midmajormadness.com/2025/5/23/24436009/cedric-coward-nba-draft"/>
  482.    <id>https://www.midmajormadness.com/2025/5/23/24436009/cedric-coward-nba-draft</id>
  483.    <author>
  484.      <name>Sam Federman</name>
  485.    </author>
  486.  </entry>
  487.  <entry>
  488.    <published>2025-05-14T08:27:36-07:00</published>
  489.    <updated>2025-05-14T08:27:36-07:00</updated>
  490.    <title>IU Indy fires HC Paul Corsaro: What we know</title>
  491.    <content type="html">  
  492.  
  493.    &lt;figure&gt;
  494.      &lt;img alt="Syndication: The Enquirer" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QJtEN-l3aufNyfDdN685oZH3gd0=/0x0:7715x5143/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/74082207/usa_today_24709710.0.jpg" /&gt;
  495.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Paul Corsaro&amp;nbsp;led IU Indy to a 10-22 record in his one season leading the Jaguars. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  496.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  497.  
  498.  &lt;p&gt;The Jaguars made the announcement Tuesday after the 36-year-old’s 1st season amid allegations against him&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="NwgHNZ"&gt;IU Indy &lt;a href="https://iuindyjags.com/news/2025/5/13/mens-basketball-iu-indianapolis-announces-leadership-change-in-mens-basketball-program.aspx"&gt;announced&lt;/a&gt; the firing of Paul Corsaro as the head coach of its men’s basketball program Tuesday.&lt;/p&gt;
  499. &lt;p id="wrewZ1"&gt;The news comes amid a complaint filed with the university by the families of six players who transferred out of the program in which they claimed “&lt;a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&amp;amp;xs=1&amp;amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indystar.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Fcollege%2F2025%2F05%2F13%2Fpaul-corsaro-fired-as-iu-indy-basketball-coach-investigation-conduct%2F83598139007%2F&amp;amp;referrer=sbnation.com&amp;amp;sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.midmajormadness.com%2F2025%2F5%2F14%2F24429783%2Fpaul-corsaro-iu-indy-coach" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank"&gt;deep concerns regarding the culture and treatment&lt;/a&gt; of student athletes within the IU Indianapolis men’s basketball program under head coach Paul Corsaro.”&lt;/p&gt;
  500. &lt;div id="vxcPrT"&gt;&lt;div style="max-width: 765px;"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 102px; position: relative;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://anchor.fm/mid-major-madness/embed/episodes/NBA-Draft-Preview-Players-to-keep-an-eye-on-e32vtef" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  501. &lt;p id="rIeBEj"&gt;“Our concerns regarding the IU Indianapolis men’s basketball program extend far beyond the normal challenges or demands of student-athlete life and into abuse both physically, emotionally, and an environment of intimidation, bullying, retaliation, and fear,” the complaint continued.&lt;/p&gt;
  502. &lt;p id="Qsaitx"&gt;Rex Elliott, a lawyer from the firm that filed the complaint to IU Indy on behalf of the six families, told the &lt;a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&amp;amp;xs=1&amp;amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indystar.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Fcollege%2F2025%2F05%2F13%2Fpaul-corsaro-fired-as-iu-indy-basketball-coach-investigation-conduct%2F83598139007%2F&amp;amp;referrer=sbnation.com&amp;amp;sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.midmajormadness.com%2F2025%2F5%2F14%2F24429783%2Fpaul-corsaro-iu-indy-coach" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank"&gt;IndyStar&lt;/a&gt; that “the dismissal of Paul Corsaro is certainly warranted.”&lt;/p&gt;
  503. &lt;div id="tuSRdx"&gt;
  504. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  505. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Here’s more on the firing of IU Indy coach Paul Corsaro: &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;“Last month, IU Indianapolis Athletics received allegations from six individuals who had played under Coach Paul Corsaro at IU Indianapolis. Based on the complaints, the IU Office of Vice President and General Counsel…&lt;/p&gt;— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/GoodmanHoops/status/1922397874597593444?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 13, 2025&lt;/a&gt;
  506. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  507. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  508.  
  509. &lt;/div&gt;
  510. &lt;p id="8r17VD"&gt;Corsaro posted a 10-22 overall record and 6-14 mark in the Horizon League in his lone season leading the Jaguars. That’s a substantial improvement for the program, which won fewer than 10 games in each of the previous five seasons.&lt;/p&gt;
  511. &lt;p id="iD0T50"&gt;The school’s &lt;a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&amp;amp;xs=1&amp;amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indystar.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Fcollege%2F2025%2F05%2F13%2Fpaul-corsaro-fired-as-iu-indy-basketball-coach-investigation-conduct%2F83598139007%2F&amp;amp;referrer=sbnation.com&amp;amp;sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.midmajormadness.com%2F2025%2F5%2F14%2F24429783%2Fpaul-corsaro-iu-indy-coach" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank"&gt;statement&lt;/a&gt; read in part: &lt;/p&gt;
  512. &lt;p id="Dx1kde"&gt;“Based on the complaints, the IU office of vice president and general counsel conducted an investigation and concluded that Corsaro’s behavior did not meet the university’s values and standards regarding the treatment of student athletes. Based on these conclusions, IU Indianapolis has dismissed Paul Corsaro.”&lt;/p&gt;
  513. &lt;p id="dJ3aq7"&gt;The 36-year-old coach released his own statement later in the day on Tuesday.&lt;/p&gt;
  514. &lt;div id="34BtBs"&gt;
  515. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  516. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;IU Indy coach Paul Corsaro has issued a statement to &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/TheFieldOf68?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@TheFieldOf68&lt;/a&gt; in response to his firing earlier today. &lt;a href="https://t.co/JXBWqAkWxS"&gt;pic.twitter.com/JXBWqAkWxS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/GoodmanHoops/status/1922439439009136644?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 13, 2025&lt;/a&gt;
  517. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  518. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  519.  
  520. &lt;/div&gt;
  521. &lt;p id="8ibp3y"&gt;“The university’s decision today is deeply disheartening,” Corsaro said &lt;a href="https://x.com/GoodmanHoops/status/1922439439009136644"&gt;in his statement&lt;/a&gt;. “I vehemently deny the alleged mistreatment of student athletes and will vigorously defend the reputation I have worked tirelessly to build.&lt;/p&gt;
  522. &lt;p id="jQPV0P"&gt;I am extremely disappointed that the university issued a statement this morning without having first being afforded the opportunity to file a written appeal, as per the terms of my contract and which I intend to do. Despite my full cooperation with the university’s process, including providing numerous documents that refuted the unfair allegations against me, the university has consistently refused to provide any documentation that initiated and substantiated these claims, even after multiple requests.”&lt;/p&gt;
  523. &lt;p id="CxnyfZ"&gt;He continued to say that they had fostered a strong culture and that his main focus now is clearing his name and rebuilding his reputation.&lt;/p&gt;
  524. &lt;p id="TPKs30"&gt;Prior to IU Indy, Corsaro spent four seasons as the head coach at Division II University of Indianapolis, where he went 79-37.&lt;/p&gt;
  525. &lt;p id="QgJvPQ"&gt;IU Indy said a national search for the program’s next head coach has started. &lt;/p&gt;
  526.  
  527. </content>
  528.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.midmajormadness.com/2025/5/14/24429783/paul-corsaro-iu-indy-coach"/>
  529.    <id>https://www.midmajormadness.com/2025/5/14/24429783/paul-corsaro-iu-indy-coach</id>
  530.    <author>
  531.      <name>Ian Sacks</name>
  532.    </author>
  533.  </entry>
  534.  <entry>
  535.    <published>2025-05-12T11:20:02-07:00</published>
  536.    <updated>2025-05-12T11:20:02-07:00</updated>
  537.    <title>NBA Draft: Mid-major players who might be worth your time</title>
  538.    <content type="html">  
  539.  
  540.    &lt;figure&gt;
  541.      &lt;img alt="NCAA Basketball: Eastern Washington at Washington State" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jl_P0UFT_xdVev-ryBY_gTaPldE=/0x0:5618x3745/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/74078803/usa_today_24818314.0.jpg" /&gt;
  542.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Cedric Coward reached the 20-point mark in three of his six games at Washington State this season, including a 30-burger against Northern Colorado. | James Snook-Imagn Images&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  543.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  544.  
