Did You Know?: Marquee mentors John Beilein (Canisius), Vic Bubas (Duke), Denny Crum (Louisville), Bob Knight (Army), Guy Lewis (Houston), Ralph Miller (Wichita), Digger Phelps (Notre Dame) and Jerry Tarkanian (UNLV) lost their head coaching debuts with these schools between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Trivia buffs might also want to know bitter rivals Kentucky and Louisville each had their school rebounding record by an individual set on the same day in 1955.

Prominent players don't establish most of the school standards against lesser lights in non-conference competition. For instance, Utah's Billy McGill and Illinois' Skip Thoren set school single-game rebounding records in the early 1960s when each of them retrieved 24 missed shots against UCLA before the Bruins began their run of NCAA titles under legendary coach John Wooden.

Granted, fewer contests are played around Christmas but there clearly is a significant decrease in superior performances during that span. Holiday festivities can go awry between Christmas and New Year's Eve. Just ask top-ranked Virginia, which lost at tiny Chaminade in 1982, and NCAA champion-to-be Michigan, which bowed to Alaska-Anchorage on a neutral court in 1988. Following is a day-by-day calendar citing memorable moments in December college basketball history:

DECEMBER

1 - Eastern Kentucky's Jack Adams (49 points vs. Union KY in 1955), Iona's A.J. English (46 vs. Fairfield in 2015), Louisville's Wes Unseld (45 vs. Georgetown College KY in 1967) and NYU's Jim Signorile (50 vs. Herbert Lehman NY in 1969) set school Division I single-game scoring records. English's output tied a MAAC game mark. . . . Ronnie Shavlik (55 points vs. William & Mary in 1954 set North Carolina State's single-game scoring record against a major-college opponent. . . . Sacred Heart's Cameron Parker set an NCAA single-game record with 24 assists vs. Pine Manor MA in 2019. . . . Vic Bubas made his Duke head coaching debut in 1959 with a 59-49 loss against Georgia Tech before guiding the Blue Devils to three Final Fours in a four-year span in the mid-1960s. . . . Pete Carril made his Princeton debut in 1967 with a 62-59 win against Bob Knight-coached Army en route to becoming the Tigers' all-time winningest coach and capturing the Ivy League's only NIT championship (1975). . . . Denny Crum made his Louisville head coaching debut in 1971 with a 70-69 defeat at Florida before amassing a school-record 675 victories and reaching NCAA Final Four on six occasions. . . . Eddie Sutton made his Creighton head coaching debut in 1969 with an 84-62 decision over Wisconsin-Oshkosh en route to 802 victories with five schools. . . . Jerry Tarkanian made his UNLV head coaching debut in 1973 with an 82-76 defeat against Texas Tech before notching a school-record 509 victories with the Rebels including four Final Four appearances. . . . Ralph Miller made his Wichita head coaching debut in 1951 with a 62-55 defeat at Colorado before registering 657 victories with three schools. . . . Guy Lewis made his Houston head coaching debut in 1956 with a 97-78 defeat at Kansas State before compiling a school-record 592 victories and reaching five Final Fours. . . . Al McGuire made his Marquette debut in 1964 with a 69-49 triumph over St. Thomas MN en route to becoming the Warriors' all-time winningest coach and capturing national titles in both the NIT and NCAA tourneys. . . . Bob Knight made his Indiana debut in 1971 with an 84-77 triumph over Ball State en route to four-time national COY becoming the Hoosiers' all-time winningest coach and capturing three NCAA titles. . . . Digger Phelps made his Notre Dame debut in 1971 with a 101-83 defeat against Michigan before compiling a school-record 393 victories. . . . Frank McGuire made his South Carolina coaching debut in 1964 with a 76-59 triumph against Erskine SC en route to a school-record 283 victories. . . . John Beilein made his Canisius coaching debut in 1992 with a 110-62 defeat at Duke before going on to win more than 20 games in a single season with four different DI schools. . . . Bob Nichols made his Toledo coaching debut in 1965 with a 108-77 triumph against Baldwin-Wallace OH en route to a school-record 375 victories. . . . Oregon's school-record 46-game homecourt winning streak was snapped by Boise State (73-70 in 2017). . . . Lynn Howden (24 vs. Florida State in 1970) set Texas' single-game rebounding record against a major-college opponent.
2 - Eventual NCAA all-time scoring leader Pete Maravich collected 48 points and career-high 16 rebounds in his LSU varsity debut (97-81 win against Tampa in 1967). . . . Northern Arizona's Cory Schwab (43 points at Cal Poly in overtime in 2000) and Wisconsin's Christian Steinmetz (50 at Sparta's Company C in 1904) set school Division I single-game scoring records. . . . Russ Sheriff (26 vs. Gonzaga in 1957) set Montana's single-game rebounding record. . . . Dean Smith made his North Carolina head coaching debut in 1961 with an 80-46 decision over Virginia en route to a school-record 879 victories and reaching Final Four 11 times. . . . Two-time national COY Norm Stewart made his Missouri head coaching debut in 1967 with a 74-58 success at Arkansas en route to a school-record 634 victories with the Tigers and six Big Eight Conference Tournament titles. . . . Don Haskins made his Texas Western head coaching debut in 1961 with a 66-59 triumph at Iowa State en route to a school-record 719 victories including 1966 NCAA Tournament title. . . . Terry Holland made his Virginia coaching debut in 1974 with a 77-69 victory against Washington & Lee VA en route to a school-record 326 victories and two Final Four berths. . . . Phil Martelli made his Saint Joseph's debut in 1995 with a 64-56 success at Delaware en route to becoming the Hawks' all-time winningest coach and national COY in 2004.
3 - Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Von McDade (50 points at Illinois in double overtime in 1990) set school single-game scoring record. . . . DeWayne Russell (42 vs. Louisville in 2016) set Grand Canyon's DI single-game scoring record. . . . Lew Alcindor collected 56 points and 21 rebounds vs. Southern California in his varsity debut with UCLA in 1966. . . . Six-time national COY John Wooden made his UCLA head coaching debut in 1948 with a 43-37 decision over UC Santa Barbara en route to a school-record 620 victories and 10 NCAA championships with the Bruins. . . . Lefty Driesell made his Davidson head coaching debut in 1960 with a 65-59 decision over Wake Forest en route to 786 victories and total of 14 final Top 20 rankings with four schools. . . . Everett Case made his North Carolina State coaching debut in 1946 with a 63-28 decision over the Cherry Point Marines en route to a school-record 377 victories and six straight Southern Conference Tournament crowns with the Wolfpack. . . . Arizona State's Mark Landsberger (27 vs. San Diego State in 1976), Jacksonville's Artis Gilmore (34 vs. St. Peter's in 1970) and UMKC's Tony Berg (23 vs. Baylor in 1996) set school single-game rebounding records.
4 - Mississippi State's Bailey Howell (47 points vs. Union TN in 1958) and Northwestern State's Billy Reynolds (42 at Lamar in 1976) set school Division I single-game scoring records. . . . Brown's Ed Tooley shot an NCAA-record 36 free throws in a single game in 1954. . . . Long Beach State's school-record 75-game homecourt winning streak was snapped by San Francisco (94-84 in overtime in 1974). . . . Two-time national COY Lou Carnesecca made his St. John's coaching debut in 1965 with a 64-62 triumph at Georgetown in overtime en route to a school-record 526 victories. . . . Bob Knight made his Army head coaching debut in 1965 with a 70-49 setback at Princeton before becoming Indiana's all-time winningest coach, capturing three NCAA championships with the Hoosiers in a 12-year span and compiling 899 victories. . . . UCLA's season-opening defeat by 27 points (110-83 at Illinois in 1964) was worst-ever for a team going on to capture an NCAA championship. . . . Marv Branstrom (28 vs. Arizona State in 1958) set San Jose State's single-game rebounding record.
5 - Kansas' Wilt Chamberlain (52 points vs. Northwestern in 1956), NJIT's Dylan O'Hearn (42 at Lafayette in 2OT in 2021), North Carolina State's David Thompson (57 vs. Buffalo State in 1974), Rider's Ron Simpson (48 at St. Francis NY in double overtime in 1987) and Washington State's Brian Quinnett (45 vs. Loyola Marymount in 1986 Amana Hawkeye Classic at Iowa City) set school Division I single-game scoring records. Chamberlain also grabbed 31 rebounds in his varsity debut, establishing an NCAA standard for most boards in first career game. . . . Charlotte's school-record 60-game homecourt winning streak was snapped by Appalachian State (71-64 in 1977). . . . Dale Brown made his LSU head coaching debut in 1972 with a 94-81 triumph against Memphis State en route to a school-record 448 victories. . . . Harry Combes made his Illinois coaching debut in 1947 with a 67-27 success against Coe College IA before directing the Illini to three Final Fours in a four-year span from 1949 through 1952. . . . Shelby Metcalf made his Texas A&M head coaching debut in 1963 with a 61-58 triumph against Houston en route to a school-record 438 victories. . . . Gene Estes (24 vs. Texas Western in 1960) set Tulsa's single-game rebounding record against a major-college opponent.
6 - American's Russell "Boo" Bowers (45 points at Harvard in 1980), Old Dominion's Alex Loughton (45 vs. Charlotte in double overtime in 2003), Rice's Doug McKendrick (47 vs. Georgia Tech in 1965) and Texas-San Antonio's Roderic Hall (52 vs. Maine in consolation game of 1997 Southwest Missouri Tournament at Springfield, Mo.) set school Division I single-game scoring records. . . . Kent State's Doug Grayson set an NCAA single-game record by hitting 16 consecutive field-goal attempts vs. North Carolina in 1967. . . . Indiana's school-record 35-game homecourt winning streak was snapped by Kentucky (66-51 in 1976). . . . Bob Presley (27 vs. St. Mary's in 1967) set California's single-game rebounding record.
7 - Niagara's Calvin Murphy (68 points vs. Syracuse in 1968), St. Mary's Jim Moore (43 vs. Sacramento State in 1964) and Binghamton's Sam Sessoms (40 vs. Boston University in 2019) set school Division I single-game scoring records. . . . Forest Arnold (46 points vs. Hardin-Simmons in 1955) set Memphis State's single-game scoring record against a major-college opponent. . . . Cincinnati's school-record 86-game homecourt winning streak was snapped by Kansas (51-47 in 1963), Jacksonville's school-record 35-game homecourt winning streak was snapped by Florida State (90-83 in 1971) and Tulsa's school-record 36-game homecourt winning streak was snapped by Oklahoma State (93-75 in 1982). . . . Benny Becton (29 vs. Maine in 1962) set Vermont's single-game rebounding record.
8 - Davidson's Fred Hetzel (53 points vs. Furman in 1964), Rutgers' Bob Lloyd (51 at Delaware in 1965) and Wright State's Bill Edwards (45 vs. Morehead State in 1992) set school single-game scoring records. . . . Arizona's school-record 81-game homecourt winning streak was snapped by Kansas State (76-57 in 1951) and Missouri's school-record 34-game homecourt winning streak was snapped by Arkansas (95-82 in 1990). . . . Colgate's Jack Nichols (26 vs. Cornell in 1956) and Missouri State's Lee Campbell (20 vs. Southern Utah State in 1989) set school single-game rebounding records against DI opponents.
9 - Tony Bolds (41 points vs. Alcorn State in opening round of 1983 Great Busch Shootout at Southern Illinois) set Mercer's Division I single-game scoring record (subsequently tied). . . . Utah's school-record 54-game homecourt winning streak was snapped by Weber State (79-77 in 2000). . . . Butler's Jeff Blue (23 vs. Michigan in 1961), College of Charleston's Thaddeous Delaney (21 vs. Charleston Southern in 1995), Dayton's Garry Roggenburk (32 vs. Miami Ohio in 1959), Iowa State's Bill Cain (26 vs. Minnesota in 1969), Lafayette's Ron Moyer (33 vs. Gettysburg PA in 1970) and Towson's Junior Hairston (21 vs. Niagara in 2007) set school single-game rebounding records against Division I opponents.
10 - Duke's Danny Ferry (58 points at Miami FL in 1988) and Long Beach State's Ed Ratleff (45 vs. St. Mary's in 1970) set school single-game scoring records. . . . Alex Young (43 vs. Western Kentucky in 2011) set IUPUI's single-game scoring standard at NCAA Division I level. . . . Troy State (28-of-74) and George Mason (16-of-34) combined to set NCAA single-game three-point field-goal records in 1994 for shots made and attempted beyond the arc with Troy State's figures establishing marks for one team. . . . Tulane's school-record 42-game homecourt winning streak was snapped by Arkansas (42-41 in 1949). . . . Bucknell's Hal Danzig (29 vs. Lehigh in 1958), Colorado State's Mike Childress (26 vs. Rice in 1970), George Washington's Clyde Burwell (33 vs. Mount St. Mary's in 1973), Kentucky's Bob Burrow (34 vs. Temple in 1955) and Louisville's Charlie Tyra (38 vs. Canisius in 1955) set school single-game rebounding records.
11 - North Carolina A&T's Joe Binion (41 points vs. Livingstone NC in final of 1982 Miller Aggie Classic) and Virginia's Barry Parkhill (51 vs. Baldwin-Wallace OH in 1971) set school Division I single-game scoring records. . . . Louisville's Clifford Rozier set an NCAA single-game record by hitting all 15 of his field-goal attempts against Eastern Kentucky in 1993. . . . Ohio State's school-record 50-game homecourt winning streak was snapped by Davidson (95-73 in 1963). . . . Marvin Barnes (28 vs. Fairfield in 1972) set Providence's single-game rebounding record against a DI opponent.
12 - Alabama's Mike Nordholz (50 points vs. Southern Mississippi at 1966 Birmingham Classic), North Dakota State's Ben Woodside (60 vs. Stephen F. Austin in 2008), Radford's Doug Day (43 at Central Connecticut State in 1990), Southern's Tim Roberts (56 vs. Faith Baptist LA in 1994) and Texas Christian's Lee Nailon (53 vs. Mississippi Valley State in first round of 1997 TCU Tournament) set school single-game scoring records. Woodside tied an NCAA mark by converting free throws against SFA. . . . Stanley Umude (41 vs. South Dakota State in 2020) established South Dakota's single-game scoring mark at NCAA Division I level. . . . Oklahoma's Mookie Blaylock set an NCAA single-game record with 13 steals vs. Centenary in 1987. . . . Henry "Hank" Iba made his Oklahoma A&M head coaching debut in 1934 with a 24-17 decision over Wichita en route to a school-record 655 victories and four Final Four appearances in seven-year span from 1945 through 1951 with the Cowboys. . . . Kent State's Leroy Thompson (31 vs. Case Western OH in 1948) and Weber State's Willie Sojourner (25 vs. West Texas State in 1969) set school single-game rebounding records.
13 - Evansville's inaugural year at the NCAA Division I level ended in tragedy in 1977 when coach Bobby Watson and 13 members of his Purple Aces squad perished in a plane crash shortly after taking off en route to their fifth game of the season. . . . Eastern Washington's Mason Peatling (54 points vs. Multnomah OR in 2019), Southern Mississippi's Jerome Arnold (41 vs. Missouri-Kansas City in 1978), Toledo's Clarke "Pinky" Pittenger (49 at Bluffton OH in 1918) and Tulsa's Willie Biles (48 vs. St. Cloud State MN in 1973) set school Division I single-game scoring records. . . . Phog Allen made his Kansas head coaching debut in 1907 with a 66-22 decision over Ottawa KS en route to a school-record 590 victories and three Final Four appearances with the Jayhawks. . . . Bradley's Barney Cable (28 vs. Canisius in 1955), Eastern Kentucky's Garfield Smith (33 vs. Marshall in 1967) and UALR's Rashad Jones-Jennings (30 vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff in 2005) set school single-game rebounding records against a DI opponent.
14 - Marshall's Keith Veney set an NCAA single-game record for three-pointers (making 15-of-25 shots from beyond arc vs. Morehead State in 1996).
15 - UC Irvine's Kevin Magee (46 points vs. Loyola Marymount in 1981) and Providence's Marvin Barnes (52 vs. Austin Peay in 1973) set school single-game scoring records. . . . In 1973, Tennessee topped Temple, 11-6, in the lowest-scoring game since introduction of national postseason competition in 1938. . . . La Salle's Michael Brooks set the East Coast Conference single-game scoring record with 51 points in 3OT at Brigham Young in 1979. Brooks scored 28 consecutive points for the Explorers in the second half. . . . Jack Friel made his Washington State debut in 1928 with a 62-18 decision over Lewis-Clark State ID en route to becoming the Cougars' all-time winningest coach. . . . Cal State Fullerton's Kerry Davis (27 vs. Central Michigan in 1975), Colgate's Dick Osborn (26 vs. Yale in 1951/subsequently tied), Texas A&M's Vernon Smith and Rynn Wright (21 vs. UNLV in 1978) and Utah State's Wayne Estes (28 vs. Regis CO in 1962) set school single-game rebounding records against DI opponents.
16 - Cal State Fullerton's Bobby Brown (47 points vs. Bethune-Cookman in 2006), Creighton's Bob Portman (51 vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1967), Murray State's Marcus Brown (45 vs. Washington MO in 1995) and North Carolina's Bob Lewis (49 vs. Florida State in 1965) set school single-game scoring records. . . . St. Joseph's school-record 34-game homecourt winning streak was snapped by Fairfield (82-68 in 1966) and Texas-El Paso's school-record 31-game homecourt winning streak was snapped by Indiana (69-66 in 1989). . . . Florida State's Dave Cowens (31 vs. LSU in 1967), Mercer's Scott Farley (22 vs. Alabama in 1995), SMU's Ira Terrell (26 vs. New Mexico State in 1975) and UTEP's Jim Barnes (27 vs. Centenary in 1963) set school single-game rebounding records against a major-college opponent.
17 - Furman senior swingman Darrell Floyd set a Southern Conference single-game record with 62 points vs. The Citadel in 1955. . . . Oklahoma's Mookie Blaylock tied his NCAA single-game record with 13 steals vs. Loyola Marymount in 1988. . . . Cincinnati's LaZelle Durden set the Great Midwest Conference single-game scoring record with 45 points at Wyoming in 1994. . . . Illinois ended visiting San Francisco's school-record 60-game winning streak (62-33 in 1957). . . . Denver's Dick Brott (29 vs. Southern California in 1956) and Furman's Bob Thomas (35 vs. The Citadel in 1955) set school single-game rebounding records against a major-college opponent.
18 - Warren Isaac (50 points vs. Bates ME in 1964) set Iona's single-game scoring record. . . . Penn's school-record 34-game homecourt winning streak was snapped by Temple (57-52 in 1971). . . . Adolph Rupp made his Kentucky head coaching debut in 1930 with a 67-19 decision over Georgetown College KY en route to school-record 876 victories and four NCAA Tournament titles. . . . Hec Edmundson made his Washington debut in 1920 with a 30-14 decision over Varsity/Alumni en route to becoming the Huskies' all-time winningest coach. . . . Alabama's Harry Hammonds (28 vs. Massachusetts in 1966), Brigham Young's Scott Warner (27 vs. Texas Tech in 1969), Cleveland State's Dave Kyle (24 vs. Ohio University in 1976), Hofstra's John Irving (28 vs. Long Island in 1975) and Northwestern State's Eric Kubel (26 vs. Southeastern Louisiana in 1993) set school single-game rebounding records against a major-college opponent.
19 - Iowa State's Lafester Rhodes (54 points vs. Iowa in overtime in 1987), Norfolk State's Tony Murphy (43 vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at UNLV in 2006) and UNC Asheville's Ricky Chatman (41 vs. James Madison in overtime in 1987/subsequently tied) set school Division I single-game scoring records. . . . Kevin Thomas (46 vs. Tennessee in 1955 Carousel Invitational at Charlotte) set Boston University's single-game scoring record against a DI opponent. . . . Oklahoma freshman Trae Young tied NCAA single-game assists record against DI opponent (22 vs. Northwestern State in 2017). . . . Auburn's Rex Frederick (27 vs. SMU in 1957), Lehigh's Greg Falkenbach (25 vs. Drexel in 1970) and New Mexico State's Sam Lacey (27 vs. Hardin-Simmons TX in 1969) set school single-game rebounding records against a major-college opponent.
20 - Fresno State's Charles Bailey (45 points at North Texas State in double overtime in 1973), Georgia's Ronnie Hogue (46 vs. Louisiana State in 1971) and Maryland's Ernest Graham (44 vs. North Carolina State in 1978) set school single-game scoring records. . . . John Connors (23 vs. Iona in 1956) set St. Bonaventure's single-game rebounding record against a major-college opponent.
21 - Idaho's Orlando Lightfoot (50 points at Gonzaga in 1993), Ohio's Dave Jamerson (60 vs. Charleston WV in 1989), Pacific's Bill Stricker (44 vs. Portland in 1968) and Pittsburgh's Don Hennon (45 vs. Duke in double overtime in 1957) set school single-game scoring records. . . . Visiting Cincinnati outlasted Bradley in seven overtimes in 1981 in the longest game in NCAA history. . . . Texas Christian hit an NCAA-record 56 free throws in 70 attempts in 1999 game against Eastern Michigan. . . . West Virginia ended North Carolina's school-record 37-game winning streak (75-64 in 1957 at Kentucky), Houston's school-record 59-game homecourt winning streak was snapped by Illinois (97-84 in 1968) and Oklahoma State's school-record 49-game homecourt winning streak was snapped by Southern California (28-25 in 1940). . . . Memphis State center John Gunn, who averaged 11 points and 9 rebounds per game the previous two years for national postseason tournament teams, died in 1976 due to complications of a rare disease (Stevens-Johnson Syndrome).
22 - Central Michigan's Tommie Johnson (53 points at Wright State in 1987), Georgia Tech's Kenny Anderson (50 vs. Loyola Marymount in 1990), Jackson State's Trey Johnson (49 at Texas-El Paso in 2006) and San Jose State's Adrian Oliver (42 vs. Puget Sound WA in 2010) set school Division I single-game scoring records. . . . Centenary's Robert Parish (50 at Lamar in 1972) and Seton Hall's Nick Galis (48 vs. Santa Clara in 1978 Cable Car Classic at San Francisco) set school single-game scoring records against a Division I opponent. . . . Louisiana State All-American Pete Maravich set an NCAA single-game record for most successful free throws by converting 30 foul shots at Oregon State in 1969. . . . Oklahoma's school-record 51-game homecourt winning streak was snapped by Duke (90-85 in 1990). . . . Colorado State's Mike Childress (26 vs. San Jose State in 1969) and Stanford's Rich Kelley (27 vs. Kentucky in 1973) set school single-game rebounding records. . . . Oklahoma set an NCAA record for most consecutive points against a DI opponent with a 39-point run in the first half against Weber State in 2014.
23 - Scott Fisher (39 points at Montana State in 1985) set UC Santa Barbara's school single-game scoring record (subsequently tied). . . . Bob Portman (46 vs. Weber State in 1968) set Creighton's single-game scoring mark against a major-college opponent. . . . Darius McGhee (41 vs. Stanford at Hawaii in 2021) tied Liberty's single-game scoring standard at DI level. . . . Top-ranked Virginia and national player of the year Ralph Sampson lost in Hawaii at tiny NAIA school (Chaminade) in 1982 in perhaps the biggest upset in college basketball history.
27 - Gene Harris (46 points vs. Holy Cross in 1961 Quaker City Classic at Philadelphia) set Penn State's single-game scoring record.
28 - Oklahoma's Wayman Tisdale (61 points vs. Texas-San Antonio in 1983 All-College Tournament at Oklahoma City) and Texas A&M's Bennie Lenox (53 vs. Wyoming in 1963 All-College Tournament at Oklahoma City) set school single-game scoring records. . . . Pan American's Bruce King (49 vs. Tulsa in 1973) and Tulane's Johnny Arthurs (41 vs. Wyoming in 1968 All-College Tournament at Oklahoma City) set school single-game scoring records against a DI opponent. . . . NCAA champion-to-be Michigan lost on a neutral court at Salt Lake City to non-Division I opponent Alaska-Anchorage in 1988. . . . Providence's school-record 55-game homecourt winning streak was snapped by St. John's (91-79 in 1974). . . . Detroit's Bill Ebben (38 vs. Brigham Young in 1955), Gonzaga's Paul Cathey (28 vs. UNLV in 1977), Illinois' Skip Thoren (24 vs. UCLA in 1963), Michigan State's Horace Walker (29 vs. Butler in 1959), Niagara's Alex Ellis (31 vs. Villanova in 1956/subsequently tied by him), UAB's Cameron Moore (24 vs. George Washington in 2011) and Washington State's Jim McKean (27 vs. West Virginia in 1966) set school single-game rebounding records against a major-college opponent.
29 - Colorado's Burdette Haldorson (31 vs. Oklahoma in 1952), Louisiana-Monroe's Calvin Natt (31 vs. Georgia Southern in 1976), Ohio State's Frank Howard (32 vs. Brigham Young in 1956), San Diego State's Michael Cage (26 vs. La Salle in 1980), Texas A&M's Steve Niles (21 vs. Furman in 1969), Towson's Jerrelle Benimon (21 vs. Oregon State in 2012) and Utah's Billy McGill (24 vs. UCLA in 1961) set school single-game rebounding records against a major-college opponent.
30 - Austin Peay's James "Fly" Williams (51 points vs. Georgia Southern in final of 1972 Claxton Fruitcake Classic), Florida International's Carlos Arroyo (39 at North Texas in overtime in 2000), Fordham's Charlie Yelverton (46 vs. Rochester NY in 1970), Hawaii's Trevor Ruffin (42 vs. Louisville in 1993), Penn's Ernie Beck (47 vs. Duke in 1952 Dixie Classic at Raleigh, N.C.), St. Joseph's Tony Costner (47 vs. Alaska-Anchorage in 1983 Cable Car Classic at San Francisco) and Utah State's Wayne Estes (52 vs. Boston College in overtime at 1964 Rainbow Classic in Hawaii) set school single-game scoring records. . . . In 2020, Eastern Illinois guard Mack Smith set an NCAA record by hitting a three-point field goal in his 89th consecutive contest. . . . Duke overcame a 29-point halftime deficit to defeat Tulane in consolation game of 1950 Dixie Classic at Raleigh. . . . Stanford ended Long Island's school-record 43-game winning streak (45-31 in 1936). . . . Hawaii's Bob Nash (30 vs. Arizona State in 1971), Idaho State's Ed Wilson (26 vs. Arkansas in 1967), La Salle's Tom Gola (31 vs. Brigham Young in 1953), Michigan State's Johnny Green (29 vs. Washington in 1957), St. John's LeRoy Ellis Sr. (30 vs. NYU in 1961), South Alabama's Leon Williams (28 vs. Texas-Arlington in 1972) and Western Kentucky's Tom Marshall (29 vs. Louisville in 1953) set school single-game rebounding records against a major-college opponent.
31 - Loyola of Chicago's school-record 41-game homecourt winning streak was snapped by St. Louis (90-57 in 1964).

