Category Archives: General

Next stop: Asia

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By Jordan Delp

Jordan Delp is a men’s basketball player at Augustana. He is blogging about the team’s trip to China.

Three years ago at this time I was an incoming freshman listening to head coach Grey Giovanine tell me about the unbelievable opportunities I was going to have at Augustana. At the time my soon-to-be teammates with the Vikings were practicing and preparing to travel overseas to play in Ireland. Due to NCAA rules I was not allowed to participate in either the practices or the trip.

Looking back, I can definitely remember first wishing that I could be going on that trip with those guys and also wondering what that experience would be like. I also remember thinking how much I was looking forward to being able to go overseas as a senior with my own teammates and friends. Those would be guys I had already established a strong relationship with during my time at Augustana.

There’s no need to wonder anymore, as we prepare to travel to Hong Kong, China, and Tokyo, Japan for two weeks of basketball, unbelievable sight-seeing, new cultures, and much more. There will be 15 players and three coaches as we are set to take off on a ride that none of us will ever forget. It’s hard to imagine going with a better or closer group of guys than the one I get to travel with these next two weeks. We have already began to leave our mark on this trip, having practiced and stayed together for eight days leading up to this.

Our practices have been intense so far, comparable to those we will have as we prepare for our first regular season games at the start of the year. It’s a great start for our team, as we are set to face some of the toughest competition any of us have ever played against. As you know if you have been following the articles in the Moline Daily Dispatch about this trip, we will play three professional Chinese teams that will test our ability to stay together and play as a team.

There are definitely some changes in style of play that we will be forced to adapt to quickly, and it has been cool to kind of learn them on the run so far. Wider and more open lanes, a shorter shot clock, and live balls over the rim are a few of the bigger changes in play we will see on our trip. I think we are all looking forward to the quick tempo that we will see.

One of the more difficult aspects of this trip is the amount of time we’ll spend in the air flying from place to place. For someone like me, who recently flew for the first time since he was two years old, on a two hour flight from Florida to Moline, 16 hours of flying the first day makes me a little uneasy. But, it’s all part of the experience, and something we can get through the same way we’ll get through a lot more on this trip: together, as a team. Some of the trip will definitely have its ups and downs or bumps in the road, but how many people do you know that have had the chance to represent the USA on foreign soil in athletics?

We do, and we plan to take full advantage of that opportunity.

You will hear from me next when we get to Tokyo.

Small college sites get noticed

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I recently participated in an e-mail interview with Chris Preston, who writes for ESPN.com, about our sites and the state of small-college sports information on the Web. His piece was recently published and I wanted to point it out as a good discussion of where the sites have been and where they are heading.

Though the column inexplicably starts with the younger site — D2Football.com, the various D3sports.com sites are discussed in some detail. 🙂

Just one note: I didn’t promise weekly columns in other sports, just suggested that they could be possible. Anyone interested, let me know.

A well-deserved honor

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Congratulations to University of Rochester Sports Information Director Dennis O’Donnell on his recent induction into the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Hall of Fame.

O’Donnell’s professional resume includes CoSIDA’s Irv Marsh Award in 2003, a 25 Year Service Award in 2006 and frequent trips to the men’s and women’s final four weekends, whether with the Yellowjacket teams or as a volunteer. Now he can add this Hall of Fame distinction, which is enjoyed by only 26 other members at CoSIDA’s College Division (NCAA Divisions II and III, NAIA, Junior Colleges and Canadian Schools).

Dennis has also been a big contributor to our efforts in all the ways we could hope for – nominating All Region candidates, providing excellent pregame notes, posting game releases, and letting us know about interesting stories around the Rochester sports teams.

And like a lot of other Sports Information Directors at this level, Dennis works long hours behinds the scenes so University boosters, alums and parents can stay on top of UR sports. That requires a lot of patience on his part and we suspect a lot of support from his family.

Sports Information Directors are the silent partners of these websites in a lot of ways. They provide invaluable information and assistance for just about everything we do. So we’re very happy to add our congratulations to one of the best in the business.

Lincoln officially gone to Division II

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Lincoln’s term in Division III is over, as the Lions are officially moving into their Division II membership starting this season. Lincoln might still play Division III schools, but we will no longer be tracking their schedules and results and they will no longer be eligible for the postseason.

Lincoln struggled to find games as an independent in Division III and was unable to gain conference affiliation.

The Lions hit our radar strongly on Feb. 8, 1999, when a broken backboard at Marymount forced the suspension of their game with approximately eight minutes left. I went down to Marymount for the conclusion on a Sunday afternoon shortly thereafter, which was the last time I saw Lincoln play until the Sweet 16 at Virginia Wesleyan in 2006.

Lincoln was part of some epic games in the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons, as well as some infamous games.

Best of luck to Lincoln after moving down to Division II.

Hitting the books

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Great news to get the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s academic rankings this week — I’m always glad to see the student portion of student-athlete get recognized.

Also, they used to come out in August, when it’s so far past the end of the school year that it’s dated to mention it.

Congrats to Hardin-Simmons and the other 23 Division III women’s basketball teams recognized. Hopefully someday the National Association of Basketball Coaches can do the same for men’s basketball.