The All-Star Pathway

Tipoff

What do the schools Davidson, Fresno State, Murray State, and Weber State have in common with Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, and UCLA? The answer, of course, is that they are pipelines for producing NBA All-Stars. Steph Curry (Davidson), Paul George (Fresno State), Ja Morant (Murray State), and Damian Lillard (Weber State) come from mid-majors that have little to no track record in sending their stars to the NBA. This winter, they will all share the honor of having alumni in the biggest exhibition game in basketball with the likes of Jayson Tatum (Duke), Joel Embiid (Kansas), Anthony Davis (Kentucky), and Zach LaVine (UCLA). If you want to be a basketball hipster, now is the time to pay attention to the mid-majors. You can say you knew about the next NBA superstar before it was cool.

The path to NBA stardom is a mystery. Plenty of top picks from “NBA factories” often flame out. The Cinderella stories from March Madness do the same. Valparaiso University’s Bryce Drew, now head coach of Grand Canyon University, used a famous buzzer beater in the 1999 NCAA tournament to help propel his team to the Sweet 16 and himself all the way to the 1st round of the NBA Draft. He had a journeyman’s career once there, averaging 4.4 points per game across 6 seasons and 4 teams. Not every mid-major superstar is going to be the next NBA All-Star. And some of the teams poised to succeed in March stumble along the way. Don’t let that discourage you from enjoying the ride.

In this week’s Wednesday Superlatives, I highlight one player that might be the next star of March Madness, Mark Sears of Ohio University. He may not end up on the winning end of a first round upset, but he might. If you have spare time, consider catching a Bobcats game to see what the dynamic scoring guard can do. Consider it your New Year’s Resolution to keep an eye out for the next Steph Curry, wherever she or he may be.

The Mixtape 

The Field of 68 team puts out lots of great content each week. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights.

• You know how, after a big game, you are wired and know you won’t be able to fall asleep for a good long while? Is that just me? I doubt it. I’ve got a great idea for you, following those big games. Tune into Field of 68: After Dark!. We have great hosts, like John Fanta and Sean and Archie Miller. Last night, following the big Auburn-Alabama matchup, the trio hosted the star of the night, Jabari Smith. They talked about the end of the game with the future NBA Draft lottery pick.

•  The Seat 14 podcast, featuring Tod Lanter and Twany Beckham meet up over a glass of, what else, bourbon, to talk about UK’s big Citrus Bowl win over Iowa and the tough loss for Kentucky basketball at the hands of LSU. Life on the road in the SEC is no joke. As former players, Tod and Twany reminisce about their experiences away from Lexington and how the Wildcats prepare their players for the NBA.

•   While Ann Arbor was walking on cloud 9 following the big win over Ohio State at the Big House, the Wolverines men’s basketball team has been on the struggle bus. On Go Blue with Stu, The Athletic’s podcast duo, Nick Baumgardner and Brendan Quinn of The Beat, join Stu to talk about what’s wrong with Michigan and where Juwan Howard can go from here to turn things around before it is too late.

Four Point Play 

Every week, we’ll check in with one of our podcast hosts and see what they’re up to besides producing compelling content for us at The Field of 68.

This week, we checked in with Landen Lucas, former Kansas standout and co-host of The Glue Guys podcast (available on Apple Podcasts Spotify, or wherever you access podcasts). 

1. You call yourself the “ultimate glue guy,” someone willing to do all the little things necessary to win. Does this current Kansas team have a glue guy? If so, who is it and why? If not, who should it be and what do they need to do to keep it all together?

• I think with this team right now, that guy would be Christian Braun. The reason why is that he’s going out there with energy, doing some of the dirty work, getting rebounds, and doing things that aren’t expected of him. He’s doing his job well. Now that might be different than what I did. If you ask me who it should be, I go to the bigs. David McCormack should be that guy. They need somebody inside that can hold it down, set good screens, get rebounds, and get easy buckets around the rim. He has shown that he can do that in the past. If he does that, this team can go from good to great. 

1. The Big 12 looks especially brutal this year with as many as 7 teams - plus a very talented but postseason-ineligible Oklahoma State team - poised to make the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Do you feel that the strength of the conference is going to better prepare Kansas for the postseason or wear it down?

• I think it is going to prepare them, for sure. Not only are they good teams, especially defensively, they are going to show you different looks. You are going to see the Baylor zone, the West Virginia press. That confidence is going to be infused into the team. Going through that tough grind is going to mentally prepare them even if it is mentally taxing and prepare them for the postseason.