Most Memorable Games in NCAA Hoops History in November

Defensive-minded coaches are not green with envy or greenlighting their troops playing "D" like Greenville (Ill.) College, which allowed an average of 165.5 points per game in its first four contests last season (defeats against NCAA DI opponents Samford, UMKC, Murray State and Illinois State by an average of 65.75 points).

The spotlight was also on small-college hoopdom two seasons ago when J.J. Culver, the older brother of 2018-19 Texas Tech All-American Jarrett Culver, erupted for 100 points (34-of-62 field-goal shooting including 12-of-33 from three-point range plus 20-of-27 free-throw accuracy) in a 124-60 thumping by Wayland Baptist (Tex.) of Southwest Adventist (Tex.).

In a caste-like era separating the haves from the have-nots, imperial universities are seeking mega-conferences and, perhaps in the near future, an even more restrictive upper division. But the elitist institutions aren't able to exclude humble small schools from making a big impact on college basketball such as Culver's outburst. Jack Taylor of Grinnell (Iowa) lit up scoreboards several seasons ago, pouring in 71 points in his season opener against Finlandia (Mich.) before exploding for 109 points against Crossroads (Minn.). Even when Taylor was out of the lineup in mid-season, Grinnell generated national headlines after Pat Maher set an NCAA single-game mark with 37 assists in a 164-144 win over College of Faith. In the afterglow of focusing on small colleges via scoring outbursts from Culver and G-men at Greenville and Grinnell, following is a chronological notebook with items detailing what will always be appealing about the little guy:

Basketball was a new demonstration sport at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, which also was part of the World's Fair the same year. Hiram College (Ohio), Wheaton College (Ill.) and the University of Latter Day Saints (known today as Brigham Young) were the three college teams invited to compete in what was officially called the "Olympic Collegiate Basketball Championship." Hiram finished the round-robin tournament 2-0 and was declared the champion and awarded the first Olympic gold medal in basketball.

College of Charleston (S.C.) went winless 10 seasons from 1913-14 through 1923-24 (0-56 record; did not compete in 1918-19). . . . Paul Davis, after leaving Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Oklahoma State), guided North Dakota State (18-0 in 1916) and North Dakota (16-0 in 1920) to undefeated seasons in a five-year span. He was also the football coach for these schools. . . . Indiana State's coach for five seasons from 1918-19 through 1922-23 after playing for the institution (known as Indiana State Normal School at the time) was Birch E. Bayh Sr. His son with the same name is a former U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1963 to 1981 and candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in the 1976 election. His grandson, Birch E. "Evan" Bayh III, is a former Indiana Governor and U.S. Senator (from 1999 to 2011). . . . Peru (Neb.) State Teachers won 55 consecutive games over a five-year span from 1921-26. . . . Earl Kinzie, a member of McPherson's 1928 Kansas Conference championship team that placed third in the national AAU Tournament in Kansas City, became a doctor and practiced family medicine in Texas for 50 years. He delivered more than 2,000 babies, including standout running back Earl Campbell.

