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Bailey's
Take on Pirate Basketball
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, January 1, 2002
By Brian Bailey
Sports Anchor of WNCT-TV 9 |
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Happy New Year, and Get Ready for Some
Hoops!
©2001 Bonesville.net
While the first day of the new year traditionally
means football, it’s basketball time for the Pirates.
East Carolina has just one more non-conference game
to go before Cincinnati makes a first-ever trip to Williams Arena at Minges
Coliseum.
The Bearcats will bring a national ranking to
Greenville this weekend. Cincinnati was No. 17 after beating Akron at the
Rock-N-Roll Shootout in Cleveland for its 12th straight win.
Conference USA play brings with it imposing
challenges for Coach Bill Herrion and company. This is exactly what they
talk about when folks say something is going from the frying pan into the
fire.
All America guard Steve Logan is the undisputed
leader of the Bearcats.
Logan recently scored a career high forty points in
Cincy’s win over previously unbeaten Mississippi State. That eyebrow-raising
performance came in the first round of the Las Vegas Classic. He went on to
score 29 points in the championship game win over Purdue, winning MVP honors
for the tournament.
Cincinnati may be the best team to play in Williams
Arena this season. There are others in the league that are talented, but
probably none are as talented and as deep as this Bearcat ball club.
Great League of Coaches
C-USA is loaded with outstanding coaches. Several,
in fact, are set for milestones in the very near future.
East Carolina’s Bill Herrion is just four wins away
from the 200th victory in his coaching career, while over on Hwy. 49,
Charlotte Coach Bobby Lutz is two wins away from his 250th career win.
Conference USA and the Big 12 are the only leagues
in the nation that have four coaches each with at least 350 career wins.
From C-USA, TCU’s Billy Tubbs leads the group with
588 wins. Cincinnati’s Bob Huggins (480), DePaul’s Pat Kennedy (390) and
Louisville’s Rick Pitino (360) round out the group.
In the Big 12, Oklahoma State’s Eddie Sutton,
Kansas’s Roy Williams, Baylor’s Dave Bliss and Texas Tech’s Bobby Knight all
have at least 350 coaching wins.
Media Day Photo
I recently asked Coach Herrion about the television
spot that highlights the league's coaches. Perhaps you have seen the spot,
which shows the coaches on a platform, mentioning some of their records and
career highlights.
Look closely and maybe you’ll see something odd
about the commercial. All of the coaches are in the spot, but one coach was
missing when the commercial was actually shot.
For whatever reason, Pat Kennedy was a no show. The
DePaul coach was the closest coach to the meetings in Chicago, but he wasn’t
there for the television spot.
For some reason, you don’t make Rick Pitino, Bob
Huggins, or even Bill Herrion wait, do you…?
So the spot was video-taped, and Kennedy was plugged
in later on.
Check out the spot and see if you can tell.
Happy New Year
The year 2002 brings with it many challenges for the
Purple and Gold faithful. It may be a wild ride, especially if it is
anything like 2001.
Hang on, and here's hoping all Pirate fans have a
Happy New Year!
Send an e-mail message to
Brian Bailey.
Click here to dig into Brian Bailey's Bonesville
archives.
02/23/2007 01:22:17 AM
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