Where will we be? Everywhere, for the first time.
The very first year of our existence we couldn’t even get to both Final Fours. That year, 1998, was the last year the women’s Final Four was not played at a predetermined site and we simply couldn’t get a team up to Maine on that short notice.
Things have certainly changed for the better for us over the past decade. This year, for the first time, we’ll have a crew at all eight sectional finals, so you can listen to D3hoops.com’s coverage of every Elite Eight game, thanks to Allinbroadcasting and NCAASports.com.
I’ll be at St. John Fisher for all three games. Seth Cantor and Eric Ren will call the final from Amherst on Saturday and video will be available. Dave McHugh will be at Virginia Wesleyan for all three games and Wayne Randazzo is making the trip to UW-Stevens Point for three as well.
Mark Simon will do all three games from Emmanuel. Gordon Mann is doing all three games at Luther. Lance Medow makes his network debut for us from NYU, with John Vukelj joining him on Friday. And Sugar Ray Martel will call the Elite Eight game from Scranton for us on Saturday.
And in true D-III penny-pinching fashion, we do all this with one flight. 🙂
Then we’ll have crews at both Final Fours. There will be live online video produced by the NCAA for both semifinals and the third-place game with our broadcasters calling the action and we’ll have an audio broadcast of the title game, including the announcements of our All-American teams in our pregame coverage.
Ah yes… making a return trip to Virginia Wesleyan for the sectionals, but this time I will be calling the games (miss my broadcasting partnet, Pat Coleman this year! Still have the Final Four to get back in the swing of things!).
Should be a great set of games in Norfolk. I truely look forward to seeing all the games and think once again, the team out of this sectional may be underrated (like VA Wes was last year). If anyone is heading to the games, please make yourself known. We always like to know who has made the travel with us.
Finally, remember also that Hoopsville will be On the Road at both Final Fours. Gordon Mann and Mark Simon (both regional reporters for the show) will represent the show in Springfield, while I take Hoopsville back to Salem for the seventh straight year. Click on the links for more information to our schedule! And we will all look forward to seeing you… at either Final Four!
The Virginia Wesleyan Sectional will prove to be a rough one for anybody in it.
If you look at it from a Mississippi College point of view, you’re 27-2, one of the best teams in the Nation…but you have to go on the road. I can imagine them coming in with a BIG chip on their shoulder. I can imagine them saying, “Why can’t we host?” This is one of the best defenses (if not THE best) in all of Division III. Let’s not forget they are battle tested as well. The ASC had a great year and that benefited the Choctaws and even Mary Hardin-Baylor this year. The Choctaws will be a test for the next team I’m mentioning.
Virginia Wesleyan is probably feeling a since of urgency because they had to fight for wins against Averett and Hampden-Sydney. The Marlins have been living dangerously it seems. 8 threes for them and 2 for the Cougars bolstered the Marlins to the victory. Imagine one less for VWC and one more for Averett…it would be a different result and that Sectional might very well be in Mississippi. It’s been a fight for the Marlins, but improvisation has been key for them. Brandon Adair had 5 assists while anybody else who recorded an assist for the Marlins had either 1 or 0. Adair is still putting out solid numbers and his overwhelming love for the game translates to success on the court. But man, the Marlins have a HUGE test…on their home floor. They do well in the Batten Center.
I forgot that Lincoln was the team that set the Division III single-game scoring record against OSU-Marion. 201 points….79 field goals…….56% from the field…..75 rebounds…..40 assists! Thats enough to make your head spin. If we take the focus off of that, Lincoln has a tough schedule in many ways. They had Ramapo (twice) and a good NJ City team on their schedule. However, since they are an independent, they have to play so many tournaments it almost feels different. This is a ver athletic team that reminds me a lot of Emory & Henry: they run constantly, they love to shoot, and they are very athletic. Yet, they toned it down a touch against Catholic. Don’t count out this team. If they happen to come out of this sectional, this would be a story without a doubt.
Then there is Guilford. They lost to Bridgewater in the ODAC Quarters, but they still got into the NCAA Tournament…and they have taken advantage of it. The fans were fully behind this team in Baltimore last weekend and in the past, Guilford barely had fans. Say whatever about “it’s only because they are winning,” but it was a vibrant crowd at Johns Hopkins. That also added to the hostilities of that second round game. Lots of hostilities between both sets of fans and players. Those ushers at Goldfarb Gym got their money’s worth and then some. Kudos to that crew, that can be a major headache. Ben Strong and Jordan Snipes had solid weekends, but the bench added to the cause. Clay Henson, Justin Strickland, and Tyler Sanborn (all freshmen) have complimented that team.
The Batten Center, I will assume, will be rocking on Friday Night. I’m sure tickets will be incredibly scarce up until an hour before tip. They listed the attendance for the VWC/HSC game at 1,480. I wouldn’t be surprised if they go above 1,500 for this one.
I’ll be calling the game for the Guilford Quaker Network on Friday. Our start time is currently TBD. I look forward to meeting all parties involved in Norfolk/VA Beach!
Will be in attendance so I won’t hear the call, but congratulations to Lance on his triumphant return to the Coles Center. Even if he did defect to Columbia…