Longtime radio and TV personality Art Linkletter was San Diego State's leading scorer in 1932-33 and 1933-34. . . . Stanford All-American Hank Luisetti is usually credited with introducing the jump shot but fans of Glenn Roberts from Emory & Henry (Va.) beg to differ. Roberts led the nation in scoring in 1933 and 1935 en route to tallying 2,013 career points. . . . Westminster (Pa.), playing in the first-ever collegiate basketball doubleheader at Madison Square Garden on December 29, 1934, upset St. John's, 37-33. . . . Tarleton (Tex.), coached by W.J. Wisdom, posted 86 straight victories from 1934 to 1937 en route to winning 112 of 113 games in a seven-year span. . . . Amos Alonzo Stagg Jr., the son of a legend who had the longest coaching career in the history of football (71 years), guided the basketball squad at Susquehanna (Pa.) for 16 seasons from 1935-36 through 1950-51. . . . Carleton (Minn.) forward Wayne Sparks, a "Little All-American" in 1936-37, died in a bomber crash in World War II. . . . Drury's Eugene "Peaches" Westover (class of '38), a four-time All-MCAU forward, was killed January 1, 1945, during WWII at the Battle of the Bulge. . . . Western Kentucky was the only school to defeat Murray State in a 79-game span from January 3, 1936 through March 10, 1938. . . . The leading scorer for champion Central Missouri State in the first NAIA tourney in 1937 (when it was known as the National Intercollegiate Tournament) was eventual major leaguer Chuck Workman, an outfielder-third baseman who finished second in the National League in home runs in 1945 with 25 for the Boston Braves. . . . Louisville lost a school-record 19 consecutive contests in the midst of a six-year stretch from 1936-37 through 1941-42 when the Cardinals were 57 games below the .500 mark. Louisville was a long way from becoming a major-college power in 1944 when Peck Hickman was hired as coach for $200 per month. The Cardinals won a total of 29 games over the previous seven seasons. In that span, they lost at least three times to Alfred Holbrook (three defeats), Berea (four), Centre (seven), Georgetown College (nine), Hanover (nine), Oakland City (three) and Transylvania (six). . . . Ulyss "Useless" Brock, a 6-0, 135-pound forward, scored 83 points (22 field goals and 39 free throws) for Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) in a 101-21 verdict over Bethel in February, 1940. . . . UC Santa Barbara reached the 1941 NAIA Tournament semifinals although All-CCAA first-team center Lowell Steward, the league's first black player, couldn't compete because Missouri was a Jim Crow state at the time. Steward would later fly 143 combat missions in Europe as a P-51 pilot for the famed Tuskegee Airmen. . . . George Barr, regarded as probably the finest player in Northland (Wis.) history when he competed in the early 1940s, entered the Army Air Corps as a senior during World War II, earning his diploma in absentia. Barr volunteered for the Jimmy Doolittle raids over Tokyo in 1942. His plane was forced down on mainland China after the raid and the crew imprisoned. Barr was a prisoner of the Japanese for 3 1/2 years with most of the time spent in solitary confinement. Teammate Duane Borst served as a First Lieutenant with the Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauder Group in France, flying 43 missions over Germany.

Ben Booker, Carson-Newman TN captain in 1942, was a research chemist at Oak Ridge on atomic bomb "Manhattan Project." . . . Football legend Eddie Robinson won more than 70% of his games as Grambling's basketball coach from 1942-56. . . . Bob Barker, longtime host of highly-rated daytime game show The Price is Right, played for Drury (Mo.) in the early 1940s before serving in the military during WWII. . . . York (Neb.) College, boasting an enrollment of 50, upset Akron, 52-49, in the first round of the 1943 NAIA Tournament before losing to North Texas, 51-49, in the second round. Brothers Jim and Wayne Kaeding scored 78 of York's 101 points in the two contests. . . . North Carolina College's Rocky Roberson scored 58 points in a game against Shaw (N.C.) during the 1942-43 season for what was believed to be a college record at the time. . . . Fulfilling a pre-tournament agreement in 1943, players from Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) marched to the local blood bank to donate blood to the armed forces following a 50-30 defeat against Cape Girardeau State (Mo.) in the NAIA Tournament's opening game. The two opponents had agreed the loser would donate blood. . . . More than 100 current NCAA Division I schools previously competed in the NAIA Tournament. Thirteen of the 17 different colleges to win NAIA titles from 1941 through 1963 are currently classified as NCAA Division I institutions. One of the 13 universities is Southeast Missouri State, which captured the 1943 crown after losing its first four games of the season. . . . Mississippi College defeated Mississippi State three times by double-digit margins in 1944-45. . . . Howie Schultz, a star for Hamline (Minn.) in the early 1940s, replaced Jackie Robinson at first base in Robinson's first regular-season game for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. . . . CIAA champion West Virginia State was the nation's only undefeated college team in 1947-48, finishing with a 23-0 record. The squad, coached by Mark Cardwell, included future NBA players Bob Wilson and Earl Lloyd. . . . UCLA legend John Wooden was in his final season as coach of Indiana State when the Sycamores lost to Louisville in the 1948 NAIA final. Curtis Walker, Indiana State's 12th man, was the first African-American player in the NAIA Tournament. The all-tourney first five included Beloit's Johnny Orr, who went on to become a longtime major-college coach. Two years later, Indiana State won the NAIA title. . . . Tennessee A&I, coached by Henry A. Kean, was the nation's only undefeated team in 1948-49 with a 24-0 record. The Tigers' leading scorers, Clarence Wilson and Joshua Grider, were both eventually longtime standouts with the Harlem Globetrotters. . . . Hamline (Minn.), the 1949 NAIA champion, had two players - center Vern Mikkelsen and forward Hal Haskins - on Converse's first three five-man All-American teams. In 1950, scribes named Haskins winner of the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association's Gold Star Award as the outstanding visitng player in New York. In what might be the most impressive honor ever received by a small-college player, he virtually doubled the vote total of runner-up Chuck Cooper of Duquesne. North Carolina State's Sam Ranzino finished third, UCLA's George Stanich placed fourth and Holy Cross' Bob Cousy was fifth. The first five winners of the award were Penn's Howie Dallmar, DePaul's George Mikan, Kentucky's Ralph Beard, St. Louis' Ed Macauley and Denver's Vince Boryla. Haskins was among seven Hamline players who started their professional careers in an eight-year span from 1946 through 1953 under coach Joe Hutton Sr.

Morris Harvey's George King became the first college player to average 30 or more points per game in a seson when he led the nation's small-college players with a 31.2-point average in 1949-50. King went on to become a prominent major-college coach. . . . Sewanee (Tenn.) played 58 games in 10 weeks during the summer of 1951 while touring Africa and Europe with Goose Tatum, Marques Haynes and the Harlem Globetrotters. This reportedly was the first international trip for any college basketball team. . . . John Chaney scored 57 points for Bethune-Cookman FL in a 1952 game against Knoxville before becoming a Hall of Fame coach with Temple. . . . Florida A&M won the 1952 SIAC Tournament final against host Alabama State, 71-67, despite having just four players on the court the final 13-plus minutes (including two overtimes) because of players fouling out. . . . The first predominantly black college to take the floor in an integrated national collegiate tournament was Tennessee State (then Tennessee A&I) in 1953. Hall of Famer John McLendon coached Tennessee State to three consecutive national titles (1957-59). Oddly, the '53 Tennessee State team defeated McLendon-coached North Carolina College for the opportunity to go to Kansas City. . . . Seven years earlier, McLendon led North Carolina College to a 64-56 triple-overtime victory over Virginia Union in the final of the first Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament. The CIAA Tournament blossomed into one of the premier postseason events in the country, including major-college tourneys. . . . Alderson-Broaddus College's Joe Miller (3,666) and Carl Hartman (3,373) became the only pair of 3,000-point scorers in college history to be teammates (1954 and 1955). . . . Southwest Missouri, winning the 1953 NAIA crown to become the first school to capture back-to-back titles with a 32-team format, played the last 3 1/2 minutes of its semifinal game with only four players on the court after encountering foul problems. The principal reason Southwest Missouri was shorthanded stemmed from two squad members being in spring training on their way to playing 12 seasons of major league baseball - infielder Jerry Lumpe and first baseman/outfielder Norm Siebern.

Ted Cassidy, Stetson's leading scorer and rebounder in 1954-55, played the role of Lurch in The Addams Family comedy TV series. . . . Tom Hart of Middlebury (Vt.) became the greatest rebounder in collegiate history. He still holds the record for most rebounds per game in a single season (29.5 rpg as a junior in 1954-55) and in a career (27.6 rpg). His coach was former baseball major leaguer Tony Lupien. The 6-4 Hart had two 46-rebound games in 1955 and grabbed 45 in a contest the next year as a senior. In track meets, Hart routinely entered six events and often scored over half his team's points, specializing in the high jump and pole vault. . . . West Virginia Tech averaged more than 100 points per game four consecutive seasons from 1954-55 through 1957-58. . . . Bill Reigel, playing for his third college in six seasons, led the nation's small-college players with a 33.9-point average when he paced McNeese State to the 1956 NAIA Tournament title. Reigel had averaged 18 points per game for the Duquesne freshman team in 1950-51 and 16.3 points per game for the Duke varsity in 1952-53 before entering military service. He later coached McNeese for three seasons from 1971-72 through 1973-74. . . . One of McNeese's three defeats in its championship season was at Lamar, 61-60, after the Cowboys had clobbered the Cardinals (12-12) by a total of 84 points in two early-season contests. The governor of Louisiana threatened McNeese to pull out of tourney if HBCU were allowed to participate. The Cowboys ultimately went against the governor's wishes and defeated HBCU powerhouse Texas Southern in national final. . . . Long-time Buffalo Bills coach Marv Levy directed the basketball squad from Coe (Iowa) in the 1956 NAIA Tournament. . . . Lee Pfund, the coach for 1957 NCAA Division II champion Wheaton (Ill.), compiled a 3-2 pitching record for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1945. The all-time winningest coach for Wheaton had three sons (John, Kerry and Randy) each score more than 1,150 points for the school. Randy went on to become coach of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers before becoming vice-president of the Miami Heat. NBA coach Donn Nelson, who gained a reputation as an authority on foreign basketball talent, collected 1,460 points and 538 rebounds for Wheaton in the mid-1980s. . . . Western Illinois missed an opportunity to become the nation's only undefeated college team in 1957-58 when it lost to Tennessee State, 85-73, in the NAIA Tournament championship game. Western had defeated Tennessee State, 79-76, earlier in the season. It was one of three consecutive NAIA titles won by Tennessee State, which boasted future pros Dick Barnett, John Barnhill and Ben Warley. . . . Davis & Elkins' Paul Wilcox, 6-6, is the only player to lead the NAIA in scoring (22.6 ppg) and rebounding (22.3 rpg) in the same season (1958-59). . . . In 1959, North Carolina A&T became the first predominantly black institution to participate in NCAA Division II national playoff competition. The Aggies finished third in the tourney. . . . Jack Madden, the dean of NBA referees for an extended period, graduated from Rider (N.J.) in 1959 as the school's career leader in scoring and rebounding.

Jazz vocalist Al Jarreau, a five-time Grammy winner, played for Ripon (Wis.) in the early 1960s. . . . The NAIA All-Stars upset NCAA champion Ohio State, 76-69, in a first-round game in the 1960 Olympic Trials. The NAIA zone defense limited Buckeye All-American Jerry Lucas to 14 points. . . . The first final NCAA College Division poll in 1960-61 included three coaches - Stan Albeck (Northern Michigan), Harry Gallatin (Southern Illinois) and Butch van Breda Kolff (Hofstra) - who went on to coach in the NBA for at least four seasons. In the next 10 campaigns, three other coaches - Bill Fitch (North Dakota), Bill Musselman (Ashland) and Scotty Robertson (Louisiana Tech) - guided College Division schools to a final Top 10 spot before moving up to the NBA for at least five years. Fitch and his successor, Jimmy Rodgers, coached multiple NBA teams. . . . The 1961-62 All-SWAC first-team selections included three frontcourters who later played at least 10 seasons in the pros - Prairie View's Zelmo Beaty, Southern's Bob Love and Grambling's Willis Reed. . . . Grambling finished in the top 10 of the first 76 weeks of College Division/Division II polls from January 5, 1961 through the end of the 1966-67 campaign. The Tigers, coached by Fred Hobdy, placed in the top five 40 consecutive weeks from March 2, 1961, through January 28, 1965. Grambling supplied seven top 20 NBA draft choices in a 20-year span from 1957 through 1976 before moving up to the NCAA Division I level - Bob McCoy (10th in 1957), Hershell West (16th in 1963), Reed (10th in 1964), Wilbert Frazier (12th in 1965), Jimmy Jones (13th in 1967), Fred Hilton (19th in 1971) and Larry Wright (14th in 1976).

Ronnie Maravich, a letterman for Georgia Southern in 1961-62, is a half-brother of Hall of Famer Pete Maravich (NCAA DI all-time leading scorer from LSU). . . . North Carolina A&T's Hugh Evans, a 12th-round draft choice by the St. Louis Hawks in 1963, went on to become a long-time NBA referee. Evans, a high school teammate in New York with Connie Hawkins and a college teammate of Al Attles, spent three years in the San Francisco Giants' minor league system. . . . Longtime Harlem Globetrotter Fred "Curly" Neal was an All-CIAA selection for Johnson C. Smith (N.C.) in 1962-63. . . . South Dakota State's decisive basket in a 44-42 decision over Wittenberg (Ohio) in the 1963 College Division Tournament final was a 40-foot baseball pass by Sid Bostic that went in after the buzzer sounded while the ball was in flight. . . . Winthrop "Wink" Davenport, who holds career average (19.6 ppg) and single-game (44 points as a junior vs. Bowdoin on February 2, 1963) scoring records for Wesleyan (Conn.), is the father of former women's tennis sensation Lindsay Davenport. He played for the U.S. volleyball team in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. . . . John Fred Gourrier, the lead vocalist for rock-and-roll group John Fred and the Playboy Band featuring hit single Judy in Disguise, was a 6-5 forward for Southeastern Louisiana in the mid-1960s. . . . Sam Alford, father of former Indiana All-American guard Steve Alford, led the NAIA in free-throw shooting in 1963-64. The elder Alford hit 91.2% of his foul shots for Franklin (Ind.) that season. . . . Midwestern (Tex.) defeated Austin College, 14-11, in overtime in 1964. Midwestern held a 4-1 halftime lead and the teams were tied at 8-8 at the end of regulation. Midwestern had won an earlier game that season with Austin by 40 points, 92-52. . . . Bob Jones, the all-time leading rebounder for Georgetown College (Ky.), is the father of former Virginia All-American guard and coach Jeff Jones. . . . Evansville was ranked No. 1 for 19 consecutive weeks from January 30, 1964, through the end of the 1964-65 season. . . . Jerry Sloan outscored Walt Frazier, 25-16, in Evansville's 85-82 victory over Southern Illinois in the 1965 NCAA College Division Tournament final. They went on to become NBA All-Defensive Team first-team selections the same year four times in seven seasons from 1968-69 through 1974-75. . . . Emmy Award-winning writer Bob Einstein, who created the Super Dave Osborne hapless stuntman character, averaged 5 ppg and 2.9 rpg for Chapman (Calif.) in 1963-64 and 1964-65. . . . Writer-director Ron Shelton, synonymous with numerous sports movies, scored 1,420 points for Westmont (Calif.) in the mid-1960s. . . . Ken Howard, street-savvy high school teacher in CBS classic drama The White Shadow, was third-leading all-time scorer for Amherst (Mass.) when his career ended in 1966. . . . Shippensburg's team in the mid-1960s had four different players eventually coach high school state championship teams in the mid-1980s during their careers following graduation. Art Taneyhill and Reggie Weiss coached basketball champions in Pennsylvania while Harry Chapman and Jim Deibler coached football titlists. . . . Wilberforce (Ohio) forward Lonnie Lynn Sr., a 1966 NBA draft choice of the St. Louis Hawks who played in the ABA in 1969-70, is the father of entertainer "Common" (previously Common Sense), a hip hop artist, actor and rap poet who was invited to the White House by the Obama Administration. . . . In 1966-67, Cleveland State's John McLendon became the first African-American to coach at an integrated college in the United States. He had previously been the first black coach at the professional level with the ABL's Cleveland Pipers. . . . In 1966-67, Kentucky Wesleyan had its first of 13 full seasons ranked in the top 10 of College Division/Division II polls (1967-68-69-82-84-87-90-98-99-00-01-02-03). . . . Rockhurst's Ed McKee, a 10th-round choice of the ABA's Indiana Pacers in its initial draft in 1967, went on to become P.R. director of the franchise after it merged with the NBA. McKee was also SID for Indiana State when Larry Bird gained national notoriety. . . . Ashland (Ohio) was coached by Bill Musselman in 1967-68 when the school allowed only 33.9 points per game, an NCAA record. . . . Scranton (Pa.), boasting a 20-5 record in 1968-69 under coach Nat Volpe, defeated five different major colleges that season - Lehigh, Rider, Lafayette, Colgate and Seton Hall. . . . Youngstown State's John McElroy became the shortest player (6-0) ever to score 70 or more points in a game involving NCAA colleges when he scored 72 against Wayne State (Mich.) on February 26, 1969. . . . Mickey Gibson, a transfer from Kentucky who was dismissed from the Wildcats' squad by coach Adolph Rupp because he got married, set the UNC-Asheville single-game scoring record with 44 points against Washington & Lee on February 8, 1969.

