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Jakob is co-POTW sharing the accolade with Omaha LHP Caleb Riedel. You really have to give the league office tremendous credit for their creativity. By having co-POTW recipients, neither of who are from the Dakotas, they can claim two awards went outside of the Dakotas without taking any future opportunities away from Dakota based pitchers. It is really genius if you think about it. If I'm objective, and I am admittedly biased, the tie is defensible but geez, after back to back dominating performances, doesn't the dude deserve to win the award outright? Hall: 8 shutout innings, 4 hits, 8 Ks Riedel: 7 shutout innings, 3 hits, 8 Ks.

I am shocked that ANY combination of players averaged 8 rebounds per game last season.

Thank you for your prayers!!! Astros' Ronel Blanco with the complete game no-hitter against the Blue Jays tonight! If the Astros would not have been swept by the Yankees to start the season, they would totally be undefeated right now!

Thanks as always OT for that insightful analysis.

Mills lucked out getting one of the best mid-major players in the history of college basketball (Max). Barring catching lightning in a bottle twice, he'll be an assistant coach again within the next 1-2 seasons.

That had to be the worst half of basketball in the history of the Duke program....a complete collapse in all phases of the game.

Top Transfer Target Issac McBride Takes Official Recruiting Visit To Wichita State Taylor Eldridge - The Wichita Eagle March 30, 2024 Wichita State is zeroing in on an elite scorer in the NCAA transfer portal with ties to men's basketball head coach Paul Mills. Issac McBride, who averaged 19.8 points per game this past season at Oral Roberts, is wrapping up his official visit to Wichita State on Saturday. It is believed to be his first official visit since entering the transfer portal on Tuesday. McBride spent time at the WSU baseball game at Eck Stadium on Friday afternoon, then listened to a recruiting pitch to reunite with Mills and current WSU assistant Kenton Paulino, who both coached McBride for two seasons at Oral Roberts from 2021-23. McBride, a 6-foot-1 lead ball-handler, averaged 11.8 points and 2.6 assists per game for Mills' final team at Oral Roberts, which went a perfect 18-0 in league play and won the Summit League tournament championship. Following the departure of Mills and star players in Max Abmas (Texas) and Connor Vanover (Missouri), McBride became the focal point of the offense for the Golden Eagles, who labored through a 12-19 season. He made 44.8% of his shots from the field, 39.4% of his 3-pointers on more than five attempts per game and shot 89% from the foul line. This past season showed he was capable of shouldering a large offensive load (26.6 usage rate) while remaining efficient (114.0 offensive rating). That's the exact kind of score-first lead guard who has thrived under Mills' system in the past. Synergy logs show McBride did a lot of his damage in the pick-and-roll game, where he ranked in the 80th percentile nationally in scoring efficiency on high volume. He was a three-level scorer for Oral Roberts, capable of punishing defenders who ducked under screens, reading drop coverage and pulling up for mid-range jumpers or beating both his defender and the big to the rim and finishing over contests. While scoring is the primary focus for McBride, he was decisive and accurate in his decision-making when making passes to others. He finished with 97 assists and just 53 turnovers for a minuscule 10.7% turnover rate, an impressive mark for someone who had the ball in his hands as much as him. For reference, WSU's three leaders in assists all had turnover rates north of 20%. For a team that struggled with ball handling, outside shooting and efficient scoring, McBride appears to be the perfect fit for what WSU needs. And with the built-in connection with Mills and Paulino, there's a chemistry that could convince McBride to spend his last season of college basketball playing for the Shockers. He has yet to publicize a list of potential suitors since entering the transfer portal on Tuesday, but it is believed that McBride has been attracting interest from high-major programs. A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, McBride was named the 2019 Arkansas Gatorade Player of the Year and led his high school to three straight state championships. He originally signed with Kansas out of high school, but transferred before playing a game and played his freshman year at Vanderbilt. He then transferred to Oral Roberts, where he has spent the last three seasons. WSU currently has four scholarships to offer in its 2024 recruiting class, which has a pair of incoming freshmen in Texas guard Zion Pipkin and Wichita wing TJ Williams, the 2024 Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year. It's still early in the transfer portal season, but currently WSU has returning rotation players in Quincy Ballard, Harlond Beverly, Xavier Bell, Ronnie DeGray III and Bijan Cortes still on the roster. Meanwhile, Rogers, Kenny Pohto, Isaac Abidde and Jalen Ricks are currently exploring other options in the transfer portal. This story was originally published March 30, 2024, 3:30 PM. ©2024 The Wichita Eagle

Next season, maybe we need to shift our focus from the men's team to the women's. They seem to have a better chance of succeeding--at least, as of today, things look good! We never know what might happen in the months ahead...

Yeah I thought of the 1990 UNLV team

Cochell - .713 winning percentage (7 out of 10 years in the NCAA tourney against much stronger competition) Walton - .687 winning percentage (9 out of 9 years in the NCAA tourney) Golloway - .682 winning percentage (6 out of 8 years in the NCAA tourney after he got the program back on its' feet) Folmar - .612 winning percentage (and if we miss the NCAA this year, will have made the NCAA 6 out of 11 years) Look...I am not trying to be a "hater". Ryan Folmar is a genuinely nice human being and a decent baseball coach. My point last year (and still my point today) is you need to look at the entire picture when assessing...anything. I always harken back to ORUTerry's infamous comment about things are never as bad or as good as they seem. And yeah...had a great honeymoon in the Bahamas!

Purdue is a 9 point favorite tomorrow night. I would be tempted to give you the points and NCSU.....but I am following @theeagleman5's great example and refraining from sports betting.

Right now, ORU is bringing back 3 guys that saw action last year and they averaged 12 points and 8 rebounds. It could change and some of the players could take their name out of the portal but right now the cup is pretty empty. I cannot remember a year when the Eagles returned a total of 12 points from the previous team. Even Mills first team had more talent than that. Coach Springmann will show the fanbase what he is made of this upcoming year because he has his hands full in 24-25. I think the key is to spend the offseason and preseason teaching all these new guys about: toughness, defense, and rebounding. That is how Rick Barnes built his teams and Coach Springmann is of course, from his tree of coaching.

What pressure? Based on what ORU has returning, all he needs to do is the lead the team in rebounding and scoring while playing 38 minutes a game and avoiding foul trouble.

You can put Oklahoma Christian Schools' Blake Griffin in that category with Minor, Reeves, Rutherford, et al. It does happen, but those guys usually go to a P4 school - not a mid-major (again, usually). I am cautiously optimistic that Luke becomes a diamond-in-the-rough for us - just like Caleb and Max - but we need to ensure that we put Luke in a place where he can be the best version of himself without the pressure and expectations. For next year, HCRS needs to allow his assistants to develop the troops (under his guidance), while HCRS focuses on the team chemistry and ensuring that when someone gets out of the "team mentality" that he addresses that swiftly and firmly for the sake of the season at hand. I think that we learned a good (albeit hard) lesson about what "hero ball" does to a team. Just watch the OKC Thunder to see how a bunch of talented starters and bench players play well together.

It's not too late for this team to gel, but it certainly appears that the "pride" of the team is still developing.

We have been talking about Luke at this link, @Boris93.

I think that the current recruiting environment results in high school kids being overlooked as the Power 6/8 schools look almost exclusively for portal transfer players. These schools are scouring not just mid/low major schools, but also D2 and D3 schools. (They saw the effect Oakland’s Jack Gohlke had this year.) The unfortunate effect of loosened transfer rules and NIL money is that mid/low major schools have become feeders to the major programs. The irony is that ORU may be able to identity and grab some nice high school players as the major schools look elsewhere. Luke Gray may be an instant contributor to the team, but if he blossoms there is a good chance he won’t stay at ORU all four years.

I haven't seen much about this yet, but this looks to be a huge signing for ORU. Check out some of his highlights on his twitter page. Looks to be a tremendous player and a great quality kid. Really pumped to see him at the Mabee next year!