1. For more than 4 years, Kansas has had this sword hanging over the head of the men’s basketball program in the form of the FBI investigation into corruption in college basketball. That turned into an NCAA investigation and this week, Kansas asked for an alternative to the appeals process that has been underway since seemingly as long as Perry Ellis has been affiliated with KU. What, if anything, have these investigations meant to Kansas and what would it mean for all of this to get resolved soon?

• I think it would mean a little bit of closure. There is so much changing in college basketball with NIL and rules. I am not sure when this will close. The longer it drags out, the more it moves into the background. If it does end, that will help with recruiting and allow everyone to move on from this.

And one!

1. Some readers may know that I recently became a father this past December. Your podcast is co-hosted by you and your father, Richard. As a son that seemingly gets along with his dad, what has your father done to instill a love of basketball into your life? And what should I do as a father based on the role Richard has set for you?

• What he did was play, coach, and be involved. When I was a little kid, he ended up being a coach, being an agent. When I was a little kid, I just wanted to be like him. It helped that I grew to be 6’9” tall. It helped to see his love for it and that allowed me to love it too.

Stay tuned for upcoming episodes of The Glue Guys, with Richard and Landen Lucas. Upcoming guests include current and former Jayhawks.

Wednesday Superlatives

Each week, we will shine a light on a team and an individual player that has captured the hearts of the world of college basketball.

• Team of the Week: Texas Tech

  • WHAT. A. WEEK. First, the Red Raiders, under new head coach Mark Adams, took care of Kansas in Lubbock without their two leading scorers, Terrence Shannon, Jr. and Kevin McCullar. Then, on Tuesday night, they do the seemingly impossible and waltz into Waco to knock off #1 and previously undefeated Baylor. The reigning National Champs, Baylor, on their home court. McCullar came off the bench. That is not just the most impressive two-game regular season stretch of the season.  That’s one for all time. Also, check out this dunk from All-Name team member Adonis Arms. That’s tough!

• Player of the Week: Mark Sears

  • The Ohio Bobcats of the Mid American Conference are having an excellent season at 13-2 with the only losses coming to LSU and Kentucky. If you are looking for this year’s CInderella Story, take a close look at Ohio and Sears, one of the nation’s leading scorers. Sears scored 28 points against Kent State on Saturday by navigating through defenders as if they were traffic cones or hitting timely jumpers with his lefty jump shot. The dynamic guard has been on a scoring binge of late as he keeps Ohio atop the MAC.

Box Score

Basketball can be told through the numbers. We take a look at some of the numbers from the last week of college hoops.

• 92. Sacred Heart Academy of Connecticut suspended the high school’s women’s basketball head coach, Jason Kirck following a 92-4 win over Lyman Hall High School. School president Sister Sheila O’Neal stated that she regretted the remorseless manner in which Coach Kerick guided his team to an 88-point margin of victory. (Hartford Courant)

• 12. Indiana men’s basketball head coach Mike Woodson has won 12 games when wearing a suit this season. When Woodson is dressed for business, the Hoosiers are 12-0. When Woodson has not worn a suit, the Hoosiers are 3-0. (Reddit user t4nd4)

• 4. The Associate Press (AP) Poll on Monday featured Baylor and Gonzaga as #1 and #2, respectively. This is the 4th time in the history of the poll that the two teams that played in the National Title game the previous season were atop the poll the following season. (Jared Berson, ESPN Stats & Info)

• 2. Of the 100 most-watched television broadcasts in 2021, college basketball tallied 2 broadcasts, including the NCAA men’s basketball tournament title game. The list was dominated by football games, including 75 from the NFL. All but 6 of the television broadcasts were sporting events. (Sportico)

• 1. On Tuesday, January 4th, Rutgers earned its first ever win against Michigan in basketball, ending a 13-game losing streak to the conference foes. (Sports Reference) 

Around the Rim

This section highlights some of the best writing on college basketball to hit the web. Consider these your extra credit assignments for spring semester.

• Heat Check MBB | Bracketology: Analyzing impact of metrics in NCAA Tournament selection, seeding

• CBS Sports | Dribble Handoff: College basketball's top under-the-radar players who could be potential stars

• The Athletic | Fouls in college basketball are at an all-time low. Is that a good thing? Hoop Thoughts [$]