  545.  &lt;p&gt;Draft season is here! We run down some of the most likely mid-major and mid-major adjacent players to watch. &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="GBA1HZ"&gt;The transfer portal has really messed with the idea of a mid-major player going in the top 10 of the NBA Draft, huh?&lt;/p&gt;
  546. &lt;p id="s4GVEu"&gt;Long-gone are the days that players that came from the mid-major level like Damian Lillard (Weber State), Obi Toppin (Dayton), Jarace Walker (pre-Big 12 Houston), Jalen Williams (Santa Clara) CJ McCollum (Lehigh) get major buzz in the lottery. Instead, our sons land themselves (generally) later or they explode at a high-major squad.&lt;/p&gt;
  547. &lt;p id="BJJJs5"&gt;A good note here so I don’t have to write this for each and everyone one of this guys: They might return to college ball! Who knows! Even if they have used six years of eligibility they might return. Rules are meaningless.&lt;/p&gt;
  548. &lt;p id="jAGNaP"&gt;Anyways … let’s talk about the NBA Draft.&lt;/p&gt;
  549. &lt;h2 id="gT8wDC"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The True Sons of Mid Majors&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  550. &lt;h3 id="iV6GP9"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cedric Coward&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  551. &lt;p id="33Mdx2"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Guard/Wing, Washington State (committed to Duke)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  552. &lt;p id="MqHRnB"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Potential Range: Late lottery, early 20s&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  553. &lt;p id="TVLl5e"&gt;If you’ve listened to any NBA Draft podcast lately, you are sure to have heard Coward’s name more than a few times. J. Kyle Mann from the Ringer and Sam Vecenie of The Game Theory pod each shared stories of anonymous scouts basically telling them to stop talking about Coward … and for good reason.&lt;/p&gt;
  554. &lt;p id="ERCMb2"&gt;Coward, who is committed to Duke in case he returns next season, has made astronomical jumps over his career. He started at D-III, transferred to Eastern Washington where he morphed into a fringe prospect, and, last season, in a small sample, showed what he can do at a solid volume (near 40% from distance on four 3s in a handful of games) – but missed the bulk of the season due to a shoulder injury. &lt;/p&gt;
  555. &lt;p id="qGt5Uh"&gt;If there is ANYONE on this list who can go in the lottery and be a surprise, it is Coward. &lt;/p&gt;
  556. &lt;div id="1uPoOQ"&gt;&lt;div style="max-width: 765px;"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 102px; position: relative;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://anchor.fm/mid-major-madness/embed/episodes/NBA-Draft-Preview-Players-to-keep-an-eye-on-e32vtef" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  557. &lt;h3 id="evTGfD"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yaxel Lendeborg&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  558. &lt;p id="14WOXa"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Big, UAB (committed to Michigan) &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  559. &lt;p id="1uY6tv"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Potential Range: Late first round, early second&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  560. &lt;p id="E8AfvZ"&gt;Lendeborg, like many others on this list, has a backup plan if he stays in college. He is committed to Michigan, but his draft range is possibly late first round if a team is looking to take a flyer on a playmaking forward.&lt;/p&gt;
  561. &lt;p id="ucmpO2"&gt;The big out of UAB did a bit of everything on offense for Andy Kennedy’s squad and could find a role in the league with his playmaking skills despite his below-the-rim vibes.&lt;/p&gt;
  562. &lt;h3 id="waRvBR"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Miles Byrd&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  563. &lt;p id="8M2vXb"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Guard, San Diego State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  564. &lt;p id="Pcgxw3"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Potential Range: Early second round&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  565. &lt;p id="b8rnQY"&gt;Byrd has been identified as one of those 3-and-D wings everyone wants, but he lacks a critical part of that: the 3.&lt;/p&gt;
  566. &lt;p id="7aU4UO"&gt;His long ball has never fallen at a consistent rate, which could harm his draft stock if he elects to stay in the draft. But, his disruption and insane block numbers for a guard/wing make for an interesting player (think Dyson Daniels or Matisse Thybulle if things break right). &lt;/p&gt;
  567. &lt;h3 id="MgbIAl"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rasheer Fleming&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  568. &lt;p id="f1RCv3"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Forward, Saint Joseph’s&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  569. &lt;p id="X3Sv01"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Potential Range: Not. A. Clue.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  570. &lt;p id="2SDJAb"&gt;Where Byrd is your prototype Not-A-Lot-Of-3-and-D wing, Fleming is a throwback tweener. He is listed at 6-foot-9, but might be more like 6-foot-7, putting him in Jarace Walker heighted territory. He has ball skills, can guard up and down a few spots, has long arms that draw the unfair Draymond Green body comps, so if things bright right and the shot is real, Fleming could find himself in the first round easily. &lt;/p&gt;
  571. &lt;p id="DnDdaf"&gt;Tired of hearing “can’t shoot’? Fine!&lt;/p&gt;
