Suddenly, any win over Wright State is quality
Mar 11, 2007 2:23:32 GMT -5
Post by Admin on Mar 11, 2007 2:23:32 GMT -5
www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2007/03/10/ddn031107audible.html
Suddenly, any win over Wright State is quality
By John Erickson
Staff Writer
Sunday, March 11, 2007
I was listening to ESPN radio the other day on my way home from work when the basketball coach for Bradley University came on and talked about his team's chances for the NCAA tournament.
Although Bradley, which plays in the tough Missouri Valley Conference, lost in its conference tournament, the coach said the team's quality wins should qualify them for the NCAA's big show.
Then he said something I've never heard in all of my years in Dayton. In mentioning why his team is so good he said they beat three conference champions.
One of them he mentioned was Wright State.
Perhaps that says as much as anything about the rise of the Wright State basketball program. Even their losses are deemed significant.
When Wright State played Bradley, none of this could have seemed possible. At the time, our heroes were 2-3, and the Bradley game was the low point of the season. DaShaun Wood was far from all-world, with just 10 points, and the rest of the team was worse.
The final score was 88-49, and it was never close. The Raiders shot about what I do now when I'm launching bricks outside my house. For every shot they made, there were two others they missed.
Well, we know what's happened since. Wright State got on a roll and twice defeated a Butler team that beat the likes of Notre Dame, Indiana, Tennessee, Gonzaga and Purdue.
Now the Butler coach has to lobby the same way the Bradley coach is doing. Maybe he should mention the team's win Jan. 6.
That's the night Butler beat Wright State.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2266
or jerickson@DaytonDailyNews.com.
Suddenly, any win over Wright State is quality
By John Erickson
Staff Writer
Sunday, March 11, 2007
I was listening to ESPN radio the other day on my way home from work when the basketball coach for Bradley University came on and talked about his team's chances for the NCAA tournament.
Although Bradley, which plays in the tough Missouri Valley Conference, lost in its conference tournament, the coach said the team's quality wins should qualify them for the NCAA's big show.
Then he said something I've never heard in all of my years in Dayton. In mentioning why his team is so good he said they beat three conference champions.
One of them he mentioned was Wright State.
Perhaps that says as much as anything about the rise of the Wright State basketball program. Even their losses are deemed significant.
When Wright State played Bradley, none of this could have seemed possible. At the time, our heroes were 2-3, and the Bradley game was the low point of the season. DaShaun Wood was far from all-world, with just 10 points, and the rest of the team was worse.
The final score was 88-49, and it was never close. The Raiders shot about what I do now when I'm launching bricks outside my house. For every shot they made, there were two others they missed.
Well, we know what's happened since. Wright State got on a roll and twice defeated a Butler team that beat the likes of Notre Dame, Indiana, Tennessee, Gonzaga and Purdue.
Now the Butler coach has to lobby the same way the Bradley coach is doing. Maybe he should mention the team's win Jan. 6.
That's the night Butler beat Wright State.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2266
or jerickson@DaytonDailyNews.com.