The first family of small-college basketball, if not all of hoopdom, could be the six brothers Jones from McGehee, Ark., all 6-8 or taller, who became the top six rebounders in Albany (Ga.) State history during the 1960s and 1970s. Oliver and Melvin were borderline pro prospects before Wil (nine), Caldwell (17), Major (six) and Charles (15) each played a minimum of six ABA/NBA seasons. Major Jones, 6-9, led NCAA Division II rebounders in 1974-75 with an average of 22.5 per game. He is the last Division I or Division II player to average at least 20 per game.

Doug Williams, a 32-year-old Air Force veteran, earned NAIA first-team All-American honors for St. Mary's (Tex.) in 1969-70 when he averaged 18.9 points per game. He scored 24 in a 76-66 upset of Houston. . . . Elmore Smith, a 7-0 center for 1970 NAIA champion Kentucky State, was called for goal tending 12 times in a 116-98 defeat against Eastern Michigan. . . . New Orleans won 38 consecutive home games in a small arena nicknamed the "Chamber of Horrors" after losing its opener against Louisiana College in the Privateers' varsity debut in 1969-70. LC, coached by Billy Allgood, also defeated Mississippi State that season. LC beat the following six eventual DI in-state schools at least five times apiece from 1964-65 through 1974-75: Louisiana Tech, McNeese State, Nicholls State, Northeast Louisiana, Northwestern State and Southeastern Louisiana. The Wildcats also upended Tulane three times from 1962-63 through 1967-68 before becoming the first predominantly white school to play a home-and-home season series against a HBCU (Grambling in 1971-72). . . . Stephen F. Austin, the top-ranked team at the NCAA College Division level in 1969-70, had four players selected in the NBA draft after the season - Narvis Anderson, George E. Johnson, Surry Oliver and Erwin Polnick. . . . Curlee Conners, Southeastern Louisiana's leading scorer and rebounder in 1969-70 and 1970-71, is an uncle of Marcus Dupree from Philadelphia, Miss., and a central figure in the recruiting of the nation's premier prep running back by Oklahoma in the early 1980s. . . . In 1970, with an enrollment under 650 students, three Maryland State College players from a 29-2 team were selected in the NBA draft - Jake Ford (2nd round), Levi Fontaine (5th) and James "Bones" Morgan (7th). Four years later, the school (now known as Maryland-Eastern Shore) had three more players chosen from a 27-2 squad - Rubin Collins (2nd), Talvin Skinner (3rd) and William "Billy" Gordon (4th). . . . Tennessee State edged Oglethorpe (Ga.), 7-4, on February 16, 1971, in what is believed to be the lowest-scoring college game since the center jump was eliminated prior to the 1937-38 season. Tennessee State had overwhelmed Oglethorpe, 82-43, earlier in the season. . . . Louisiana Tech had two players selected fourth overall in an NBA draft - Jackie Moreland (Detroit Pistons in 1960) and Mike Green (Seattle SuperSonics in 1973). . . . Birmingham-Southern's Russell Thompson scored 25 points without making a field-goal attempt in a 55-46 victory over Florence State in the 1970-71 season. He converted 25 of 28 free throws. . . . Less than seven hours after returning to campus following a quarterfinal defeat against eventual 1971 NAIA champion Kentucky State, Grambling's Charlie Anderson died as a result of injuries suffered in a hit-and-run auto accident. Anderson, who averaged 18.3 ppg and 17.8 rpg, provided the game-winning basket in the Tigers' overtime win against Glassboro State (N.J.) in second round. . . . Kentucky State's Travis "Machine Gun" Grant set the single-game NAIA Tournament scoring record with 60 points against Minot State in 1972. Grant finished his four-year college career with 4,045 points and a 33.4-point average. . . . Roanoke guard Hal Johnston, whose athletic career was almost ended when he fractured his skull in a fall from a truck as a senior in high school, was a runaway choice for most outstanding player honors at the 1972 NCAA College Division Tournament. . . . Robert "Firechief" Smith came to USC-Spartanburg in 1972 as a 34-year-old center, powering USCS to its first two winning seasons. He averaged 9.9 rpg in 1973-74, when he was named MVP of the Palmetto Conference Tournament - the first title of any kind in the history of the program. . . . Guilford won the 1973 NAIA Tournament with a lineup that included included three future NBA players - Lloyd Free, M.L. Carr and Greg Jackson. Guilford's top reserve was Steve Hankins, a 6-6, 220-pound, 28-year-old Marine Corps veteran who had served 44 months in Vietnam and was one of the military pallbearers at President Kennedy's funeral. . . . Guilford (N.C.) and Tennessee State are the only two small colleges to have two alums score more than 20 points per game in an NBA season - Free and Bob Kaufmann attended Guilford, while Dick Barnett and Truck Robinson attended Tennessee State.

Guard Greg Procell averaged 11.5 ppg in two seasons for Northwestern State in 1972-73 and 1973-74. Procell, a native of Noble, La. (Ebarb H.S.), held the national high school scoring record (6,702 points) until 2002 when it was broken by Jeremy Monceaux at Parkway Christian Academy of Birmingham, Ala., after Monceaux played varsity as a seventh- and eighth-grader at Spencer, La. Procell's NSU-career high was 27 points as a junior in a 76-70 overtime loss at Northeast Louisiana. He originally signed with Southwestern Louisiana, but when the Rajun Cajuns' program was shut down for NCAA infractions Procell attended Panola (Tex.) Community College, where he averaged 33.7 ppg as a freshman and 28.5 ppg as a sophomore. Procell, who had a J.C. single-game high of 57 points, became a fishing guide on Toledo Bend and an assistant principal at Huntington High in Shreveport. . . . Leon Gobczynski, a 6-10 center, averaged 36.1 points per game for Millikin (Ill.) in the 1973-74 season despite being blanked by Augustana (Ill.) in an 88-61 defeat. Gobczynski, who had scored 43 points in an earlier game that year between the two teams, missed all nine of his field-goal attempts in 36 minutes of playing time. . . . Salem (W. Va.) College's Archie Talley set an NAIA record for most points in a season (1,347) in 1975-76 when he averaged 40.8 per game. . . . Philadelphia Textile defeated a different Big Five school in three consecutive seasons from 1975-76 through 1977-78 - Villanova twice, Temple and St. Joseph's. . . . Amherst's Jim Rehnquist, son of Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist, finished fifth in NCAA Division III scoring in 1976-77 with an average of 27.8 points per game. . . . Dave Robbins, who is white, became coach at Virginia Union in 1978-79 in the predominantly black CIAA. Robbins went on to win more CIAA Tournaments than any coach in league history. VUU finished in the Top 10 of final national rankings nine consecutive seasons from 1987-88 through 1995-96 and 12 of 13 beginning in 1983-84. . . . Former Briar Cliff (Iowa) players comprised Panama's entire starting lineup in the 1987 Pan American Games. Four members of Briar Cliff's "Panamanian Pipeline" were selected in NBA drafts from 1978 through 1981 (Mario Butler, Rolando Frazer, Tito Malcolm and Ed Warren). In the late 1980s, the first five spots on the school's career scoring list were Panamanians.

Mark Curry, a comedian starring in ABC's hit black sitcom Hangin' With Mr. Cooper, played center with California State-Hayward for three seasons in the early 1980s. . . . When Tampa resurrected its men's program in 1983-84 after a 13-year hiatus, coach Richard Schmidt took his first-year squad, starting one junior transfer and four freshmen, and won the Sunshine State Conference postseason tournament and automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs en route to a 20-11 record. It was the first time in NCAA history that a first-year team in any division qualified for the national tourney. Schmidt is a professional aviculturist who breeds exotic birds and raises other prize-winning animals on his ranch. Entertainer Wayne Newton has purchased birds from him. . . . Ron Morse, averaging a modest 3.6 ppg, lifted Fort Hays State (Kan.) to an 82-80 overtime triumph against Wayland Baptist (Tex.) in 1985 NAIA tourney final with a 15-fgoot game-winning, buzzer-beater. The unlikely hero is the son of Fort Hays coach Bill Morse. . . . Southeastern Oklahoma's Dennis Rodman registered 46 points and 32 rebounds in a single NAIA Tournament game in 1986. His rebounding total is tied for the most in a single game in tourney history. . . . Former Phoenix Suns/Seattle SuperSonics coach Paul Westphal guided Grand Canyon (Ariz.) to the 1988 NAIA title. . . . Four of the eight NAIA finals from 1981 through 1988 required extra sessions. Nine of 11 championship games in one stretch were decided in overtime or by fewer than six points in regulation. . . . Chuck Randall, Western Washington's longtime coach, invented the Slam-Dunk basketball rim. . . . Gary Lydic, a guard for the junior varsity as a freshman at McPherson (Kan.) and student assistant coach as a senior, served as director of ministry services for Focus on the Family when the organization was headquartered in Pasadena, Calif. On the morning Hall of Famer Pete Maravich died of a heart attack stemming from a heart defect, Lydic was among the men playing with him in a pickup game before the 40-year-old legend was slated to be interviewed on a Christian radio program. . . . Michael Jordan wasn't the best former college basketball standout performing as an outfielder with Birmingham (AA Southern League) in the Chicago White Sox's farm system in 1994. The superior baseball player was teammate Scott Tedder, a 6-4 lefthander who graduated as Ohio Wesleyan's all-time leading scorer in 1988. Tedder, playing about 1/4 of the '94 season in the league with Orlando, hit .281 while Jordan managed a lowly .202 and amassed more than 2 1/2 times as many strikeouts (114). Tedder posted a .261 average over five years with the Barons. Another ex-college hoop standout on the Barons' roster that year was Ken Coleman, a utilityman who hit .191. Coleman is New Haven's all-time leader in assists after leading the Chargers in scoring feeds all four seasons from 1984-85 through 1987-88. Coleman, a two-time All-NECC basketball selection, played seven years in the minor leagues. . . . The pep song for Chadron (Neb.) State should have been "Here's to Mrs. Robinson" during eight seasons from 1988-89 through 1995-96 when three brothers (Josh, Jason and Jeremy Robinson) played for the Eagles. Each of Gerry and Triss Robinson's sons was a four-year starter and they collaborated for 5,081 points and 2,138 rebounds in a total of 330 games. No one can determine for sure, but they might have combined for more points and rebounds than any other trio of brothers at any single college. Josh, the eldest brother, finished his career as the school's all-time leading scorer (2,041 points). . . . Marquette's Al McGuire wasn't the only former Belmont Abbey (N.C.) coach to make a name for himself at the major-college level. All four Belmont Abbey coaches in the 1980s went on to coach Division I schools - Bobby Hussey (Davidson/Virginia Tech), Eddie Payne (East Carolina/Oregon State), Kevin Eastman (UNC Wilmington/Washington State) and Rick Scruggs (Gardner-Webb). . . . Todd Beamer, a backup guard for Wheaton (Ill.) in 1988-89, was the Oracle Corp account manager traveling from New Jersey to California on United Airlines Flight 93 for a business meeting on September 11, 2001, when helping lead a "let's roll" takeover by passengers from Islamic terrorists, forcing the plane down in Pennsylvania countryside about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.

Todd Rowe, a 1992 graduate who is the all-time leading scorer for Malone (Ohio), became the first player in a professional Chinese league to score 3,000 points before he moved on to a league in Japan. . . . Bob Hoffman was deprived of becoming the first coach in NAIA history to guide men's and women's champions when No. 1 seed Oklahoma Baptist bowed to Hawaii Pacific (88-83) in the 1993 championship game. Hoffman had directed Southern Nazarene (Okla.) to the 1989 NAIA women's title. . . . John Pierce of David Lipscomb (Tenn.) became college basketball's all-time leading scorer after totaling 33 points in his 1993-94 regular-season finale, a 119-102 triumph over Cumberland. Pierce's 4,110 total career points broke former roommate Phil Hutcheson's mark of 4,106 set in the 1990 NAIA Tournament. . . . NAIA powerhouse Life (Ga.) had a 99-game homecourt winning streak, the third longest in college history, snapped by Talladega (Ala.), 75-72, in January 1999. Talladega was an unlikely spoiler, having won just two of its first 16 games that season. Life went on to become the first unseeded team to win the NAIA Tournament by overcoming a 26-point deficit to frustrate Mobile, 63-60. . . . Central Arkansas ranks among the schools for most NAIA Tournament appearances but none of those were when 1992 U.S. basketball Olympian and Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen played for the Bears. . . . David Lipscomb's Don Meyer reached the 700-win plateau quicker than any coach in college history. He compiled 702 victories through 1998-99 in 24 seasons before leaving for Northern State (S.D.) when he disagreed with Lipscomb's decision to move up to NCAA Division I. His 1989-90 squad won a college basketball-record 41 games. Meyer, atop the NCAA win list among active coaches with 891 at the time in 2008, had his left leg amputated below the knee after an auto accident. Meyer either fell asleep or was distracted when his car crossed the center line and collided with a semi. Meyer, 63, was diagnosed with a slow-growing cancer in his liver and bowels that doctors said might not have been found had he not been injured. . . . Six different members of the MIAA (Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association) from the state of Missouri - Central Missouri State, Missouri-Rolla, Missouri Southern, Missouri Western, Northwest Missouri State and Southwest Baptist - finished with a final Top 10 ranking in a 12-year span from 1990-91 through 2001-02. . . . Prior to the inaugural season for Westminster (Pa.) in the NCAA in 1998-99, the Titans were acknowledged as the all-time winningest program in NAIA history with 1,299 victories. . . . Danny Miles, en route to reaching the 1,000-win plateau in 2013-14, earned triumph No. 400 in 4 1/2 hours because a broken rim at Simpson College in Redding, Calif., forced the game to be moved 20 miles to another facility. In college at Southern Oregon, Miles set the all-time pass completion percentage record for both NCAA and NAIA for a single season based on 225 attempts (1965, 190-247, .769) and career percentage based on 500 completions (1964-67, 577-871, .662).

Three different North Dakota State coaches the first three years of the 21st Century - Ray Giacoletti, Greg McDermott and Tim Miles - went on to guide other schools at the NCAA Division I level to national postseason competition. . . . Kenyan Charles Maina, who led Lynn (Fla.) in blocked shots two seasons in the late 1990s, starred in the nationally-acclaimed movie "The Air Up There." . . . Haitian Robert Joseph of Union (Tenn.) surpassed David Robinson's record by becoming the single-season blocked shots leader for all levels of college basketball with 242 rejections in 2001-02. . . . The College of Staten Island (N.Y.) started hosting an in-season tournament, called CSI Tournament of Heroes, to pay homage to three former CSI players (Terrance Aiken, Scott Davidson and Tom Hannafin) who perished during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Aiken had just started a computer consulting job on the 97th floor of World Trade Center Tower I while Davidson and Hannafin were New York City firefighters. . . . Jaeson Maravich, a son of NCAA all-time leading scorer Pete Maravich, was an NAIA All-American for William Carey (Miss.) in 2002-03 and 2003-04. Jaeson previously had stints with Alabama and McNeese State sidetracked by a back ailment. . . . Hope International (Calif.) ended a 60-game losing streak with a 94-84 win over Redlands (Calif.) in 2003-04. . . . Jack Bennett, the coach of Wisconsin-Stevens Point's 2004 NCAA Division III champion, is a brother of Dick Bennett, who guided Wisconsin to the 2000 NCAA Division I Tournament Final Four. Just like Dick had a son (Tony) play for him at Wisconsin-Green Bay, Jack had a son (Nick) who supplied 83 three-pointers for the Pointers in 2003-04. . . . Grinnell (Iowa) set an NCAA single-season scoring record for all levels by averaging 126.2 points per game in 2003-04. The Pioneers (18-6) had more three-pointers (530) than either two-point baskets (472) or free throws (495). Boasting eight players with more than 25 treys, they scored fewer than 100 points only three times. Grinnell coach David Arseneault had his teams press from the start and they would surrender a layup for a chance to come back down and take a three-point shot. The Pioneers hit 530 of 1,582 attempts from beyond the arc (33.5%).

The Moir family has accounted for more than 1,500 college victories. Page Moir became the all-time winningest coach for a school, Roanoke (Va.), where his father, Charles, won the 1972 NCAA College Division crown before coaching at the Division I level with Virginia Tech and Tulane. Charles' brother, Sam, coached at Catawba (N.C.) for 31 seasons. . . . In 2006, Texas Wesleyan became the fourth unseeded team in eight years to capture the NAIA Division I title. Three years later, Rocky Mountain (Mont.) defeated Columbia (Mo.) in the first championship game between two unseeded teams since seeding was introduced in 1957. . . . In 2011, Georgetown College (Ky.) became the first school to appear in at least 30 NAIA tourneys while becoming the initial institution to make 20 consecutive trips. Georgetown's emotional run to the 1996 tourney final was in honor of its dying coach, Jim Reid, who battled cancer before dying less than a month after the campaign concluded. . . . Brian Rice, a 43-year-old Navy retiree, was a backup for Geneva (Pa.) in 2012-13.

Numerous small-college hoopers were so versatile they eventually excelled professionally in other major sports. Earning acclaim as MLB All-Stars were: George Altman (Tennessee State), Glenn Beckert (Allegheny PA), Frank Bolling (Spring Hill AL), Al Bumbry (Virginia State), Mickey Cochrane (Boston University), George Crowe (Indiana Central), Larry Doby (Virginia Union), Rick Ferrell (Guilford NC), Wayne Gross (Cal Poly Pomona), Mike Hargrove (Northwestern Oklahoma State), Bill Henry (Houston), Chuck Hinton (Shaw NC), Gil Hodges (St. Joseph's IN/Oakland City IN), Monte Irvin (Lincoln PA), Duane Josephson (Northern Iowa), David Justice (Thomas More KY), Dave Lemanczyk (Hartwick NY), Danny Litwhiler (Bloomsburg PA), Davey Lopes (Iowa Wesleyan/Washburn KS), Jerry Lumpe (Southwest Missouri State), Bake McBride (Westminster MO), Graig Nettles (San Diego State), Bill Nicholson (Washington College MD), Joe Niekro (West Liberty WV), Claude Passeau (Millsaps MS), Gary Peters (Grove City PA), Rip Repulski (St. Cloud State MN), Preacher Roe (Harding AR), Richie Scheinblum (LIU-C.W. Post), Hal Schumacher (St. Lawrence NY), Jeff Shaw (Rio Grande OH), Norm Siebern (Southwest Missouri State), Dick Siebert (Concordia-St. Paul MN), Matt Thornton (Grand Valley State MI), Bob Veale (Benedictine KS), Wes Westrum (Bemidji State MN) and Bill White (Hiram OH). Among current small-college alums, Bumbry, Doby, Hodges, Irvin, Justice, Litwhiler, Lopes, McBride, Nicholson, Niekro, Passeau, Repulski, Roe, Schumacher, Veale, Westrum and White participated in World Series competition along with former small-school hoopers Mike Adams (Texas A&M-Kingsville), Morrie Arnovich (Wisconsin-Superior), Clyde Barnhart (Shippensburg PA), Jim Bibby (Fayetteville State NC), Donn Clendenon (Morehouse GA), Jack Coombs (Colby ME), Harry Craft (Mississippi College), Jean Dubuc (Saint Michael's VT), George Earnshaw (Swarthmore PA), Ray Fisher (Middlebury VT), Jake Flowers (Washington College MD), Gene Freese (West Liberty State WV), Mike Gazella (Mansfield PA), Charlie Gelbert (Lebanon Valley PA), Dick Hall (Swarthmore PA), Bobby Humphreys (Hampden-Sydney VA), Lou Johnson (Kentucky State), Lynn Jones (Thiel PA), Ernie Krueger (Lake Forest IL), Dave Leonhard (Johns Hopkins MD), Les Mann (Springfield MA), Roger Mason (Saginaw Valley State MI), Jimmy Moore (Union TN), Red Murray (Lock Haven PA), Greasy Neale (West Virginia Wesleyan), Billy North (Central Washington), Jim Northrup (Alma College MI), Curly Ogden (Swarthmore PA), Joe Ostrowski (Scranton PA), Jack Phillips (Clarkson NY), Carl Reynolds (Southwestern TX), Paul Splittorff (Morningside IA), Kent Tekulve (Marietta OH), Bill Virdon (Drury MO), Ray Washburn (Whitworth WA), Monte Weaver (Emory & Henry VA), Dib Williams (Hendrix AR) and Tom Zachary (Guilford NC).

Ex-hoopers among NFL/AFL Pro Bowl selections included: Ken Anderson (Augustana IL), Ordell Braase (South Dakota), Marlin Briscoe (Nebraska-Omaha), Buck Buchanan (Grambling), Harold Carmichael (Southern LA), Ben Coates (Livingstone NC), Charley Cowan (New Mexico Highlands), Elbert Dubenion (Bluffton OH), London Fletcher (John Carroll OH), Len Ford (Morgan State), Jean Fugett (Amherst MA), Bill Groman (Heidelberg OH), Harlon Hill (Florence State AL), Vincent Jackson (Northern Colorado), Dave Jennings (St. Lawrence NY), Ed "Too Tall" Jones (Tennessee State), Jacoby Jones (Lane TN), Gary Larsen (Concordia MN), Joe Lavender (San Diego State), Rolland Lawrence (Tabor KS), Cy McClairen (Bethune-Cookman FL), Bob McLeod (Abilene Christian TX), Zeke Moore (Lincoln MO), Elvin "Kink" Richards (Simpson IA), Art Shell (Maryland-Eastern Shore), Rod Smith (Missouri Southern State), Ed Sprinkle (Hardin-Simmons TX), Lionel Taylor (New Mexico Highlands), Otis Taylor (Prairie View A&M) and Rayfield Wright (Fort Valley State GA). Anderson, Braase, Briscoe, Buchanan, Carmichael, Coates, Fletcher, Fugett, J. Jones, Larsen, Shell, Smith, O. Taylor and Wright were Super Bowl participants along with former small-college hoopers Kevin Boss (Western Oregon), Vern Den Herder (Central College IA), Jim Duncan (Maryland-Eastern Shore), Bob Lurtsema (Michigan Tech), Keith McKeller (Jacksonville State AL), Herb McMath (Morningside IA), Pete Metzelaars (Wabash IN), Wayne Moore (Lamar), Charles Philyaw (Texas Southern), Charlie Stukes (UMES) and Fuzzy Thurston (Valparaiso).

Smaller colleges, many from the hinterlands, supplied a striking number of the biggest names in major-college coaching. From 1995 through 2000, five of the six NCAA Division I Tournament championship coaches graduated from obscure colleges with significantly smaller enrollments - Jim Calhoun (American International MA), Jim Harrick (Charleston WV), Tom Izzo (Northern Michigan), Lute Olson (Augsburg MN) and Tubby Smith (High Point NC). In fact, it is rare for a Final Four not to feature at least one coach from a humble background. John Calipari, a graduate of Clarion (Pa.) State, guided Kentucky to the 2012 national championship before Michigan's John Beilein (Wheeling Jesuit NY), Wichita State's Gregg Marshall (Randolph-Macon VA) and Butler's Brad Stevens (DePauw IN) directed teams to the Final Four this decade. Small-school hoopers who coached prominent universities to multiple bowl games include Dan Devine (Minnesota-Duluth), Tom Osborne (Hastings NE) and Bobby Petrino (Carroll MT). Title game coaches in the NFL and AFL after playing small-college hoops include Wally Lemm (Carroll WI) and Marv Levy (Coe IA). Status as a cash cow notwithstanding, it would appear no one should have been able to accuse the NCAA hierarchy of unabashed favoritism for the DI level. After all, former Executive Director Cedric Dempsey (Albion MI) and former enforcement chief David Berst (MacMurray IL) were small-school hoopers. Dempsey coached his alma mater after he was named MIAA MVP in 1953-54. Berst averaged 6.3 ppg and 4 rpg and held the school's baseball record for best ERA in a career before coaching both sports at his alma mater.

Amid coronavirus pandemic, the Ivy League cancelled its season last year. Cynics might suggest the majority of Ivy members haven't really been "playing" for about a century. Yale (23-7 in 2019-20) was among five Ivy League members saddled with all-time losing record for decades before finally going over the career .500 threshold two years ago.

Baylor's boffo records the past two seasons enabled the Bears to surpass the .500 mark in its history. Northwestern (.416) and Texas Christian (.467) are the only power-conference members posting all-time losing standards. Potential HBCU trend-setter Makur Maker didn't hang around very long, but he would have required eight years of eligibility and divine intervention creating all undefeated seasons during that extended span to enable Howard University to get back to the .500 level. VMI has assembled the most repulsive winning percentage (.370) among the following current NCAA Division I schools in the subterranean category after competing in basketball for more than 100 mainly futility-laced seasons:

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind (about your size) don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

Despite cancel culture's obsession with him, the good doctor (Seuss) must know big things can come in even smaller 24-carat packages. What they may lack in height, they more than compensate for with heart. Brimming with self-confidence and mental toughness, the premium point guards defy odds by excelling in a big man's game.

The latest mighty mite of consequence in a power conference is Miami transfer Chris Lykes (5-6) at Arkansas. UMBC's Darnell Rogers (5-2) is also a big story. Lykes and Rogers will eventually join the following alphabetical list examining top players in NCAA history shorter than 5-8:

HONORABLE MENTION

Any player worth his sneakers seeks to compete against quality, not inferior, opponents with something such as in-state bragging rights at stake rather than devouring cupcakes. But many power-conference members steer clear of competent in-state opponents in pre-conference competition.

LSU refrains from opposing Tulane in recent years but one of the greatest freshman debuts in college annals took place when Tigers forward Rudy Macklin grabbed a school-record 32 rebounds against the Green Wave to open the 1976-77 campaign. How many comparable splendid performances never had a chance to unfold on the court? Meanwhile, how many power-player schools fodder-bored torture us with age-old, one-sided arguments flapping their self-serving jaws about nothing to gain? Indiana likely will eventually somehow survive a defeat at IPFW and season-opening setback against Indiana State several years ago while many power-conference counterparts usually compete in exotic-outpost tournaments in front of disinterested algae, barnacles, crabs, mussels, sea shells, snails and handful of assorted beach creatures. Do they seek to be there just to by chance view Jay Bilas or some other ESPN personality in a bathing suit? Why don't more thin-skinned elite schools put an emphasis on what is best for the sport in general by scheduling more entertaining contests against competitive in-state foes? That was a relevant question to ask UCLA a couple of years ago as the Bruins made three's-company travel arrangements regarding low-end trip back home for three high-end Louis Vuitton freshman scholars following their three-joint play paving way to theft detention in China.

Isn't this supposed to be the era for putting an end to bullying tactics? Prior to his exit, pompous pilot Rick Pitino said Louisville played "four white guys and an Egyptian" to not embarrass lowly Savannah State in a mismatch. If that is the case, then why schedule a Savannah vacation in the first place? Giving fans half-a-peace sign and Quaaludes reminiscent of Bill Cosby's victims, the hoop haughtiness of power schools denying fans stimulating non-league games isn't funny or a new phenomenon. For instance, LSU avoided potentially attractive in-state assignments for decades by never opposing McNeese State's Joe Dumars, Tulane's Jerald Honeycutt, New Orleans' Ervin Johnson, Louisiana Tech's Karl Malone, Northeast Louisiana's Calvin Natt, Centenary's Robert Parish and Southwestern Louisiana's Kevin Brooks, Bo Lamar and Andrew Toney. Three seasons ago, the Bayou Bengals didn't bother to give freshman sensation Ben Simmons an opportunity to oppose ULL's Shawn Long, one of only six players in NCAA history to finish career with more than 2,250 points and 1,400 rebounds.

