Primarily a collection of news links about all 11 Horizon League teams on a daily basis, culled from online newspapers, school athletic websites, the conference website, and school newspapers, plus some other content from time to time.
Always a story on draft night is the players who weren’t selected. Among the notable college players who were not picked (in alphabetical order): Arizona forward Brandon Ashley, Kansas forward Cliff Alexander, Florida guard Michael Frazier, Kentucky guard Aaron Harrison, Texas forward Jonathan Holmes, UTEP forward Vince Hunter, North Carolina State guard Trevor Lacey, Wisconsin-Green Bay guard Keifer Sykes, Maryland guard Dez Wells, UC Santa Barbara forward Alan Williams and UNLV forward Christian Wood. Of those, all but Holmes, Sykes, Wells and Williams were underclassmen. Obviously the name-brand stunners there are Alexander and Harrison, once ultra-highly touted college recruits, but for our money the biggest disappointments are guys like Hunter and Lacey, who had a chance for spectacular conclusions to college careers.
On the girls team are Merrillville's Victoria Gaines and Michigan City's Michal Miller. Along with Holba on the boys team, Zionsville's Derrik Smits, a Valparaiso University recruit, is also enjoying the busy days filled with non-stop travel.
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"I didn't know that Wooden could've gone to Purdue instead of UCLA," Smits said. "The state of Indiana could've had a few more national championships had he stayed. It was fun learning about all the history."
Smits father, Rik Smits, was a star for the Indiana Pacers and played against Valpo coach Bryce Drew back in the day. So this 7-foot Crusader is already entrenched into this state's history.
And my steak money says he will make even more history once he arrives at the Athletics-Recreation Center.
Meantime, sources told CBSSports.com that the search firm Iowa State has hired for assistance (Parker Executive Search) has contacted, or at least tried to contact, Stephen F. Austin's Brad Underwood, Valparaiso's Bryce Drew, Murray State's Steve Prohm and Hornicek. Those four, along with Iowa State assistant T.J. Otzelberger, remain under consideration. SI.com reported Wednesday that former Suns coach Lindsey Hunter is also a candidate. And sources have told CBSSports.com that Oregon's Dana Altman might too be an option, though it's possible the sexual assault allegations three players in his program endured two seasons ago could hurt Altman with Iowa State's administration.
I've heard the same names you have — possibly even from the same people.
Bryce Drew. T.J. Otzelberger. Steve Prohm. Brad Underwood. That's alphabetical order; I'm not predicting or endorsing anyone. Publicly, at least.
Those guys were supposed to interview for the position this weekend, according to A. Source, and according to national college basketball followers. Are they the only candidates on the Jamie Pollard-Steven Leath list? We'll get a big "no comment" from the Iowa State AD and university president on that one, but it's at least worth the question when all the drama ends.
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BRYCE DREW, Valparaiso head coach
He's 94-42 in four seasons at his alma mater, and he's coached in two NCAA Tournaments. How does 49-17 in the Horizon League translate to twice-a-season games against Kansas, Oklahoma and his Baylor-coaching brother, Scott?
You can ask that question of any mid-major coach, but last I heard, the Butler coaches from that league — some of them anyhow — didn't do horribly at the next level. Think Brad Stevens.
I've heard people wonder how fans would get used to a system that's not as offensively focused as what they've been watching. And for some, that might be an issue. Valpo averaged 69.6 points last season, about eight fewer than ISU. Drew's team averaged four fewer possessions and didn't shoot as many 3-pointers as the Cyclones. Defensively, his guys were pretty good, allowing around nine fewer points than Hoiberg's team.
Iowa State guys (other than the shot-blocking McKay) playing top-shelf defense? Now there's some out-of-the-box thinking.
