The power of the pen, or in this case the keyboard, allows me the luxury of writing about some pretty fun stuff at this time of year. Unfortunately the situation is such that I can’t get to everything or everybody. There are 122 teams in this NCAA Tournament and they’re all story-worthy in some way, shape or form.
That’s where you, our loyal reader, comes in.
I’m throwing out a challenge within this blog. Let’s get to know all 122 NCAA Tournament teams. Here’s how you can help. Tell us, in 50-or-so words, the most interesting thing about the team or teams that you follow. Or to think of it another way: What’s “Division III” about your particular team? I’ll start us off with a few and hopefully that will get the ball rolling. The goal is to educate everyone about every team in the tourney.
Men’s
WPI: The old fogeys in the crowd will like the way senior guard Ryan Flynn plays. Flynn kicks his legs back when he shoots jump shots, ala Dick Barnett, who was a key contributor on those New York Knicks NBA championship teams from a few years ago. Only recruited by two Division III schools, Flynn was the team’s leading scorer in the NEWMAC semis and finals.
Amherst: Reserve forward Adolph Coulibaly is an artist with the basketball, literally. The Brown transfer was one of two students commissioned for an art exhibit that featured portraits of 25 of the most influential individuals in American sports history.
Baldwin Wallace: My arrival in Berea for a game earlier this season was greeted by a story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer telling how Tori Davis, the likely All-American forward, hopes someday to work on ESPN’s basketball coverage. He may end up on ESPN’s highlights this season, the way things have played out for the OAC champs, as Davis has developed a knack for last-second heroics.
York (N.Y.) Kwesi Liverpool, who had played previously for three seasons, left the team earlier this season in an effort to find work, but returned midway through when he found he missed the game too much. In 17 games since his return, Liverpool is shooting 62 percent from the field and averaging better than 13 points-per-game.
Women’s
Baruch- Sophomore Chiresse Paradise didn’t intend to go to Baruch, but came on a visit when her friend Naesha Tyler-Moore decided to consider coming from the Chicago area. After some pickup play, several Baruch players went to head coach Machli Joseph and told him to recruit the “other” girl from Chicago. Paradise and Moore both came to the school and Paradise was CUNYAC Player of the Year on a team that won the league title for the first time.
Wesleyan- The Cardinals will make a return trip to Virginia for their first-round NCAA game, which is particularly convenient for the family of the school’s top player. Wesleyan’s season started in Arlington, the native city of its All-American candidate Hannah Stubbs (whose family was an annual listener to D3Hoops.com’s Wesleyan webcasts) and will now continue in Fredricksburg, on Mary Washington’s campus, against Muhlenberg.
That’s half a dozen for you. Help us put a checkmark next to the other 116 on our list.
D3hoops.com bracketologists (yeah, we’ll accept this as a word, ESPN-types) huddled for a few hours and broke down Pool C for the men in advance of the tournament projections we’ll release tomorrow. Here’s where things stand at this hour, in the order we chose them: