Today’s Daily News & Notes from around the college basketball coaching world…
Indiana head coach Archie Miller is taking some heat from the Indy Star’s Gregg Doyel. After Miller blamed last night’s loss 75-71 loss to Illinois on a lack of toughness, Doyel TWEETED the following with a link to his latest article: “IU’s Archie Miller blames his team’s loss to Illinois last night, and its poor record overall, on a lack of toughness. Which is weird, because I see a lack of coaching.” More HERE.
Taking shots at your team seems to be a trend this week, as Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski also took aim at his team by calling them “soft” after their loss on Monday night to Miami. “I didn’t think we competed. I thought we were soft. I saw it in practice yesterday and tried to take steps to change that. We were not able to change it. I’m really disappointed in our team. They did not play like a Duke basketball team tonight.” More from the News & Observer HERE.
Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg talked about a “scary” bout with COVID, as his team is emerging from a shut down. “I got a little scared, to be honest with you, just with everything I’ve had in my past with two open-heart surgeries and being fully dependent on a pacemaker,” Hoiberg said Tuesday. “It concerned me. And I did have chest pains. That was the scary thing.” Hoiberg said that he has undergone a battery of heart tests since recovering from the virus and that everything looked normal. More HERE.
UAB head coach Andy Kennedy, who was hired 10 months ago during the early stages of the pandemic, still hasn’t see much of campus. In fact, the UAB alum has still not been allowed inside the new student center because it’s designated for students only – they turn away everyone else at the door. An interesting look from AL.com on Kennedy’s tenure so far with the Blazers HERE.
There is no basketball going on in the Ivy League this season, but Penn head coach Steve Donahue filled The Daily Pennsylvanian in on his 95% rule coaching strategy. Donahue strives for 95% of his players’ shots to be three-pointers or layups. According to the article, “this principle limits the amount of low percentage mid-range jump shots that often detract from a team’s shooting efficiency”. A pretty interesting read HERE.
Alabama head coach Nate Oats wrote a letter in support of the “Let Them Play” initiative in Michigan. Oats, who spent 11 seasons as the head coach at Romulus HS in MI, joined Michigan’s Juwan Howard (HERE), and Oakland’s Greg Kampe (HERE) in supporting HS basketball to get under way. Oats full letter can be read HERE.
Toledo’s 91-76 win over Akron last night was the 200th victory on the Toledo sidelines for head coach Tod Kowalczyk. The Rockets are now 16-4 overall and 11-1 in league play as the victory gave them their 13th win in last 14 outings. More HERE.
Arkansas Associate Head Coach David Patrick has been named to Australia Men’s Basketball’s National Team staff. More HERE.
New Mexico State has announced that they will play their remaining home games at Eastwood High School in El Paso, Texas. Pretty impressive HS gym….
ICYMI: Former Northern Illinois head coach Mark Montgomery, who was released in early January, has landed as an assistant at Detroit Mercy. More HERE.
The Week 10 HoopDirt.com / Just Play Solutions Coach of the Week Award winners were announced on Monday The complete list of winners can be found HERE. Nominations for the week 10 award can be sent to: [email protected]. Deadline is Sunday at 5pm.