  572. &lt;h3 id="CP01Ua"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bennett Stirtz&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  573. &lt;p id="SOIER1"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Guard, Drake (transferred to Iowa)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  574. &lt;p id="Lk1Q0B"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Potential Range: Late second, undrafted&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  575. &lt;p id="bdRV91"&gt;This guy can shoot the tar off the ball! Stirtz exploded for Drake averaged 19 points on damn near 50/40/80 shooting splits. He is only 6-foot-4 and isn’t the best athlete, but we’ve seen shooters at least get looks at the league.&lt;/p&gt;
  576. &lt;h2 id="zlX1jm"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Transfer Ups Who We Miss Dearly &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  577. &lt;h3 id="jU3mIZ"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Walter Clayton Jr.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  578. &lt;p id="5gPoKT"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Guard, Florida by way of Iona&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  579. &lt;p id="tatHUW"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Potential Range: Late lottery, late first round&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  580. &lt;p id="36LLPi"&gt;The prodigal son of Iona and Rick Pitino made waves at Florida, and has the looks of a classic guy who upped his draft stock with the NCAA Tournament. He can shoot. He can play make, but the age-old question will be can he guard and stay on the floor?&lt;/p&gt;
  581. &lt;h3 id="WtPrYG"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Danny Wolf&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  582. &lt;p id="YdTmej"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Big, Michigan by way of Yale&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  583. &lt;p id="lSPZmJ"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Potential Range: Firm first round&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  584. &lt;p id="u9qRCK"&gt;The former Yale big is a perfect modern tweener. &lt;/p&gt;
  585. &lt;p id="kaBE73"&gt;What the hell does that mean? Well, he is a 7-footer but isn’t a shot blocker. He is a potential floor spacer, a REALLY good passer and a heads-up cutter. For a guy that tall, he has a real nifty handle.&lt;/p&gt;
  586. &lt;p id="xpeM8E"&gt;His lateral movement isn’t ideal, but if an NBA team can scheme around it, they have a cheat code in their offense that can unlock wonders if it pans out. &lt;/p&gt;
  587. &lt;h3 id="gx3AiE"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Johni Broome&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  588. &lt;p id="44Cfu5"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Big, Auburn by way of Morehead State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  589. &lt;p id="eH09Wg"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Potential Range: Late first, early second&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  590. &lt;p id="ZKfHfW"&gt;If you’re a team desperately looking for a center who can play almost day one, Broome would be it. His defense is solid. He has NBA center size and will be able to rebound at the next level. He probably won’t be a high-end starter, but he has the looks of a rotation big.&lt;/p&gt;
  591. &lt;h2 id="8nui3P"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Transfer Downs Who We Enjoyed Briefly &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  592. &lt;h3 id="zr4hLE"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Nique Clifford&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  593. &lt;p id="TjKiMn"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Guard/Wing, Colorado State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  594. &lt;p id="VVCklP"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Potential Range: Late first round&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  595. &lt;p id="pbCJRJ"&gt;Clifford was a monster at Colorado State after transferring down from Colorado. He guided the Rams to a near-second-round upset over Maryland after a stellar regular season.&lt;/p&gt;
  596. &lt;p id="dlUgXN"&gt;At 6-foot-5, he has NBA guard size with lanky arms. But, he is geriatric by NBA Draft standards (he just turned 23 in February), so he is on the Dalton Knecht age track. That doesn’t mean he won’t improve, given his across-the-board jump from Boulder to Colorado Springs. &lt;/p&gt;
  597. &lt;h3 id="8V3roY"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Baba Miller&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  598. &lt;p id="ZVnJBO"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Forward, Florida Atlantic&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  599. &lt;p id="H8VN1s"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Potential Range: Mystery box&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  600. &lt;p id="IQHykB"&gt;Miller has been a Draft Nerd’s dream for a few years now. Remember the old saying “he is two years away from being two years away” used to describe Bruno Caboclo once upon a time? That feels about right for Miller.&lt;/p&gt;
  601. &lt;p id="DYFS8I"&gt;Miller is a prototype modern four/wing at 6-foot-11 with arms for days. He feels the type that needs to just get to the league and learn from NBA skills trainers at this point. If you’re looking for a real nerdy deep dive on a player, &lt;a href="https://www.noceilingsnba.com/p/baba-miller-is-getting-there-the"&gt;read this from the guys at No Ceilings&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;
  602.  
  603. </content>
  604.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.midmajormadness.com/2025/5/12/24428715/nba-draft-cedric-coward-prospects"/>
  605.    <id>https://www.midmajormadness.com/2025/5/12/24428715/nba-draft-cedric-coward-prospects</id>
  606.    <author>
  607.      <name>Lance Hartzler</name>
  608.    </author>
  609.  </entry>
  610. </feed>
  611.  

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