@packers

3mo

2015 Final Four

One of my all-time favorite Final Fours. You had undefeated Kentucky, who was one of the greatest teams to not win a championship. You had Duke, another blue-blood who was stacked with talent. You had Wisconsin, who was making their second straight final four and were the third 1-seed led by Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker. Then finally, you had 7-seeded Michigan State who was led by Denzel Valentine (yes, the guy who airballed) and Travis Trice. The first game was Michigan State vs. Duke. Michigan State got off to a fast start but couldn’t maintain it as Duke dominated the rest of the game and cruised to a 81-61 victory to make it to their first final four since 2010. Next, you had the rematch. Wisconsin vs. Kentucky. Both of these teams played each in the final four the year prior and Kentucky won off of Aaron Harrison’s buzzer beater as an 8-seed. Wisconsin was a 2-seed. Now, both of these teams would play as a 1-seed. This was a familiar place for Kentucky as this was their 4th final four appearance in 5 years. This was Wisconsin’s 4th final four appearance ever. It would be a competitive game for most of it but Wisconsin would pull away in the end after a clutch performance from Sam Dekker and Frank Kaminsky and get their revenge. The National Championship was set. Duke vs. Wisconsin, two teams that played each other earlier in the season in a ACC/Big 10 challenge that saw Duke win. This was just Wisconsin’s 2nd ever national championship appearance, last coming in 1941. Duke had 4 championships since 1991 and were looking to add another to solidly themselves as one of the top college basketball programs and blue bloods. It started out as another pretty competitive game but Wisconsin was slowly running away with it. It looked like my Badgers were actually going to pull it off and win the national championship until Grayson Allen and Tyus Jones happened. Both these guys just went absolutely crazy and led Duke to another national championship, winning 68-63. Some of the calls may have been questionable but Tyus Jones was so clutch at the end of the game. The Badgers couldn’t stop the high ball screens that they were setting him at the top of the key and Tyus couldn’t miss in the last 5 minutes of the game. Probably one of the most devastating moments as a Wisconsin sports fan because after beating Kentucky, I thought we were gonna do it and win our first national championship in recent memory. Everybody knew that Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker were going to declare for the NBA Draft after this game so it was now or never and they couldn’t get the job done 😔. This is still one of my all-time favorite final fours growing up because you had 3 premier blue bloods in Duke, Kentucky, and Michigan State as well as my favorite team. Also, 4 hall of fame caliber coaches in Calipari, Izzo, Coach K, and Bo Ryan.

CBB

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Small but Mighty

In the game of basketball you are often judged on your hight. In today’s collage basketball, If your under 6’1 your considered a small guard who is going to have to fight for every minute and every shot. Well, in 2017 a man named Darnell Rogers joined Florida Gulf Coast University for the 2017-2018 season. Darnell Rogers came in as a major underdog, he stood at 5’2 140 pounds. As you might expect, he saw very little playing time throughout his freshman year at FGC. So he hit the portal and went up to Maryland to UMBC. He would stay at UMBC for his remaining three years in college. He would continue to prove everyone wrong averaging up to 14 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.0 blocks in 2019-2020 season. At the end of his career he averaged 8.6 points, 2.4 assists and 1.5 rebounds. Roger’s faced a greater challenge from the start, a challenge many face but little persevere. He faced and beat the battle of hight in Division One basketball. It goes to show that no matter how big and strong you are as long as you work hard and stay consistent you can get your flowers.

@zach

UConn Sweeps Top 3 of WNBA Draft: Today in Sports History

On April 14th, 2016, Breanna Stewart lead a UConn sweep of the first three picks in the WNBA draft, going first overall to the Seattle Storm. Moriah Jefferson went second to the San Antonio Stars (now the Las Vegas Aces) and Morgan Tuck third to the Connecticut Sun, the first time in draft history that three players from the same school went 1-2-3. It’s a first in any major sport. Stewart is now a 2x WNBA MVP, 3x WNBA Champion, 2x Finals MVP, 7x All-Star, 6x All-WNBA First Team member, 2016 ROTY, and is considered one of the Top 25 WNBA players of all-time. Jefferson made the 2016 All-Rookie team and finished as the ROTY runner-up behind Stewart. She's become a career journeyman, playing for five teams since 2020. Tuck didn't do much in the WNBA, but won the 2020 WNBA championship with Seattle. She is currently the general manager of the Connecticut Sun.

@FlameRaptorRaven

What does this Final Four appearance mean to Arizona?

With their win over Purdue, Arizona returns to the Final Four for the first time since 2001. Future NBA all-stars and podcast hosts Gilbert Arenas and Richard Jefferson led that 2001 team. They eventually made it to the championship game, where they lost to Shane Battier and Duke. That is their most recent appearance in the championship game and 1 of just 4 times Arizona has ever made the final. The Wildcats have exactly 1 National Championship, thanks to the 1996-97 team that included Jason Terry, Mike Bibby, Michael Dickerson, and Miles Simon. To this day, that is Arizona’s only National Championship, and it is not for lack of trying. Out of every D1 men’s basketball team, Arizona has the 5th most wins in its entire history. The only schools ahead of them: Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas and Duke. That’s it. UConn, UCLA, Florida and every other school sit behind them. If we close the timeline to since their National Championship, it's a similar story. They are 6th, only behind the aforementioned schools plus Gonzaga. On top of all this, before the Elite 8, Arizona had the most wins ever in 5 years without a Final Four appearance. Now they have a Final 4 appearance. Arizona’s journey isn’t about overcoming deficiencies. It’s about proving they belong with the elites of college basketball. For decades, they have won as many games as the best programs in the country; all they’re missing is the sheer number of titles. Each team ahead of them in wins during the shot clock era has multiple National Championships. If the Wildcats can cross the finish line this year, they will put themselves in rare air. Only 3 teams in NCAA history have finished a season with 38 wins: 2008 Memphis with Derrick Rose, 2012 Kentucky with Anthony Davis, and 2015 Kentucky with Karl-Anthony Towns. Of those teams, only the 2012 Kentucky team won its national championship. Arizona currently has 36 wins. With everything Tommy Lloyd has accomplished, getting over the Sweet 16 hump could be the catalyst for a return to glory and a place among the greatest teams ever.