Similarly over the years, North Carolina shunned Davidson first- and second-team All-Americans Stephen Curry, Mike Maloy and Dick Snyder during the regular season. The Tar Heels did defeat Davidson in exciting back-to-back East Regional finals by a total of six points in 1968 and 1969 when Maloy averaged 21.5 ppg and 13 rpg. In 1974, South Carolina's powerhouse boasting Mike Dunleavy, Alex English and Brian Winters, couldn't keep skirting Furman and succumbed in the East Regional, 75-67, when the Padadins' Clyde Mayes collected 21 points and game-high 16 rebounds. Dick Vitale-coached Detroit was eliminated from the NCAA playoffs in the 1977 Mideast Regional semifinals by Michigan after the Wolverines avoided the Titans' terrific trio comprised of Terry Duerod, John Long and Terry Tyler in the regular season that year and the previous campaign while opposing Fordham, Kent State, La Salle, Miami (Ohio), Rhode Island, Southern Illinois and Western Kentucky.

Did we deserve to see national players of the year such as Indiana State's Larry Bird (never opposed Indiana), Princeton's Bill Bradley (Seton Hall), La Salle's Tom Gola (Villanova), Cincinnati's Kenyon Martin (Ohio State), Cincinnati's Oscar Robertson (Ohio State), Navy's David Robinson (Georgetown and Maryland), Xavier's David West (Ohio State) and Bradley's Hersey Hawkins (Illinois) strut their stuff in regular-season contests against nearby prominent programs? Shouldn't we have been entertained by mercurial Murray State guard Ja Morant competing vs. in-state foes Kentucky and Louisville several years ago rather than UK and UL both opposing Vermont?

The Terrapins only met "The Admiral" upon being forced to compete in the second round of 1985 Southeast Regional when Robinson contributed game-high figures in scoring, rebounding and blocks. Unbelievably, more than 30 All-Americans from Ohio colleges in the last 60 years never had an opportunity to oppose Ohio State during the regular season (including small-school sensation Bevo Francis of Rio Grande).

Power-conference members give appearance of parasites while playing more than 85% of their out-of-conference games at home or a neutral site. Check out the non-league parade of patsies predatory powers Kansas and Kansas State scheduled while avoiding Fred VanVleet for four years earlier this decade and Wichita State All-American Antoine Carr the first half of the 1980s. The following mid-major/non-power league All-Americans specifically and fans generally were shortchanged during the regular season by smug in-state schools since the accepted modern era of basketball commenced in early 1950s:

Tagging along with new head coaches Craig Smith and Ryan Odom, transfers are striving to help Utah and Utah State generate headlines. They joined the following alphabetical list of prominent players who transferred from one major college to another with the same head coach although he wasn't his biological father (including three at BYU after leaving Utah Valley):

*Erdmann played for a junior college between four-year school stints.

NOTES: Aaman committed to Wagner before choosing to enroll with Hurley at Rhode Island, Fisher signed with Pepperdine but never played there before choosing to follow Romar to SLU, Kilgore never played for EMU after transferring there from Central Michigan, Lyons was an academic partial qualifier in 2008-09 and Pendleton signed with Iowa but never played for the Hawkeyes because of scholastic shortcomings. . . . Anthony originally played for Virginia. . . . Mitchell played two seasons at Fresno State under Grant's successor (Ron Adams). . . . Varner went on an LDS Mormon mission for two years between stints at Pepperdine and Saint Louis.

More than 20,000 thank yous can't begin to express infinite appreciation for setting the stage regarding procedure in Texas saving life of a grandson when he was only two days old. The gratitude beyond measure is for world-famous heart surgeon Dr. Denton Cooley, who performed well in excess of 20,000 open-heart operations before passing away several years ago at the age of 96. He was a three-year letterman (1938-39 through 1940-41) on Texas basketball teams combining for a 51-21 record. The 6-3 Cooley, named the 32nd most influential student-athlete in 2006 when the NCAA celebrated its centennial anniversary, saw action in both of the Longhorns' games in the inaugural NCAA Tournament in 1939 after they captured the Southwest Conference championship.

"I've always had the opinion that my training in athletics equipped me for a life in medicine," Houston-based Dr. Cooley said, "and particularly in surgery because there's so much of the physical part involved. Surgery is a specialty in which a person must have vigor and a healthy body to perform at his peak. It requires a certain amount of physical training as well as mental training. In surgery, operations are accomplished by teams. As in athletics, a strong individual effort is possible only with the support of a good team. The morale of the team must be maintained by the captain. And these are the things individuals learn in a program of competitive sports. We learn to accept defeat but not to be satisfied with defeat; that there is no alternative for winning. Extra effort and determination and hard work and practice are what lead to accomplishment and victory."

Again, thank you Dr. Cooley for your extra effort and determination and hard work. A Thanksgiving holiday week absolutely should include the time-honored tradition of a smorgasbord mulling over a mixture of heartfelt Thank Yous while also chewing on tasteless Turkeys. The list of candidates in college basketball is extensive stemming from issues and individuals your most grateful for and those of dubious distinction. Following is a healthy serving of food-for-thought Thanksgiving tributes and tongue-lashings for hoop observers to gobble-gobble up:

THANK YOUS

• Cheers to mid-major players deserving post-season recognition this season if A-A voters are paying attention.

• Cheers to multiple players carrying the torch for their father at the same school dear old dad attended or playing under their father at the same university.

• Cheers to this season's crop of entertaining freshmen although they pale in comparison to the depth exhibited by gifted group in 1979-80.

• Cheers to ex-college hoopers dominating as NFL tight ends as long as they don't #KneelWithJemele or #ColonKrapernick.

• Cheers to Canada, which could again provide a north-of-the-border All-American.

• Cheers to the Big East Conference, which appears to be continuing a renaissance after losing prominent members to supposedly superior leagues.

• Cheers to "old-school" seniors for not abandoning college hoops early and giving the sport at least some modicum of veteran leadership by attending the same school their entire career.

• Cheers to pristine playmakers who show again and again that "pass" is not a dirty four-letter word amid the obsession with individualistic one-on-one moves by self-absorbed one-and-done scholars.

• Cheers to model coaches who have their egos in check and carry their personal profiles in school media guides after, not before, the player bios.

• Cheers to upstanding schools having their academic priorities in order although it is getting increasingly difficult not to accept the stereotype that universities need to be one-dimensional sports factories to assemble successful NCAA Division I basketball programs.

• Cheers to entertaining little big men (players 5-10 or shorter) who inspire us with their self-confidence and mental toughness in the Land of the Giants.

• Cheers to women's hoops, which has improved immeasurably while the men's game has suffered somewhat from inattention to fundamentals such as competent free-throw shooting. The team-oriented women look for passing angles to teammates "flashing" into the lane while far too many one-dimensional men seek camera angles to trigger a "flash-dance" routine. Some of the self-centered men haven't quite comprehended it isn't platform diving or figure skating they're participating in and you don't secure extra points for degree of difficulty.

• Cheers to junior college players and foreigners who overcome perceptions in some misguided quarters that they are the rogues of recruiting.

• Cheers to the numerous promising first-year coaches assuming control of programs this season. They need to remember the fortitude exhibited by many of the biggest names in coaching who rebounded from embarrassing defeats in their first season as a head coach. An active luminary who lost multiple games to non-Division I colleges in his initial campaign before ascending to stardom as the all-time winningest coach is Duke's Mike Krzyzewski (lost to SUNY-Buffalo, Scranton and King's College in 1975-76 while coaching Army).

TURKEYS

• Jeers to Hall of Fame coaches Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), Tom Izzo, Rick Pitino, Bill Self and Roy Williams (North Carolina) for respective Eeyore-like analysis after their schools became immersed in assorted Hall of Shame scandals. How close did Mike "Let's Move On" Krzyzewski come to joining this negative ACC-heavy list in aftermath of reasons for recruiting player paid by AAU coach/convicted felon, Reggie Love's profane party photographs, mediocre starter having $100G in jewelry, Rasheed Sulaimon's "Title IX" departure from Duke and one-and-done rental player Jahlil Okafor's infatuation with clubbing before the then NBA rookie center acquired a baby-sitting security guard before ever helping the Philadelphia 76ers win a game?

• Jeers to Division I schools in a chaotic restructuring of conferences forsaking tradition although the quest for mega-leagues could be delusional because they're vying for television revenue that might not exist as network sports divisions operate at ample deficits in pandemic era.

• Jeers to the striking number of power conference members who've provided a long list of players on their rosters participating in an authentic "War on Women."

• Jeers to recruiting services incapable of discerning who should have been a Top 100 recruit coming out of high school. Ditto to announcers who infect the sport by spreading this virus without ever seeing any of the players enough to properly evaluate them.

• Jeers to marquee coaches such as Bruce Pearl (Auburn) who've served up assistants as sacrificial lambs when the heat of an investigation of their program intensifies. Let's hope Pearl recognizes his current residence and has lower percentage of his latest SEC roster run afoul of the law than he did with Tennessee.

• Jeers to anyone who incessantly castigates the majority of undergraduates declaring early for the NBA draft. Before accepting the party line that many of the players are making monumental mistakes by forgoing their remaining college eligibility, remember that more than half of the NBA's All-Pro selections in the last several decades left college early or never attended a university.

• Jeers to any school for not promptly granting a recruit seeking to enroll elsewhere a release from its letter-of-intent when he wants to attend another institution for legitimate reasons.

• Jeers to "Me Generation" showmen who've failed to comprehend their respective teams don't benefit on the court from a trash-talking Harlem Globetrotter routine.

• Jeers to self-absorbed players who spend more time getting tattoos and practicing macho dunks than team beneficial free throws. It all hinges on dedication. There is a reason they're supposed to be "free" throws instead of Shaq-like "foul" shots.

• Jeers to high-profile coaches who take off for greener pastures despite having multiple years remaining on their contract or don sweaters and workout gear with a logo of a sneaker manufacturer instead of their school during TV games and interviews. Where is their allegiance?

• Jeers to network analysts when they serve as apologists for the coaching community. When their familiar refrain echoes throughout hoopdom, they become nothing more than the big mouths that bore.

• Jeers to marquee schools forsaking entertaining non-conference games with natural rivals while scheduling a half-dozen or more meaningless "rout-a-matics" at home.

• Jeers to several colleges that hired tainted coaches, showing winning is still more important than dignity at some schools of lower learning. The crass-act enablers of academic anemia know who they are!

• Jeers to defrauding coaches who manipulate junior colleges and high schools into giving phony grades to regal recruits even before encouraging them to take lame courses at their day-care facilities to keep the team GPA out of danger zone. Ditto coaches who steer prize high-school prospects to third parties toying with standardized test results.

• Jeers to "fatherly-advice" coaches who don't mandate that any player with pro potential take multiple financial literacy courses. Did they notice in recent years that products from Alabama, Georgia Tech, Georgetown, Kentucky and Syracuse filed for bankruptcy after combining for more than half a billion dollars in salaries over their NBA careers? What contrived classes such as Afro Studies at North Carolina are taken in college anyway if a staggering 60% of NBA players file for bankruptcy five years after retirement?

• Jeers to overzealous fans who seek to flog freshmen for not living up to their high school press clippings right away. The impatient onlookers need to get a grip on themselves.

• Jeers to the excessive number of small schools thinking they can compete at the Division I level. There are far too many examples of dreamy-eyed small schools that believe competing with the big boys will get them national recognition, make big bucks from the NCAA Tournament and put the institutions on the map. They don't know how unrealistic that goal is until most of the HBCU and hyphenated/directional schools barnstorm the country during their non-conference schedules in college basketball versions of Bataan Death Marches.

• Jeers to lap-dog media embarrassed looking the other way at Louisville when stripped naked by lap-dancing Katina the Escort keeping copious copulation comments to assemble one of the biggest stories of the decade (Get Your Fill in the Ville) while the press passed out from Pitino Personality or his bourbon. How many other Pitino Places are out there such as Bo Knows Affairs at Wisconsin?

• Jeers to coaches who weigh in on political issues thinking anyone cares about their self-serving views. They sound dumb as a doorknob (a/k/a rooftop-dancing bartender AOC).

• Jeers to ESPN (Extra Sensitive Pious Network) for rejecting a charity hospital ad promoting Jesus several years ago while giving forums to individuals who either lie to NCAA investigators as a head coach, lose new coaching job due to drunkenness, become a recruiting guru for the network after shady dealings at the highest level, specialize in man-check motivation, practice reprehensible race-baiting with the intellectually-bankrupt "Uncle Tom" bomb (Jalen Rose), damage our ears with Screamin' A. Stiff or spew journalistic-junk spin over the years with lunatic liberal propagandists Howard Bryant, LZ Granderson, Jemelle Hill and Bomani Jones.

Sky-is-the-limit expectations face 7-4 Canadian center Zach Edey of Purdue. It will be a tall order, but Toronto tower Edey's development likely will determine whether or not the Boilermakers win their first NCAA tourney title. Believe it or not, there has previously been a striking number of towering players with higher points of view.

Who have been the tallest players in major-college history? Seven of 11 NCAA Division I players taller than 7-4 have impacted major-college hoops this century and could literally look down upon national Player of Year winners Lew Alcindor (7-2/UCLA), Anthony Davis (7-0/Kentucky), Patrick Ewing (7-0/Georgetown) and Shaquille O'Neal (7-1/Louisiana State) plus two-time All-Americans Artis Gilmore (7-2/Jacksonville) and Hakeem Olajuwon (7-0/Houston). Nearly half of the players 7-4 or taller were layup line sideshows, averaging no more than 3 ppg in their major-college careers. Edey and juco recruit Jamarion Sharp, an emerging impact player at Western Kentucky, are among the following list of skyscrapers:

NOTES: George Bell (7-8/Morris Brown GA, UC Riverside and Biola CA), Paul Sturgess (7-7/Florida Tech and Mountain State WV), Manute Bol (7-6/Bridgeport CT) and Priest Lauderdale (7-4/Central State OH) played for non-DI colleges. . . . Homesick Gunther Behnke (7-4/Kentucky) left UK before start of 1984-85 season to return to his native West Germany.

"Holy shadows of the dead, I am not to blame for your cruel and bitter fate, but the accursed rivalry which brought sister nations and brother people to fight one another. I do not feel happy for this victory of mine. On the contrary, I would be glad, brothers, if I had all of you standing here next to me, since we are united by the same language, the same blood and the same visions." - Alexander the Great

The best back-to-back non-conference games of two of the previous six seasons may have been when Maryland came from behind to upend Georgetown both times. Where was this rivalry for more than three decades and why aren't they dueling again this campaign? We missed out on Patrick Ewing and David Wingate vs. Adrian Branch in the early 1980s, Reggie Williams vs. Len Bias in mid-1980s, Alonzo Mourning vs. Tony Massenburg and Walt Williams in late 1980s and early 1990s, Allen Iverson vs. Joe Smith in mid-1990s and Mike Sweetney vs. Juan Dixon at the turn of 21st Century. Instead of grand games giving us a shot of adrenalin, we got to overdose on cupcakes with the Hoyas and Terrapins combining to win all 66 of their mismatches against in-state weaklings UMBC, UMES, Morgan State and Towson from the early 1980s through 2003-04. It is time for both schools to commit to opposing each other like they did from 1946-47 to 1979-80. If so, the "Duel in D.C." immediately becomes annual must-see TV in pre-conference competition comparable to "Greatest Shows on Earth" such as Kentucky/Louisville, Illinois/Missouri and Cincinnati/Xavier.

