Happy Easter everybody! Just wanted to take the time to share some thoughts about this last season in both women's college and girls high school hoops. I wanted to wait just a bit after the season culminated with the Minnesota Girl's State Tournament to absorb a few things and think about them for a while.
1. First, let's talk about the Minnesota Girl's State Tournament that ended just a little more than a week ago. A memorable state tournament for sure but I think what made this one different from the ones in recent years was (a) the unpredictability and volatility of many of the games and (b) the emergence of young, new fresh talent that burst onto the scene during tournament week. While Goodhue rolled to the title in Class A without too much trouble, unheralded and unseeded New London-Spicer knocked off third-seeded Minnehaha Academy and second-seeded Sauk Centre before falling to top-seeded Plainview-Elgin-Millville in the Class AA title game. The Class AAA field was filled with even more land mines. How about TR Falls knocking off top-seeded Hutchinson or unheralded Becker pulling off a big upset by beating St. Paul Como Park? Second-seeded Winona made it through the first round unscathed and ultimately got to the title game but how many would have ever thought that fifth-seeded Holy Angels would come out of nowhere to grab the title? Then in Class AAAA, how about unseeded White Bear Lake taking out second-seeded STMA in the first round? The Hopkins - Minnetonka final did happen as many people thought that it would but I doubt many anticipated that it would be the Skippers setting the tone early and then holding off a valiant comeback attempt by Hopkins in the second half. The other big storyline of the 2016 tournament was the emergence of youth. When Roseau burst onto the scene last year, we found out about both Kiley and Kacie Borowicz but this year we found out there was still another sibling to be thrown into the mix - seventh-grader Katie Borowicz who got several minutes in the games that the Rams played. And how about Becker eighth-grader Mackenzie Kramer who played with no fear in the Bulldogs opening-round upset of St. Paul Como Park? Eighth-grader Paige Bueckers of Hopkins also had a few moments where she stole the spotlight and I think it's just one of the many signs that girl's high school basketball in Minnesota is alive and very well, thank you.
2. Just as a follow-up on the Girl's State Tournament front, I still find it a bit surprising (if not disturbing) that MSHSL still does not have a set concussion protocol. Instead, it is my understanding that this is left up to the individual schools. If anyone out there knows something I don't know, please feel free to chime in here but this is something that must change, IMHO.
3. A decent run by UST in getting to the Sweet 16 although you can bet they wish they could have copied the results of the men's team by winning it all this year. Still amazing how Wartburg out of the IIAC made that unbelievable run to the Final Four before falling to Tufts. Many (including yours truly) had left Wartburg for dead after they lost to Coe in the first round of the IIAC playoffs but once they got into the Dance they definitely made the most of their opportunity. I expect that the Knights will be very good next year but they won't be able to sneak up on people like they did this time around.
4. I think that, when you take a look at the unbalanced schedule that the MIAC has now adopted, it has done - for the most part anyway - what it's supposed to do; i.e., give these teams a chance to schedule quality opposition outside of conference play. That said, it's the responsibility of each school - particularly those in the upper echelon of the conference that have a realistic shot of reaching the NCAA Tournament - to schedule teams that will undoubtedly help strengthen the so-called "SOS" (strength of schedule) that is one of the critical items that the NCAA Tournament committee looks at when deciding which teams receive at-large bids over other teams. This is what likely did in SMU on Selection Monday (though I think they Cardinals deserved to be in anyway) and, to a lesser extent, GAC. You've just got to have either one or two "signature" victories that can tip the pendulum in your favor in front of the committee. That's why teams such as Wartburg and UW-Whitewater got in over SMU and GAC. So now you either have to somehow get into some holiday tournament that has a host of good teams in it or you have to find someone who's agreeable to do a "home-and-home". Both options can be dicey propositions filled with obstacles. Personally, I think a great solution (and potentially a "win-win" situation) would be to have a MIAC-WIAC or a MIAC-IIAC Challenge. There are different ways you could do this, of course, but I think it would be cool to have a venue such as UST's Schoenecker Arena hosting something one year and then have it at either a WIAC or an IIAC venue the next. I think it's something that could potentially stir a lot of interest while at the same time give these MIAC teams a real opportunity to raise that proverbial "SOS" to increase their chances of getting an at-large bid come tournament time.
5. While I'm on the subject of the NCAA Tournament, I have to admit that I was somewhat disappointed by the lack of turnout of MIAC coaches (and players for that matter) at the Sweet Sixteen pod that UST hosted earlier this month. If you're really looking to take things to the next level, this was an opportunity to take in the experience to see what needs to be done. It was an opportunity missed, IMHO.
6. I didn't get a chance to weigh in at all back in December on the sudden resignation of Concordia St. Paul Head Coach Paul Fessler. I must admit that I was taken aback when I heard the news and I did not see this coming at all. The timing made it all that much harder to accept. I think the Golden Bear program is in good hands with Amanda Behnke and whether the "interim" tag stays or not remains to be seen. Still, Fessler is one of the best coaches out there and this guy knows his "X's and O's" and I hope someone out there has the good sense to hire him when an opening comes up.
7. How can I close this out without saying something about Minnesota's Rachel Banham? In addition to being a candidate for the prestigious Wade Trophy, Banham was the second-leading scorer in the nation with her 28.6 ppg and she finished her Golden Gopher career in sixth place on the NCAA's all-time scoring list with 3,093 points. There were instances late in the season where she practically willed her team to unlikely victory. Ultimately, the loss to Northwestern in the B1G Tournament killed the Gophers chances of making the NCAA Tournament. Hopefully she'll be able to make up for that disappointment by doing big things in the WNBA.
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