Greg Oden: Airmen really know how to knock ‘em back
May 10th, 2012 | Air Force Basketball | Posted by Phil Creed
When most folks think of the Air Force, things like stealth bombers, crisp blue uniforms and nuclear weapons come to mind. Not for Greg Oden, apparently.
Grantland’s Mark Titus scored an interview with the ex-Portland Trailblazer, getting the former No. 1 overall pick to open up about his cursed NBA career. One of the nuggets Oden revealed was that during his second season in the league he developed a serious drinking problem. So what does this have to do with the Air Force? Let Oden explain:
But after longing for a veteran role model the previous season, Greg got exactly what he wanted in his second year, only the results were disastrous. That’s because it wasn’t an NBA veteran who took Greg under his wing in his second season — it was his veteran cousin from the Air Force who moved into Greg’s house in Portland.
“If you know anything about guys in the Air Force,” Greg explained, “it’s that they drink a ton. My cousin got wrapped up in the NBA lifestyle and threw parties at my house all the time. So I got wrapped up in it too. When I played well, I’d drink to celebrate. And when I played poorly, I’d drink to forget. That second year in Portland I pretty much became an alcoholic.”
And with that, a bad week for the Air Force gets slightly worse.
Academy sports roundup: Friday night Navy football, Army documentary debuts, Air Force hoops
April 12th, 2012 | After Action Air Force Army Basketball Football Navy | Posted by Kevin Lilley
Hundreds of soldiers attended Army's spring football scrimmage March 9 at Fort Benning, Ga. A documentary on the game airs this weekend on CBS Sports Network. (Army photo by Staff Sgt. Teddy Wade)
Three Thursday-afternoon academy sports bits, one per service:
1. Army at Benning, on TV: It’s a little early for Saturday college football, but if you’ve got the itch, scratch it with “Army Spring Football Mission: Fort Benning,” a 60-minute documentary on the Black Knights’ trip to Georgia for a scrimmage at Doughboy Stadium. Catch a short preview here, during which Army head coach Rich Ellerson says the magic words regarding the Benning experience for all Black Knights fans: “It’s going to pay off on Saturdays.” CBS Sports Network will air the doc at 8 p.m. Eastern, according to an Army release; if nothing else, it’s a fine excuse to find that channel on your local cable provider — all three academy football teams likely will be featured on CBS Sports Network sometime this season.
2. Friday night lights: Speaking of football on the magic box, the Naval Academy announced via Facebook that the Navy-Central Michigan game will move from Saturday, Oct. 13, to Friday, Oct. 12, and will air in prime time on ESPN2. The Mids are 2-0 all-time against the Chippewas and last faced them in 2010, winning 38-37. It’s the only Friday game on Navy’s schedule (so far) this season; fittingly, CMU will celebrate Military Appreciation Night that evening.
3. Falcon hoops recruits: The academies don’t participate in the high school hoopla that is signing day for either football or basketball, so digging up the details on recruiting classes can be a challenge. Frank Schwab at the Colorado Springs Gazette answers the call, however, with this primer on the Air Force 2012 men’s basketball class. The usual recruiting-link caveat: Every class looks good on paper.
Report: Former Navy star Avila transfers to Richmond
April 10th, 2012 | Basketball Navy | Posted by Kevin Lilley
J.J. Avila guards Missouri's Steve Moore during a Dec. 10 game at Mizzou Arena. According to a report, Avila will play for Richmond after sitting out next season. (US Presswire photo by Dak Dillon)
J.J. Avila, the 2010-2011 Patriot League Rookie of the Year and Navy’s leading scorer last season despite leaving the team in early February, will transfer to the University of Richmond for his remaining two seasons of basketball eligibility, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Monday.
Avila, who averaged a team-best 15.9 points in 21 games this season, resigned from the academy Feb. 8, according to a Navy media release. The Annapolis Capital newspaper reported Feb. 2 that he’d been “suspended indefinitely due to an undisclosed violation of Naval Academy rules.”
The 6-foot-7 forward must sit out next season because of NCAA transfer rules.
Richmond finished 16-16 last season, falling in the first round of the Atlantic-10 tournament. Navy went 0-8 without Avila to finish the year, leaving them with an NCAA-high 22-game losing streak entering next season.
Academy sports update: Wojcik’s new job, Army baseball sweeps Navy, football schedule strengths
April 2nd, 2012 | Air Force Army Baseball Basketball Football Navy | Posted by Kevin Lilley
Naval Academy standout (and former assistant coach) Doug Wojcik will take over the top job at the College of Charleston this season. (US Presswire photo by Marvin Gentry)
Three quick academy sports hits to start your week:
1. Back on the bench. Doug Wojcik, who set a variety of Navy assists records while playing alongside all-everything center David Robinson and later served as an assistant coach with the Mids, was hired by the College of Charleston over the weekend to take over for retiring head coach Bobby Cremins. Wojcik was fired last month after seven seasons at Tulsa, compiling a 140-92 record but never reaching the NCAA tournament. Speaking of all-everything college players, Wojcik will be replaced at Tulsa by Kansas assistant Danny Manning.
2. Four-game sweep. There weren’t 90,000 fans in attendance and CBS didn’t carry the contests on network television, but it’s still an Army-Navy rivalry — only this time, the Black Knights can claim some serious bragging rights. Army started its Patriot League baseball season by sweeping a two-day, four-game series at Annapolis by scores of 2-0, 6-2, 9-5 and 7-2. Sunday’s opener went nine innings (college doubleheader games are scheduled for seven), but Army senior Zach Price’s two-run triple keyed a four-run rally to give the win to the Black Knights (19-7, 4-0 Patriot League). One of the Black Knights’ hottest bats belongs to freshman Harold Earls, who’s riding a nine-game hitting streak and has reached base safely in 23 straight contests. The losses dropped Navy to 11-16 on the year (0-4 Patriot League).
3. An “Army Strong” schedule? Over at the Colorado Springs (Colo.) Gazette, Frank Schwab points us to strength-of-schedule rankings released — and immediately ridiculed — by college football guru Phil Steele. In his post, Steele reveals Navy ranks dead last among the 124 Football Bowl Subdivision schools in SOS as measured by the NCAA, with Air Force at No. 121 and Army way, way up there at No. 35. But Steele only passes along the official figures so he can explain how inferior they are to his yet-to-be released power rankings because the NCAA bases its numbers on last year’s records; top recruiting classes or departing superstars aren’t factored in. Curious who’s playing who when? Bookmark these here sites, presented weakest schedule first.
Carrier Classics? Report says hoops game coming to Midway museum in November
March 20th, 2012 | After Action Basketball | Posted by Kevin Lilley
The USS Midway Museum, during a 2011 celebration of Chief Petty Officer Pride Day. Can you picture a hoops court in place of the insignia? (Navy photo by MC2 James R. Evans)
Last week came the news that a key organization behind the 2011 Quicken Loans Carrier Classic had settled on a new host on a new coast for 2012, scheduling a college basketball doubleheader (men’s and women’s) for the World War II-era carrier Yorktown, now a museum ship in South Carolina.
West Coast hoops-on-a-carrier lovers had only a few hours to be disappointed. A few days after the (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier report cited last week, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the USS Midway Museum, in San Diego Bay, will host a Nov. 9 men’s game, likely between San Diego State and Georgetown. This game would be called “Battle on the Midway” and would be televised nationally, according to the report.
Organizers with both events promised more information after the NCAA men’s tournament ends in early April: small items like confirmed participants, title sponsors, TV partners — that kind of thing. Those details will determine which, if either, of these events will be viewed as the true successor of last year’s inaugural game. Either way, the move from one game on a commissioned carrier to three games on two museum ships could make the proceedings a little less special.
New coast for Carrier Classic? Museum ship Yorktown could host
March 14th, 2012 | Basketball | Posted by Kevin Lilley
Michigan State's Draymond Green leads the Spartans to the court aboard the carrier Carl Vinson on Nov. 11, 2011. In 2012, the carrier game could go old-school, aboard the World War II-era Yorktown. (Getty Images photo by Harry How)
Near the beginning of the 2011-12 college hoops season, North Carolina downed Michigan State 67-55 aboard the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson in the Quicken Loans Carrier Classic. In a few days, both teams will compete for the NCAA title as No. 1 seeds — giving them much better odds at claiming a championship than you have at winning your office pool.
But what about the flattop festivities for this November? With no carrier readily available in San Diego, the future looked dim. Until this report from The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier, that is.
According to the paper, the World War II-era carrier Yorktown, now a museum ship at Patriots Point, could host a Nov. 9 college hoops doubleheader — a women’s game between Notre Dame and Ohio State and a men’s clash between Connecticut and an opponent to be determined. Patriots Point officials and reps from the Morale Entertainment Foundation, which ran last year’s event, are working out the details, according to the report.
The article doesn’t address what holding the game on a museum ship will do to the participation level of the Navy — those guys in the white hats in that picture don’t hang out aboard museum ships all that often. Without the active-duty appeal, will ESPN want to air the game? Will the title sponsor return? Will the president show up again?
One organizer told the paper that more details, including an official announcement, could come early next month.
Short trip: Navy women’s basketball visits Maryland to open NCAA tourney
March 12th, 2012 | After Action Basketball Navy | Posted by Kevin Lilley
Do these Mids look scared?
Know who else is happy with the Navy’s draw in the NCAA women’s hoops tournament? Whoever’s in charge of the travel budget.
After claiming their second-straight Patriot League tournament title with a 57-48 win over Holy Cross on Saturday, the Mids will open NCAA play at Maryland, facing the host Terps at 11:15 a.m. this Saturday. There’s already a link for tickets through the University of Maryland’s website.
The hosts are coming off their own tournament title, taking the Atlantic Coast Conference crown with a 68-65 win over Georgia Tech on Sunday.
Despite being in the same state, Saturday marks the first meeting between the Mids and Terps. And for Navy, “uphill climb” might be an understatement: Sophomore Jade Geif, who led the Mids with 22 points against Holy Cross, is also atop the stat sheet with 11.0 points per game — which would barely crack Maryland’s top five. Top Terp scorer Alyssa Thomas (17.4 ppg) was named ACC Player of the Year on March 1.
Of course, if there weren’t upsets in March, your office would be a lot less noisy over these next few weeks. Get the full women’s bracket here. And if you haven’t entered the Military Times Battle of the Brackets, click here. (Quick note to men’s teams: Want a top seed? Play on the deck of an aircraft carrier. So far, 100 percent success rate.)
Good news: Navy hoops losing streak is over … until November
March 1st, 2012 | Basketball Navy | Posted by Kevin Lilley
All-Patriot League rookie Worth Smith, here shooting over a Siena defender Nov. 16, 2011, will lead the Mids into the 2012-2013 campaign. (US Presswire photo by Mark L. Baer)
OK, maybe “over” is a stretch: The Midshipmen ended their season Wednesday night with an 87-63 loss at Bucknell in the opening round of the Patriot League tournament, keeping their losing streak alive at 22 games, tops in college basketball.
Navy (3-26) will have eight solid months to adapt and overcome; the full 2012-2013 schedule likely won’t be released until August at the earliest, and games won’t begin until shortly before Thanksgiving — the Big East could add 27 football teams by then, give or take.
Four quick silver linings for Navy fans who, at this point, would probably settle for bronze. Or tin:
1. Youth movement: Freshman forward Worth Smith earned a spot on the Patriot League All-Rookie Team and led all active (read: not suspended or resigned) Mids in rebounds (146, or 5.0 a game) and blocks (22). Junior guard Jordan Brickman had a team-best 64 assists. Sophomore guard Isaiah Roberts, an all-rookie choice last year, played in all 29 games, started 18 of them, led all active players with 33 steals and put up a team-best 20 points in Wednesday’s finale.
2. Even younger youth movement: A caveat here — every recruiting class looks good on paper, or else it wouldn’t be a recruiting class. Still, The (Annapolis, Md.) Capital’s Bill Wagner has a fine roundup here of what to expect out of next year’s freshmen, a recruiting class that will include a number of prep school standouts.
3. Let’s get this over with: Navy is 77-28 in season openers, including a 78-70 win over Longwood to start this season. Starting off strong is always important, but even more important when you’re trying to bury the longest losing streak in school history.
4. Academy rivalry update: Army’s season — also over.
Army’s Ellis makes 1st-Team All-Patriot, first Cadet to do so since 2008
February 27th, 2012 | Army Basketball | Posted by Phil Creed
Army junior forward Ella Ellis is a unanimous selection to the All-Patriot League 1st team, the conference announced Monday.
It’s been another tough year for the Cadets (12-17, 5-9), who haven’t had a winning season since 1985. But Ellis has been a bright spot. He surpassed 1,000 points, becoming just the 28th player in the program’s 110-year history to reach that milestone. He leads Army in scoring (17.7 ppg) and rebounding (4.7 rpg), and is second on the team in assists. Ellis’s recognition marks the first time since Jarell Brown in 2008 that a Black Knight made first team All-Patriot.
The Army athletic department did the video piece below about Ellis, and it goes into his unique background — he lived in Jamaica as a kid and wasn’t highly recruited until his senior year — and why he chose to attend West Point.
Basketball: Binghamton’s losing streak ends, Navy men take over top spot
February 22nd, 2012 | Basketball Navy | Posted by Kevin Lilley
Forget March Madness. It’s just another reason for Navy basketball fans to be mad, period.
The Binghamton Bearcats, the only winless team in NCAA Division I basketball entering Tuesday’s action, snapped a 27-game losing streak last night with a 57-53 win over Vermont.
How does a late-season American East Conference upset affect the Midshipmen? Well, the Bearcats’ losing ways were providing the last bit of cover for Navy’s struggling squad: With Binghamton on a one-game tear, the Mids (3-23) now own the nation’s longest losing streak, which sits at 19 games entering tonight’s 7 p.m. home game against Patriot League rival Lehigh.
After Lehigh (21-7), Navy will travel to Bucknell (20-8) on Saturday to end the regular season. Then comes the Patriot League tournament, which probably means another trip to Bucknell. The Mids will be heavy underdogs in all three games; barring an upset, Navy would enter a long, long offseason on a 22-game skid — not quite this bad, but not exactly a feel-good academy hoops story.
However … if you’re going to pull an upset, there’s no better night than Senior Night. For the ever-faithful planning to attend tonight’s contest, the Mids have a series of fan appreciation events and ticket discounts available. Check here for the details.