Elsewhere, after 105 years steeped in history amid off-the-chart contempt, the rivalry between Kansas and Missouri came to a halt when Mizzou departed the Big 12 Conference for the SEC prior to common sense prevailing as a six-year series was negotiated beginning next season (2020-21). KU has a commanding edge in nearly every category (winning percentage, victories away from home and close games decided by single digits), but the Tigers have been enough of a tormentor to make the series as energetic and entertaining as you can find anywhere. Their border war stacks right up there with the more nationally-acclaimed "Clash of the Titans" between Duke and North Carolina.

Making about as much sense as creepy Plagiarist Bidumb securing 12 million votes than #AudacityOfHype (Obama) or hideous Hunter's artistry, it was shortsighted of KU and Mizzou to let their rivalry end for any length of time. Other great natural non-league match-ups their fans previously weren't able to enjoy on a regular basis needing to be extended include DePaul/Illini, Pitt/West Virginia, Texas/Texas A&M and Cincinnati/Ohio State.

We nearly required self-absorbed former Secretary of State John Kerry to bring James Taylor for a "You've Got a Friend" sing-along to ease the stress after Utah cancelled its game against BYU for a year before re-engaging. After bruised egos were healed, Mizzou will oppose KU in Kansas City much like it does in St. Louis against Illinois. But Mizzou couldn't complain when the Jayhawks acted like a jilted lover because the self-centered Tigers, hit-and-running away from problem akin to Beto O'Rourke DWI episode, fail to oppose competent in-state foes such as Missouri State and Saint Louis.

By almost any measure including Alexander the Great's perspective, KU has a superior program to Mizzou, which is at its lowest ebb in more than 50 years after mess-maker Frank Haith left the Tigers' program in tatters. But Jayhawks coach Bill Self should have reined in his rhetoric as the divorce dialogue intensified or at least take a crash course in college basketball history. When comparing the significance of the Kentucky/Louisville rivalry to the termination of KU's home-and-home conference conflicts with the Tigers, Self said: "Well, they've always played every year (out of league). That's all they know."

Well, Self needs to "always know" that UK and Louisville went 61 years from 1923 through 1983 without a regular-season matchup before they came to their senses and saw the light. Speaking of light, KU and Mizzou simply had to shed one lightweight apiece to keep a good thing going for the sport in general and for their fans specifically like the entertaining Philly Big 5. The two schools combined to raise $1.75 million for hurricane victims by playing an exhibition game in the fall of 2017. KU shouldn't also deny hoop fans a Top 20 match-up with Wichita State. But Self-less seems more interested in "scheduling" jobs for family members of prize prospects.

By toning down picking on patsies, there is plenty of room on their respective non-league schedules to keep playing each other. Ditto for Indiana and Kentucky duplicating Memphis and Tennessee resuming their rivalries this year. If consistent, they would definitely be among the top 10 such confrontations in the country. When the century-old KU/Mizzou spectacle returns, it could immediately surpass Kentucky/Louisville and go atop the following list of the nation's top 25 non-conference rivalries if only because of longevity:

1. Kentucky/Louisville
2. Illinois/Missouri
3. Cincinnati/Xavier
4. Iowa/Iowa State
5. Indiana/Notre Dame
6. Brigham Young/Utah
7. St. Joseph's/Villanova
8. Georgia/Georgia Tech
9. Florida/Florida State
10. Marquette/Wisconsin
11. Clemson/South Carolina
12. New Mexico/New Mexico State
13. Marshall/West Virginia
14. Utah/Utah State
15. Temple/Villanova
16. La Salle/Villanova
17. Florida/Miami (FL)
18. Iowa/Northern Iowa
19. Colorado/Colorado State
20. Drake/Iowa
21. Penn/Villanova
22. Providence/Rhode Island
23. Creighton/Nebraska
24. La Salle/Temple
25. Idaho/Idaho State

North Carolina, striving to return to huff-and-puff status, aspires to avoid losing more than 10 games three straight seasons for first time in 70 years. Rechon "Leaky" Black will do all he can to plug up the defeat dike this campaign. Black and teammate Donovan "Puff" Johnson are among the latest NCAA Division I players with entertaining nicknames. Bo and Mo, Buck and Duck, Butch and Dutch, Bud and Skip plus Red and Whitey are too commonplace. Black and Johnson joined the following long list of collegians over the years with the most distinctive monikers:

• Forest (Frosty) Able, Western Kentucky
• Edrice (Bam) Adebayo, Kentucky
• Greg (Cadillac) Anderson, Houston
• Nate (Tiny) Archibald, Texas-El Paso
• Paul (Curly) Armstrong, Indiana
• Raymond (Peanut) Arrington, Radford
• William (Bird) Averitt, Pepperdine
• Anthony (Cat) Barber, North Carolina State
• Norwood (Pee Wee) Barber, Florida State
• Jim (Bad News) Barnes, Texas Western
• Amadou (Coco) Barry, Maine
• Segado (Cookie) Belcher, Nebraska
• Charles (Buzz) Bennett, Minnesota
• Paul (Polly) Birch, Duquesne
• Ralph (Stork) Bishop, Washington
• Rechon (Leaky) Black, North Carolina
• William (Floppy) Blackmon, Texas Christian
• Roderick (Moo Moo) Blakney, South Carolina State
• Daron (Mookie) Blaylock, Oklahoma
• Tyrone (Muggsy) Bogues, Wake Forest
• Jermaine (Itchy) Bolden, Morgan State
• Roylin (Boot) Bond, Pepperdine
• Fred (Buzz) Borries, Navy
• Russell (Boo) Bowers, American
• Clayton (Bub) Bowling, Stanford
• Charles (Tub) Bradley, Wyoming
• Frank (Flash) Brian, Louisiana State
• Fred (Downtown) Brown, Iowa
• Murray (Mule) Brown, Florida State
• Simpson (Skip) Brown, Wake Forest
• Joe (Jellybean) Bryant, La Salle
• Luther (Ticky) Burden, Utah
• Michael (Spiderman) Burns, UNLV
• George (Chink) Busch, Creighton
• Claude (Muff) Butler, New Orleans
• (Pogo) Joe Caldwell, Arizona State
• David (Corky) Calhoun, Penn
• Bruce (Soup) Campbell, Providence
• Deltorio (Bam) Campbell, Georgia State
• John (Moose) Campbell, Clemson
• Earl (Kit) Carson, Washington & Lee
• Demond (Tweety) Carter, Baylor
• Bowyer (Ducky) Castelle, Xavier
• John (Happy) Chambers, San Francisco
• Sam (The Bam) Clancy, Pittsburgh
• Orrin (Tuffy) Clark, New Hampshire
• Craig (Speedy) Claxton, Hofstra
• Nathaniel (Sweetwater) Clifton, Xavier (La.)
• Shavon (Sugar) Coleman, Louisiana State
• Vernell (Bimbo) Coles, Virginia Tech
• Derwin (Tank) Collins, New Orleans
• John (Chubby) Cox, Villanova/San Francisco
• Earl (The Twirl) Cureton, Robert Morris/Detroit
• Adrian (Ace) Custis, Virginia Tech
• Wesley (Bing) Dahl, Washington State
• Edwin (Greedy) Daniels, UNLV/Mississippi State
• E.B. (Ox) Darby, Texas A&M
• Anthony (Amp) Davis, George Mason
• Arthur (Yah) Davis, St. Joseph's
• Glen (Big Baby) Davis, Louisiana State
• McKinley (Deacon) Davis, Iowa
• Ronald (Boo) Davis, Milwaukee
• Lewis (Pick) Dehner, Illinois
• Paul (Shorty) des Jardien, University of Chicago
• Alfred (Dusty) DeStefano, St. John's
• Walter (Corky) Devlin, George Washington
• John (Hook) Dillon, North Carolina
• Julius (Daddy) Dolnics, Texas Christian
• Clyde (The Glide) Drexler, Houston
• Dwight (Dike) Eddleman, Illinois
• A.R. (Monk) Edwards, Kansas State
• LeRoy (Cowboy) Edwards, Kentucky
• Theodore (Blue) Edwards, East Carolina
• Eyo (Bubbles) Effiong, Winthrop
• Eddie (Bulbs) Ehlers, Purdue
• Emil (Box) Englebretson, Creighton
• Julius (Dr. J) Erving, Massachusetts
• J.P. (Bubber) Farish, Auburn
• Kevin (Yogi) Ferrell, Indiana
• Ed (Fuzzy) Fine, Montana
• James (Bruiser) Flint, St. Joseph's
• Kevin (Ice) Florent, Southern
• Eric (Sleepy) Floyd, Georgetown
• Jackie (The Shot) Foley, Holy Cross
• Sylvester (Deuce) Ford, Memphis State/Louisiana State
• Clarence (Bevo) Francis, Rio Grande (Ohio)
• Maurice (Kojak) Fuller, Southern LA
• Arnold (Clyde) Gaines, Wisconsin
• Lauren (Laddie) Gale, Oregon
• Harry (The Horse) Gallatin, Northeast Missouri
• Erin (Helicopter) Galloway, Hawaii
• George (Iceman) Gervin, Long Beach State/Eastern Michigan
• Carlos (Bunny) Gibson, Marshall
• Ward (Hoot) Gibson, Creighton
• Merlin (Boody) Gilbertson, Washington
• Amory (Slats) Gill, Oregon State
• Maurice (Wilky) Gilmore, Colorado
• Elnardo (Chip) Givens, Cincinnati
• Jack (Goose) Givens, Kentucky
• Bob (Snake) Grace, Vanderbilt
• Arthur (Stretch) Graham, Oral Roberts/San Jose State
• Bonnie (Country) Graham, Mississippi
• Paul (Snoopy) Graham, Ohio University
• Roland (Tree) Grant, New Mexico State
• Phil (Cookie) Grawemeyer, Kentucky
• Mike (Fly) Gray, Nevada-Reno
• Ken (Tree) Green, Nevada-Reno
• Kenneth (Apple) Green, Pan American
• James (Stretch) Gregory, Wisconsin
• Thomas (Ice) Griffis, North Carolina A&T
• Rodell (House) Guest, Colorado
• Lucious (Buck) Hailey, Middle Tennessee State
• Harold (Happy) Hairston, New York University
• Lindsay (Spider) Hairston, Michigan State
• Charles (Chick) Halbert, West Texas
• Wade (Swede) Halbrook, Oregon State
• Bill (Biff) Hall, Montana
• Earl (Bus) Hall, Virginia Tech
• Maurice (Squeaky) Hamilton, Austin Peay State
• Tephen (Tang) Hamilton, Mississippi State
• Richard (Rip) Hamilton, Connecticut
• Anfernee (Penny) Hardaway, Memphis State
• Herbert (Hawkeye) Hargett, Mississippi State
• Chester (Chipper) Harris, Robert Morris
• Jim (Bubbles) Harris, Indiana
• William (June) Harris, North Carolina A&T
• Greg (Boo) Harvey, St. John's
• Clem (The Gem) Haskins, Western Kentucky
• Charles (Pud) Hassell, North Carolina
• John (Hondo) Havlicek, Ohio State
• E.A. (Shag) Hawkins, Auburn
• Robert (Bubbles) Hawkins, Illinois State
• Phillip (Doom) Haynes, Memphis State
• Herman (Skeeter) Henry, Oklahoma
• Clarence (Kleggie) Hermsen, Minnesota
• Eric (The Helicopter) Hicks, Cincinnati
• Jermaine (Squirt) Hicks, Weber State/Chicago State
• John (Babe) Higgins, Stanford
• James (Wimpy) Hill, Texas Tech
• Leon (Podd) Hill, Texas Tech
• Clinton (Bread Truck) Hinton, UNC Charlotte/Oral Roberts
• Anthony (Humpty) Hitchens, Akron/James Madison
• Derrel (Poncho) Hodges, Colorado
• John (Doc) Holliday, Montana
• James (Lindy) Hood, Alabama
• Tecumseh (Tee) Hooper, The Citadel
• Alfredo (Tito) Horford, Miami (Fla.)
• Gary (Spud) Hornsby, Cincinnati
• Greg (Stretch) Howard, New Mexico
• Charles (Bambi) Howland, Alabama
• Jaimie (Shoes) Huffman, Michigan State
• Bob (Cotton) Hughes, Northwestern
• (Hot) Rod Hundley, West Virginia
• Bob (Pudgy) Hunt, Oregon/Gonzaga
• Anthony (Jo Jo) Hunter, Maryland/Colorado
• Jimmy (Snap) Hunter, Memphis
• William (Tat) Hunter, Florida State
• Allen (The Answer) Iverson, Georgetown
• Hernell (Jeep) Jackson, Texas-El Paso
• Robert (Bobo) Jackson, North Carolina State/Murray State
• Willie (Hobo) Jackson, Morehead State
• Frank (Spoon) James, UNLV
• Karl (Boobie) James, UNLV/South Alabama
• Arthur (Brownie) Jaquay, Creighton
• Antonio (Scoop) Jardine, Syracuse
• Brooks (Bubba) Jennings, Texas Tech
• Keith (Mister) Jennings, East Tennessee State
• Eugene (Pooh) Jeter, Portland
• Carldell (Squeaky) Johnson, UAB
• Charles (Mandy) Johnson, Marquette
• Dana (Binky) Johnson, Canisius
• Demetrius (Meechie) Johnson Jr., Louisville
• Donovan (Puff) Johnson, North Carolina
• Earvin (Magic) Johnson, Michigan State
• Gary (Cat) Johnson, Oral Roberts
• Gus (Honeycomb) Johnson, Idaho
• Jaaziel (Jazz) Johnson, Portland/Nevada
• Julius (Juby) Johnson, Miami of Ohio
• Ken (Silk) Johnson, Alabama
• Kevin (Butter) Johnson, Charlotte
• Lynbert (Cheese) Johnson, Wichita State
• Millison (Milky) Johnson, California
• Stanley (Knot) Johnson, Baylor
• Walter (Weasel) Johnson, North Texas State
• William (Elmo) Johnson, Southern Methodist
• William (Skinny) Johnson, Kansas
• Albert (Slab) Jones, New Mexico State
• Anthony (Greyhound) Jones, Louisiana-Monroe
• Bobby (Toothpick) Jones, Dayton
• Byron (Snake) Jones, San Francisco
• Charles (Big Time) Jones, Oklahoma
• Eshaunte (Bear) Jones, Nebraska
• Gerald (Wimpy) Jones, Arizona State
• Ja'Kwan (Slinky) Jones, Quinnipiac
• Lamont (Momo) Jones, Arizona/Iona
• Lucious (Lucky) Jones, Robert Morris
• Ronald (Popeye) Jones, Murray State
• Steve (Snapper) Jones, Oregon
• Theodore (Mookie) Jones, Syracuse
• Tyrell (Turbo) Jones, Auburn
• Wallace (Wah Wah) Jones, Kentucky
• Willie (Hutch) Jones, Buffalo State/Vanderbilt
• Antoine (The Judge) Joubert, Michigan
• Wilbert (Wibs) Kautz, Loyola of Chicago
• Robert (Jeep) Kelley, UNLV/Hawaii
• Harold (Hardwood) Kelly, Mississippi
• Harry (Machine Gun) Kelly, Texas Southern
• Bill (Pickles) Kennedy, Temple
• Darryl (Choo) Kennedy, Oklahoma
• Eugene (Goo) Kennedy, Texas Christian
• Bob (Trigger) Kenney, Kansas
• Lamarr (Fresh) Kimble, Saint Joseph's/Louisville
• Bruce (Sky) King, Pan American
• Raymond (Circus) King, San Diego State/California
• William (Dolly) King, Long Island
• Irwin (King Kong) Klein, NYU
• Trantell (Tweety) Knight, Middle Tennessee
• Danrad (Chicken) Knowles, Houston
• Donald (Pinky) Knowles, Creighton
• Ed (Moose) Krause, Notre Dame
• Cletus (Goob) Kuehler, West Texas State
• Craig (Cubby) Lathen, Illinois-Chicago
• David (Big Daddy) Lattin, Texas-El Paso
• Albert (Cappy) Lavin, San Francisco
• Hal (King) Lear, Temple
• Arnold (Butz) Lehrman, Minnesota
• Bob (Slick) Leonard, Indiana
• Leroy (Axle) Leslie, Notre Dame
• Andrew (Fuzzy) Levane, St. John's
• Lafayette (Fat) Lever, Arizona State
• Ernie (Pop) Lewis, Providence
• Eugene (Junie) Lewis, Pittsburgh/South Alabama
• Brant (Pinky) Lipscomb, Vanderbilt
• Lewis (Magic) Lloyd, Drake
• (Jungle) Jim Loscutoff, Oregon
• Charles (Slim) Mabry, Texas Christian
• (Easy) Ed Macauley, St. Louis
• Theodore (Tito) Maddox, Fresno State
• John (Dub) Malaise, Texas Tech
• Karl (The Mailman) Malone, Louisiana Tech
• (Pistol) Pete Maravich, Louisiana State
• Tom (Cookie) Marsh, Detroit
• Floyd (Biggy) Marshall, Tennessee
• Ray (Dice) Martin, Notre Dame
• Slater (Dugie) Martin, Texas
• Charles (Buster) Matheney, Utah
• Bill (Moose) Matthews, Virginia Tech
• Ray (Rags) Matthews, Texas Christian
• Cedric (Cornbread) Maxwell, UNC Charlotte
• Ayome (Paco) May, Kansas State
• Miles (Deuce) McBride, West Virginia
• Charles (Smokey) McCovery, Oklahoma
• E. (Branch) McCracken, Indiana
• Marvin (Moon) McCrary, Missouri
• Angus (Monk) McDonald, North Carolina
• Ken (Mouse) McFadden, Cleveland State
• Cornelius (Scooter) McFadgon, Memphis/Tennessee
• Billy (The Hill) McGill, Utah
• Horace (Bones) McKinney, North Carolina State/North Carolina
• Eric (Cricket) McLaughlin, Akron
• Don (Monk) Meineke, Dayton
• Gene (Squeaky) Melchiorre, Bradley
• Dean (The Dream) Meminger, Marquette
• Francis (Ick) Miller, Creighton
• Josh (Cookie) Miller, Nebraska
• Ryan (Archie) Miller, North Carolina State
• Malik (Shake) Milton, Southern Methodist
• DeShon (Biggie) Minnis, Texas Tech/Rhode Island/Wright State
• Taurean (Tank) Minor, Louisiana State
• Roland (The Cat) Minson, Brigham Young
• John (Swisher) Mitchell, Rhode Island
• Jonathon (Pookie) Modica, Arkansas
• Earl (The Pearl) Monroe, Winston-Salem State
• Ed (Britches) Montgomery, Tennessee
• Bryan (Dinty) Moore, Stanford
• Harry (Moo) Moore, West Virginia
• Jonathan (Stitch) Moore, Furman
• Javone (Bam) Moore, Canisius
• Tony (Zippy) Morocco, Georgia
• Charles (Dubby) Morris, West Virginia
• Ronnie (Tuffy) Moss, Texas Christian
• Christopher (Kit) Mueller, Princeton
• Kevin (Moon) Mullin, Princeton
• Charles (Stretch) Murphy, Purdue
• Charlie (Feed) Murphy, Loyola of Chicago
• Fronze (Buzzy) Myatt, Texas A&M
• Lourawls (Tum Tum) Nairn, Michigan State
• Charles (Cotton) Nash, Kentucky
• Craig (Noodles) Neal, Georgia Tech
• Douglas (Booty) Neal, Kansas
• Sherman (Nemo) Nearman, North Carolina
• Bill (Fig) Newton, Louisiana State
• Richard (T-Bone) Nielsen, Weber State
• Lemuel (Rip) Nixon, Ohio University/St. Francis (Pa.)
• Bob (Bevo) Nordmann, St. Louis
• Ken (Snake) Norman, Illinois
• Martyn (Moochie) Norris, Auburn
• Ralph (Buckshot) O'Brien, Butler
• Don (The Ox) Ogorek, Seattle
• Garland (Mule) O'Shields, Tennessee
• Bill (Fumbo) Ouseley, William & Mary
• Carlton (Silk) Owens, Rhode Island
• Horace (Pappy) Owens, Rhode Island
• William (Smush) Parker, Fordham
• Adrian (Spanky) Parks, Eastern Kentucky
• Larry (Choppy) Patterson, Clemson
• Darryl (Cuda) Patterson, South Florida
• Charles (Tyke) Peacock, Kansas
• Herschel (Bones) Pedersen, Brigham Young
• James (Scoonie) Penn, Boston College
• Ray (Cookie) Pericola, South Carolina
• Edward (Pancakes) Perry, Middle Tennessee State
• Ron (Spider) Perry, Virginia Tech
• Frank (The Flake) Peters, Oregon State
• Jamine (Greedy) Peterson, Providence
• Philip (Pap) Peyton, Texas
• John (Squint) Phares, West Virginia
• Milton (Milky) Phelps, San Diego State
• Paul (The Truth) Pierce, Kansas
• Clarke (Pinky) Pittenger, Toledo
• Leonardo (Gyno) Pomare, San Diego
• Nathanial (Giddy) Potts, Middle Tennessee State
• DeWayne (Pooh) Powell, Tennessee-Martin
• RaShawn (Pookie) Powell, Memphis/La Salle
• Phil (Flip) Pressey, Missouri
• Charles (Bubba) Price, Auburn
• George (Tic) Price, Virginia Tech/Virginia Commonwealth
• Carl (Dusty) Pullian, UT-Chattanooga
• Cal (The Hawk) Ramsey, New York University
• Andrew (Scootie) Randall, Temple
• Earl (Shadow) Ray, Wyoming
• Bryant (Big Country) Reeves, Oklahoma State
• Richie (The Cat) Regan, Seton Hall
• Jesse (Cab) Renick, Oklahoma A&M
• Angelo (Rock) Reynolds, Penn
• Billy (The Kid) Reynolds, Northwestern State
• Jerry (Ice) Reynolds, Louisiana State
• Bob (Posey) Rhoads, Wake Forest
• Rudolph (Zip) Rhodes, Montana
• Allen (Alkie) Richards, Cincinnati
• Cornelius (Poonie) Richardson, Jacksonville State
• Jerome (Pooh) Richardson, UCLA
• Glenn (Doc) Rivers, Marquette
• James (Skeeter) Roberts, Marshall
• Oscar (Big O) Robertson, Cincinnati
• Glenn (Big Dog) Robinson Jr., Purdue
• Julius (Doc) Robinson, Auburn
• Leonard (Truck) Robinson, Tennessee State
• Wayne (Tree) Rollins, Clemson
• Elwood (Woody) Romney, Brigham Young
• Alfred (Big 'Un) Rose, Texas
• Alvin (Fats) Roth, City College of New York
• Charles (Boonie) Russell, Alabama
• Daron (Fatts) Russell, Rhode Island
• Michael (Campy) Russell, Michigan
• Kent (Rip) Ryan, Utah State
• Forest (Aggie) Sale, Kentucky
• Sebastian (Subby) Salerno, Creighton
• James (Booney) Salters, Penn
• Allen (Duffy) Samuels, Old Dominion
• Juan (Pepe) Sanchez, Temple
• Albert (Apple) Sanders, Louisiana State
• Tom (Satch) Sanders, New York University
• Frank (Pep) Saul, Seton Hall
• Philip (Flip) Saunders, Minnesota
• Adrian (Flipper) Sensabaugh, Austin Peay State
• John (Bubber) Seward, Duke
• Tom (Shotgun) Shaules, Seattle
• Northern (Doc) Shavers, Jackson State
• Nevil (The Shadow) Shed, Texas-El Paso
• Michael (Pops) Sims, Marquette
• Emilio (Zeke) Sinicola, Niagara
• Adrian (Odie) Smith, Kentucky
• Robert (Bingo) Smith, Tulsa
• Jermaine (Sunshine) Smith, UNLV
• Kenneth (Speedy) Smith, Louisiana Tech
• (Sudden) Sam Smith, UNLV
• Vernon (Catfish) Smith, Georgia
• William (Beaver) Smith, St. John's
• John (Squeaky) Spanbauer, Niagara
• Dave (Ditto) Sparks, George Washington
• Marion (Odie) Spears, Western Kentucky
• Forrest (Frosty) Sprowl, Purdue
• Dave (The Rave) Stallworth, Wichita
• Jerome (Dimp) Stenftenagel, Mississippi
• Bob (Sweeper) Stephens, Drexel
• James (Cookie) Stern, Baylor
• Lawrence (Puff) Summers, Davidson
• George (Swede) Sundstrom, Rutgers
• Harley (Skeeter) Swift, East Tennessee State
• Gilbert (Gibby) Talbot, Louisiana Tech
• Anthony (Ace) Tanner, Davidson
• Levern (Jelly) Tart, Bradley
• Clarence (Babe) Taylor, Vanderbilt
• Claude (Sleepy) Taylor, Middle Tennessee State
• Hugh (Bones) Taylor, Tulane
• Marvin (Corky) Taylor, Minnesota
• Robert (Cat-Eye) Taylor, Middle Tennessee State
• Roland (Fatty) Taylor, La Salle
• Irv (Swede) Terjesen, New York University
• Albert (Bobo) Thomas, Centenary
• Cleveland (Pancake) Thomas, New Mexico/Hartford
• Howard (Trey) Thompkins, Georgia
• Blackstone (Blackie) Thompson, Alabama
• John (Cat) Thompson, Montana State
• Walter (Pinky) Thompson, Southern California
• Marvis (Bootsy) Thornton, St. John's
• Charles (Duke) Thorpe, Virginia Tech
• Nate (The Great) Thurmond, Bowling Green
• Harland (Fats) Tolle, Morehead State
• William (Frenchy) Tomlin, Cleveland State/Rhode Island
• Gene (Bumper) Tormohlen, Tennessee
• Carlyle (Blackie) Towery, Western Kentucky
• Julius (Bunny) Townsend, Clemson
• Victor (Slick) Townsend, Oregon
• Robert (Tractor) Traylor, Michigan
• Roderick (Rocky) Trice, South Carolina
• Wilbur (Tree) Trosch, St. Francis (Pa.)
• Thomas (Tee) Trotter, Maryland-Eastern Shore
• Adolph (Fito) Trujillo, Arizona State
• James (Pop) Tubman, Loyola (Md.)
• Robert (Slip) Turner, Canisius
• Robert (Spider) Ursery, Iowa/Connecticut
• Ernest (Kiki) Vandeweghe, UCLA
• Charles (Chico) Vaughn, Southern Illinois
• Raymond (Spook) Victor, Colorado State
• Glenn (Stick) Vidnovic, Iowa
• LeTrell (Snoop) Viser, Eastern Illinois
• Mathias (Mutt) Volz, Nebraska
• Malcolm (Sparky) Wade, Louisiana State
• Brandon (Tank) Wahlmann, Rider
• Chet (The Jet) Walker, Bradley
• Jordan (Jelly) Walker, Seton Hall/Tulane/UAB
• Vincent (Spotlight) Walker, Western Carolina
• Corey (Pooh) Wallace, Clemson
• Adrian (Spike) Walters, St. Francis (Pa.)
• Ray (Shag) Warren, Texas Christian
• Dwayne (Pearl) Washington, Syracuse
• Josh (Jiggy) Watkins, Utah
• Anthony (Spud) Webb, North Carolina State
• Marvin (Human Eraser) Webster, Morgan State
• James (Poo) Welch, Houston
• Charles (Bubba) Wells, Austin Peay
• Gawen (Bonzi) Wells, Ball State
• James (Chubby) Wells, Clemson
• Lawrence (Lanky) Wells, Louisiana Tech
• Ross (Spike) Welsh, Richmond
• Byron (Whizzer) White, Colorado
• Jarming (Boozer) White, Siena
• Joseph (Jo Jo) White, Kansas
• Milton (Bus) Whitehead, Nebraska
• Charles (Hawkeye) Whitney, North Carolina State
• Leland (Pookey) Wigington, Seton Hall
• Evan (Hootie) Wiley, Oklahoma
• Keith (Silk) Wilkes, UCLA
• Richard (Buzz) Wilkinson, Virginia
• Anthony (Cricket) Williams, Jacksonville
• Anthony (Scoop) Williams, Toledo
• Earnest (Pooh) Williams, Utah State
• James (Bug) Williams, Syracuse
• James (Fly) Williams, Austin Peay State
• Jerome (Flip) Williams, Fairfield
• John (Hot Rod) Williams, Tulane
• Ken (Juice) Williams, Houston
• Marcellus (Boo) Williams, St. Joseph's
• Ron (Fritz) Williams, West Virginia
• Sylvester (Sly) Williams, Rhode Island
• Alvin (Pooh) Williamson, Tulsa
• Jim (Jiggy) Williamson, Rhode Island
• (Super) John Williamson, New Mexico State
• Javarez (Bean) Willis, Texas Tech/Ohio University
• Thomas (Bubba) Wilson, Western Carolina
• Urgel (Slim) Wintermute, Oregon
• Leslie (Skeet) Woolard, UNC Greensboro
• Willie (Woo Woo) Wong, San Francisco
• Anthony (Sweet) Wright, Delaware
• David (Poncho) Wright, Louisville
• Gerry (Sir Jamalot) Wright, Southern California/Iowa
• Joseph (Joby) Wright, Indiana
• Rodney (Pop) Wright, Drake
• Desmond (Boogie) Yates, Middle Tennessee State
• Paul (Hooks) Yesawich, Niagara
• Max (Slats) Zaslofsky, University of Chicago/St. John's
• Bob (Zeke) Zawoluk, St. John's

Whether it's keeping the polish gleaming on a pristine program or reversing the fortunes of a struggling school, new head coaches are seeking ways to surmount a series of seemingly incessant hurdles. Here is an alphabetical list by school summarizing the principal challenges facing new Division I head coaches this season: