#and a call for an MVC comes in NOT EVEN 30 SECONDS LATER

[vrepit-salt]

You develop spidey senses at the station, not from being bitten by a radioactive spider

[malecsecretsanta]

Merry Christmas, the-ghost-of-william-herondale!

For @the-ghost-of-william-herondale, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Read On AO3

*****

Taking Charge Of Your Destiny.

The interesting thing about soulmates, Magnus figures out early on, is that even if their name doesn’t show up until your teens you still feel when they are hurt, physically at least. Magnus can remember times throughout his childhood and adolescence where he would feel intense bouts of pain but would not know where from. At 11 years old he felt a shooting pain in his collarbone, but was just sitting at the table reading. His shoulder aches for weeks afterward and he still has times where it is stiff to this day. When he was 14, in the middle of a dance routine his hand felt like the knuckles had cracked, it had felt like he had punched someone but he was just practicing his pirouettes.

As he got older, it happened less and less often. And then one day when he was 16 he woke up to find the name ‘Alexander’ scrawled on his hip. He knew from a young age that he was bisexual, not afraid to let the world know that he would love whom ever he chooses.

Now, more than a decade later, working as one of the youngest charge nurses in one of the busiest emergency departments in New York, Magnus didn’t really have time for soulmates.

___________________________________

It’s a brisk November evening, the temperature hovering around 20 degrees when Magnus walks into the hospital, venti Starbucks coffee in hand. The temperature hovering around freezing put him a little on edge, people always forgot how to drive when the snow started to fall. And it would melt just enough to freeze into a sheet of black ice. He stops just outside the doors to take a breath of fresh air before walking through the doors to the clinical air of the hospital. He makes his way to the change rooms and changes out of the clothes he had worn for just the evening and into his scrubs. His hospital provides all of the charge nurses with the same deep, navy scrubs and he wears them with pride. He beat out a lot of people for this position and he works incredibly hard for his staff and his department. He glances at the clock, 2300, okay 30 minutes until the mayhem starts. There’s a certain aura of the night shift that Magnus loves. While the rest of the world has gone to sleep and shut down, his ER is buzzing with activity.

Magnus sits down with the charge from evenings and gets the rundown of the department, what staffing for nights looks like (he is fully staffed and thankfully no one has to be mandated), and what the patient counts look like for the various parts of the ER. Overall their census is lower than normal for this time of year, but Magnus isn’t holding his breath, nor is he going to say anything out loud. Once he’s finished getting report, he watches his night staff coming through the door, this particular rotation is filled with stellar staff and Magnus finds himself looking forward to the night ahead of him.

The night starts out much like any other, Magnus goes around the various sections of the ER, making sure all of his staff have what they need to do their jobs properly. He is somehow able to make it back to the high acuity section where his desk is without any big problems coming up. He is getting caught up on paperwork, paperwork he has needed to do for days, when one of the spritely new residents comes walking up to the charge desk.

Magnus looks up from the papers he is signing, “Hello Simeon, to what do I owe the honour tonight?”

“Okay, so it’s Simon.. Lewis,” the resident says shows Magnus his badge, Magnus huffs a laugh, of course he knows his name, Magnus just likes to see the new ones flustered. “But honestly I had an energy drink before I started and now I am buzzing. But it’s so quie--” Magnus puts his index finger up to Simon’s lips trying to stop him from continuing. “-t.”

Magnus rolls his eyes before making eye contact with him. “You did not just say that word, there is one rule when working in a hospital that you need to know. You never say the q word, I don’t care if there are no people in ANY of these beds that word does not pass your lips.” Dr. Catarina Loss is walking up as Magnus finishes chewing into the frightened looking resident.

“Good evening Magnus, what did you say to scare my poor resident so badly.”

“Well you see Dr. Loss, your poor resident here decided to tempt fate by saying the q-word. I was just explaining that when, not even if we get a huge rush, he owes my whole group of nurses breakfast.” Catarina looks at Simon and smirks.

“Sorry Simon, but you are on your own here. It is like the unspoken rule that you never say that word. Good luck tonight, I will be in my call room getting a little shut eye while I still can.”

As soon as she finishes talking Magnus has the wind knocked out of him, he feels like something is crushing his chest and he has to grab the desk in front of him to stabilize him. “Magnus!” Catarina comes rushing around the desk so that she is directly in front of him “Magnus, answer me, are you okay?” The crushing pain only lasts for about 30 seconds before it turns to a dull ache. He looks up at Caterina and she has her stethoscope in her ears and diaphragm against his chest.

“Yeah,” He breathes out, “It felt like something was crushing me and then now it just feels like a dull ache.” Catarina is counting his respirations and finishing up his work up before she answers.

“Well, physically you check out. But please take it easy, and if anything I mean anything happens, come and get me.”

“Yes, mom,” he says, rolling his eyes once again, rubbing his chest as he does so. Catarina starts to turn around when his phone rings, he brings it up to his ear and puts his hand up to stop Catarina from leaving.

As soon as he is off the phone he gathers his team around him. “Okay everyone get ready, we have a 4 car MVC coming in, they are transporting the hardest hit vics. Helen,” He looks at the unit clerk, “call a respiratory 25 arriving in 5 minutes, they have one patient in respiratory distress in the ambulance right now. Lydia, Dot you two get the resus room set up, Lydia you will be the primary nurse for that patient, Dot you will assist her. Let me know as soon as they are stable. There are also 6 other vics who are being brought here, they are all stable as of right now and will go through triage. Buckle up everyone we are in for a long night ahead of us.” The ER turns into a flurry of movement around him, his team works seamlessly together, getting ready for an incoming resus, as well as an influx of patients.

Moments later 2 paramedics come rushing through the doors of the ambulance bay, talking a mile a minute to Lydia as brings them toward the resus room. “Alexander Lightwood, 25 year old, Male, MVC, extracted with the jaws, lost consciousness on the way here, we started bagging him,” the paramedic looks at his watch “6 minutes ago.” Lydia signs the papers the paramedics hand her once she is done getting report.

“Lydia, you look like you have it handled here, do you two need anything else?” Magnus asks, Lydia looks up taking the stethoscope off from around her neck and puts it in her ears and presses it to the patient’s chest while Dot is busy hooking him up to their monitors.

“No we’re okay here,” She pauses for a second before adding, “But if you could see where the fuck RT is that would be helpful.” A moment later, Ragnor Fell, the respiratory therapist, runs into the room and gets to work. Magnus knows his staff have this handled so he leaves it to them while he goes to triage and helps where he can.

Patients just do not stop coming in as the night trudges on. Magnus is pulled every which way, still managing to let his nurses go for breaks though, he even manages to sneak off for a 30 minute break himself during a small lull in the action.

When he gets back to his desk Lydia comes up to him with an update on their patient from the ambulance. “Okay so our patient in resus, Alexander is stable, he is currently on 8 litres of O2 but he is stable enough to be transferred to a different bed.” Magnus looks over his bed assignments and thinks of where he should go.

“Bring him to bed 17 in high acuity.” She nods her head and walks back to her patient. Magnus runs his hand over his face, it’s been so crazy that he hasn’t even had a chance to focus on the aching in his chest. It’s still there he notices, but definitely just an ache, and an overall soreness, although that can be contributed to the fact that he has been on his feet for a solid 3 hours, running around his ER.

He falls back into the chair at his desk, cautiously optimistic that he can squeeze a tiny bit more paperwork in, asking Helen if there have been any staffing changes for the morning he should be aware of. Thankfully he is able to squeeze out some preparation for the day shift before a monitor beeps loudly. Magnus looks up at the central monitoring system on the monitor above his desk, and sees that bed 17 has gone into v-tach. He feels the heaviness in his chest again, but pushes through it. He jumps out of his chair and grabs runs toward the bed in question.

“Helen, call a code blue to high acuity, Lyds, get over here,” by this point Magnus is at the bedside. Shouting orders before the doctors get there. They have ripped the blankets off of the patient’s body, and are moving the head of the bed down. “Dot the backboard.” She passes him the board and he goes to put it under him. “Okay, let’s roll him on 3. 1, 2, 3.” As they roll him Magnus sees it, in the brief second his back is on display he sees it clear as day. The name Magnus in a flowing script along the back of his ribs. Magnus shakes his head, clearing his thoughts. Dot starts bagging him, while Lydia starts compressions. Just in time, the code blue team comes and takes over. Magnus takes a step back and moment to think through what just happened. His mind is racing, he thinks to himself Magnus must be a common name, he couldn’t possibly be his soul mate.

He walks back to the desk and runs his hand over the nape of his neck. He turns to the clerk beside him, “Helen, what is the patient’s name in bed 17?” He knows he could just as easily look it up, but his mind is everywhere right now. She gives him a slightly curious look, obviously thinking the same thing, but she turns to her computer and looks it up for him.

“Lightwood,” She says, pausing before saying the first name. “Alexander.” Magnus lets out the breath he was holding.

He takes this information and lets it ruminate in his brain for a little while he tries desperately to regain hold of his ER. He makes a quick round and glances up at the clock on the wall, 0639. He takes a breath, so maybe he didn’t get his second break, but most of his staff did, so that’s a win in and of itself. He has 50 minutes until day shift starts, he needs to figure out what the fuck is going on. He sits back at the desk and Catarina fills him in on bed 17.

“He is once again stable, we think we have figured out the right meds to keep him that way. But Magnus,” She looks him in the eye. Over the last few years he has been working in the ER they have gotten close, close enough apparently to broach topics that aren’t completely professional. “When I was doing his assessment I saw it.” Magnus sucks in a breath, she couldn’t have noticed it too, and put two and two together. “That can’t be a coincidence.” She whispers her next words. “Your name on his back, you pretty much collapsing just minutes before his MVC is called in. And don’t think I haven’t seen your soul mark when you are reaching up, you aren’t trying very hard to hide the name on your hip.”

Magnus looks up at her pleading, “My mind is a mess right now, what do I do? I can’t just walk up to him and be like hey, this is completely unprofessional but I think I may be your soulmate.”

She looks back at him and says, “Look, I can’t tell you what to do, but what I can say is his emergency contact is coming in from another state, he will probably be waking up within the next couple hours and your shift ends in,” she glances up at the clock, “40 minutes.”

__________________________________

Magnus skirts through the rest of the shift, he is extremely glad that his staff is so strong because they hold him up when his focus isn’t 100%. He heads to bed 17 on his way out, he’s not sure if he should, but his legs lead him there before his mind can catch up. He sits in the chair next to the bed, leaning his elbows on his knees and rubbing his face with his hands. What am I doing here? He thinks to himself. Just as he is about to get out, he hears movement in the bed and a groan coming from the man. He immediately jumps back into nurse mode.

“No, don't try and talk. Let me get your doctor for you.” Magnus gets out of the chair and goes up to the desk. “Aline can you please page Dr. Loss back here please.” She gives him a look, as if to ask if he’s sure. “Yes I know she hands over 20 minutes, but please get her.”

Cat gets back to the ER quickly and they are able to extubate him once she and Raphael Santiago, the oncoming respiratory therapist are happy with his O2 levels. Once everyone leaves, Magnus walks back toward him. “Are you my nurse?” Alexander asks, his voice still scruffy from the intubation. Magnus huffs out a laugh.

“No, that would be Clary on days I believe.” He pauses to think of whether or not he should tell him. “Uhhhh, I am the charge nurse from nights actually. You gave us quite the scare last night, Alexander.” He tries to sit up in his bed, gritting through his teeth.

“It’s Alec.” Magnus gets up, and helps adjust the head of the bed. Alec takes a sharp breath in.

“Are you okay, do you need me to get your nurse so she can get you some pain meds?”

“Magnus?” Alec whispers, so softly Magnus almost doesn’t hear. Magnus looks down and notices that his badge is right in his eyesight. “It can’t be.”

Magnus sits back down in the chair beside him, wondering what he should say. He puts his head back in his hands, and says softly back at him, “I think it is.”

“So, you know?”

“I saw my name after you coded last night, we were turning you, and it was there, clear as day. And I felt it, the moment your car crashed. I almost collapsed in the middle of my own ER.” He looked back up at Alec, who’s eyes were glossy.

“I never thought I’d find you.” He chokes out. “And it takes me almost dying for you to come to me, what kind of sick karma is that?” Alec tries to laugh, but groans as soon as he starts.

“Don’t try and laugh. You have multiple broken ribs and you are pretty banged up from the accident.” Magnus takes a chance and reaches for Alec’s hand. “You know I tried finding you many times. But Alexander is such a common name, it was no use, I gave up too. I’m sorry for giving up.” Alec looks back at him like he's hung the sun, squeezing his hand as tight as he can manage. They sit there in silence, just holding each other's hands for a few minutes. Magnus can feel his eyes start to droop, the exhaustion from the night before finally starting to catch up with him.

“Magnus, why don’t you go home. If you know where my phone is you can put your number in it.” Alec says with a smirk. Magnus has to say, he’s impressed, even laid up in a hospital bed this man has game. Magnus grabs a piece of scrap paper from his pocket and a pen and jots his name and number down.

He’s handing it to Alec when Clary walks in. She clears her throat, “What are you doing with my patient Magnus?” Magnus' face immediately turns beet red.

“Uhhhh just catching up with an--- old friend?” Magnus answers, although he can tell she’s not convinced.

“Well your old friend here needs to be assessed, besides you should be going home to sleep!” She tells him.

“Yeah yeah, I was just leaving.” As he walks away he hears Alec ask for his phone, and Magnus smirks, hoping he will put that number to good use.

____________________________________

Magnus wakes up to a text from Alec, it’s nothing much, just telling him that he’s been moved up to the ICU. Magnus furrows his brow, he figured he would have been admitted to the hospital, but was hoping he would be able to avoid the ICU. He goes about his evening routine, working out, prepping his lunch for the upcoming shift. He just cuts out his lounging time so he can head into the hospital early. He walks in and throws all his belongings besides his badge, phone and wallet in his lockers, walking to the elevators still in his civilian clothing, a pair of jeans, deep purple v neck t-shirt and his favourite leather jacket. He walks into the ICU and up to the desk which just so happens to be staffed with one of his favourite float clerks, he says he’s there to see Lightwood in room 4017, he is secretly pleased that he is bed 17 on this unit too. She smirks at him knowingly but sends him to the right room.

He walks into the room to see Alec with a small but beautiful young woman with jet black hair, she is sitting on his bed facing Alec, her head thrown back in laughter. “Iz, please don’t make me laugh, it hurts too much.” Magnus takes a good look at Alec, he still looks super banged up, his left leg is elevated and in a cast and he has a nasal cannula giving him oxygen and a quadrupel baxter pump that makes Magnus wince when he thinks about trying not to tangle the lines. He doesn’t realize he’s just been standing there staring into space until a new voice brings him out of his daze.

“You must be Magnus.” The woman says, “I’m Izzy, Alec’s favourite sibling.” She extends her hand which Magnus takes immediately.

“Uhhh yeah, I’m Magnus. I’m not sure what Alexander’s told you about me.”

“Oh honey, I grew up knowing your name. Alec tried desperately to hide his mark from everyone else, but there was no hiding it from me. Although my dear brother didn’t mention how handsome you were.” Magnus smiles shyly, looking toward the ground avoiding eye contact with everyone in the room.

“Iz, stop please, we just met this morning, let us at least get to know each other a bit before you embarrass us.”

Izzy looks at her phone, “Fine, but only because it’s a quarter to 9 and I have to check into my hotel.” She brushes the hair off of Alec’s forehead and places a kiss. “Bye big brother.” She starts to walk out the door and stops right beside Magnus who is still at the door of the room. “Take care of him please.”

“Always,” he breathes out, his voice betraying him before he can think of what he is saying.

Magnus takes the seat beside Alec and takes his hand in his own. He takes a good look at Alec, his breathing is still laboured and his skin is cold. He knows immediately that the ICU is definitely the right unit for him. It pains him to see Alec like this, he knows they just met, but actually feeling the pain that brought him here adds another layer of hurt. They sit there talking, well mostly Magnus talking, for what feels like hours before his IV pump starts to beep. His nurse is in there moments later with another IV bag of fluids and meds, obviously anticipating the completion of the bag.

“You know Magnus, it’s past visiting hours and I should be kicking you out.” Alec’s nurse, Anna says. He recognizes her as one of the float nurses he occasionally gets on his night shifts.

“You know Anna, you could just look the other way.” He flutters his eyelashes, “And I will make sure you get a good assignment the next time you are in my ER.” He adds a wink for good measure.

“You better,” she smiles at him, “But you should really pay attention to the time, it’s already 2240. You aren’t even changed yet.” Magnus looks back to Alec, he knows he needs to leave soon but can’t bring himself to get up from the chair. Alec’s grip on Magnus’ hand starts to loosen and his eyes start to droop close, the pain medication Anna gave him finally taking effect. When his breathing starts to even out, Magnus gets out of his chair, stopping to place a soft kiss on his forehead before he leaves the unit. His shift goes swimmingly, just steady enough that it goes by fast, but not enough that it is out of control. It’s a good thing because his mind and heart is elsewhere.

__________________________________

On the third day of his stay, Alec continues to desat and the doctors end up doing a pleurocentesis, removing the fluid around the lungs and Alec starts to get better after that, better enough that he is moved to the step down unit on day 4. He starts to improve rapidly after that, blowing the doctors and nurses away. On day 8 he gets discharged, with strict orders to have someone watch over him, that’s how they end up here at the entrance to the hospital, Alec’s bag thrown over his shoulder, Alec on crutches holding gripping his prescription in his left hand.

Alec looks over to Magnus and says, “You didn’t have to take time off just to take care of me.”

Magnus smiles back at him as he pulls up to the car he had parked conveniently by the front door. “Of course I did silly, your sister had to leave yesterday and they wouldn’t let you get discharged without someone. Besides I only technically took 1 week off, you just caught me on my week off.” He helps Alec into the car. “Anyway I have some pretty great eye candy to keep me company.” Magnus winks at him, before kissing him gently. Alec brings his hand up under Magnus’ shirt, grazing his fingers along his hip. Magnus feels a spark when Alec goes over his mark, and then it is like everything falls into place. This part of him that was missing for so long, the hole in his heart that he didn’t even know was there was now filled. Sometimes accidents tear people apart, but sometimes they can pull people who were broken back together.

[junker-town]

Loyola-Chicago’s Cameron Krutwig on Final Four run, Sister Jean, and return to NCAA tournament

A Q&A with the Loyola-Chicago star as the program tries to get back to the Final Four.

Loyola-Chicago’s stunning run to the Final Four in 2018 charmed the country with everything a great Cinderella should have in the NCAA tournament. The Ramblers brought a 98-year-old nun named Sister Jean into our lives, won multiple games on buzzer-beaters, and tied the record for the lowest-seeded team to ever reach the national semifinals with a No. 11 next to their name.

The starting center on that team was hefty freshman big man Cameron Krutwig. Three years later, Krutwig has emerged as perhaps the country’s biggest mid-major star as Loyola-Chicago has again steamrolled its way into the NCAA tournament.

There’s an argument that this year’s team could be even better than the fabled 2018 squad.

The Ramblers will enter the tournament at 24-4 overall and as the No. 9 team in the entire country according to KenPom’s efficiency rankings. Their offense is better than it was in 2018 — jumping from No. 63 to No. 52 in America. The defense? Right now, the Ramblers have the most efficient defense in college basketball, allowing only 86.2 points per 100 possessions.

Krutwig has been in the middle of it all season on his way to being named Missouri Valley Player of the Year. The 6’9 big man is averaging 15 points, 6.7 rebounds, and three assists per game on 60 percent true shooting, but his impact goes far beyond those basic numbers.

Krutwig is the third most valuable player in college basketball this year according to KenPom, only behind presumptive Naismith winner Luka Garza and Gonzaga’s Drew Timme while ahead of Jared Butler, Ayo Dosunmu, and future NBA stars like Cade Cunningham and Evan Mobley. Krutwig is No. 8 in the country in all-in-one stats BPM and PER (30.8) and No. 7 in win shares, per Basketball Reference. It’s shocking to see Krutwig grade out so well defensively as a top-10 player in both defensive rating and defensive win shares.

Krutwig has a decidedly old school game. He hasn’t attempted a three-point all year, and gets 43 percent of his possessions on post-ups, per Synergy Sports. He ranks in the 86th percent of spot-up scoring efficiency, and also grades out as excellent in roll man opportunities (94th percentile) and on offensive putbucks (84th percentile). His passing ability has led some to joke that he’s the Nikola Jokic of the Missouri Valley.

We talked to Krutwig about his experience playing in the Final Four as a freshman, how this team stacks up to the 2018 squad, his love of the Chicago Bears, and the latest with Sister Jean.

You committed to Loyola-Chicago going into your senior year at suburban Jacobs High School. At the time, the program hadn’t had made the NCAA tournament since 1985. You probably could have gotten offers from bigger schools if you dragged out your recruitment. What attracted you to Loyola and why did you pick them?

I don’t know if I was really looking at it like the program hadn’t made the tournament since ‘85. I honestly wasn’t basing it off that. I really didn’t know much about Loyola until I took some visits there my sophomore and junior year. I really fell in love with the coaches, fell in love with the campus. I wanted to be close to home so that was definitely a factor. I wanted my family to be able to come to games.

Like you said, so many kids, by no fault of their own, they don’t commit for a while and during their senior year they start to play well and the big schools come calling. Because the big schools couldn’t get their first, second, third, and fourth guys, so they’re on to their fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth guys. They’re still good players, but they aren’t the school’s first options. I had a pretty good feel of where my level was. If I would have waited — I had a really good senior year — I could have played somewhere a little more high-major. But I wanted to go somewhere where I’d be the priority, where I can come in right away and play. I thought I made a pretty good choice.

What was the experience like playing in the Final Four as a freshman? You guys had a lot of great seniors on that team, but it must have been a whirlwind experience.

You don’t really go into the year saying we’re going to do that. Throughout the whole year, summer into fall, as we got into that process we knew we were going to have a good team. I don’t know what we were picked in the league that year preseason, it might have been third or fourth, but we came out and played really well together. As the season went on, we started to build really good chemistry and a great feel for playing with each other. We went into Florida, they were ranked No. 5 in the polls at the time, and we beat them. That was kind of the first time we felt real success. Every win prior to that we beat who we should have beat.

What people don’t realize about that team, after that Florida game we went to Boise State and got throttled by 30 points. We lost to UW-Milwaukee that year. We lost to Indiana State at home. We had some lackluster losses for sure, it wasn’t all pretty all year. If we don’t win the MVC tournament that year we wouldn’t have made the NCAA tournament. A lot of things need to go right. You definitely need some luck. Everyone needs luck in March.

I think we did a really good job of focusing in on what we needed to focus on. We enjoyed the crap out of the experience. I certainly enjoyed it. There are times when you can be goofy and funny and times when you really have to lock in during walkthroughs and film sessions. That team had a really good balance of when to have fun and when to be serious.

I think that’s something this year’s team has as well. Everyone loves each other, everyone is pulling for each other, but we know when to lock in and when to have fun. It makes it an enjoyable experience because you don’t want to keep it too loose all the time because then you can’t get what you want to get done. You also don’t want to be stone-face serious the whole time because you only get four years of college basketball and some people play all four years and don’t even make the tournament once. You definitely have to enjoy it.

Did you feel pressure to get back to the next two years? You hit the pinnacle as a freshman. After accomplishing something so great as a freshman, it must have been wild to return to normal Missouri Valley play.

The next year Clay (Custer) and Marques (Townes) were redshirt seniors so they got to come back for my sophomore year. But there was a lot of pressure on us that season. Everyone was saying you guys got to go back, got to go back. Obviously you can’t make the Final Four every year. As a mid-major, you can’t even make the tournament every year. There was just a lot of pressure on us, and we tried to handle it as best as we could.

Guys were tense. We really didn’t want to let anyone down. We had such good guys, such strong character. People were coming up to us after our Final Four run my freshman year saying ‘this is the best month of my life. I’ve re-connected with so many old friends.’ People bringing a tear to your eye with that stuff. You never want to let anyone down. Not to say we were really thinking about it that much, but it’s always in the back of your mind. People want to see us get back and re-live a run like that again. It was just a lot of pressure.

My junior year, Clay and Marcus graduated and started playing overseas. Then it was really my team and (fellow senior and MVC Defensive Player of the Year) Lucas’ (Williamson) team. My junior year we finished second in the league. We were really just trying to build a successful, sustainable program here. A lot of rough patches, some bad losses, and good wins. The whole thing that sparked us into this year was we got bounced in the first round of the MVC tournament. It was not the way we wanted to go out. We were the No. 2 seed, we were playing pretty well, and then we lost in overtime. A week or so later, the whole country shut down with Covid. It was a tough one to go out on there going into quarantine with that feeling in your stomach.

We had a lot of Zoom meetings, all we were talking about was that game, how we need to come with reinvigorated focus next year, and that’s really pushed us to the success we’re having this year. It’s really all the same guys, we lost one senior and gained two freshmen. It’s been propelling us to the success we’re having this year. We’re never going to forget what happened last season. We took a lot from Virginia. When we had that Final Four run in 2018, they were the No. 1 seed in the South where we were, and they got bounced in the first round to UMBC. They told their story a bunch of times, and then came back the next year and won the national championship. We took a lot from them just to always stay with it.

Everyone is asking it, so let’s get it from you. How does your current team stack up to the Final Four team if they played against each other? What happens at the center matchup?

I think I’m a way better player than I was back then. I’ve gotten more athletic even if it’s only a little bit (laughs). I think I’m a much better player. I was always a vocal guy, even as a freshman people will say I was one of if not the loudest guy on the floor at all times. I really prided myself on that. I’m just a better player this year.

There’s a lot of similarities with the teams. Senior leaders, for one. This year we have seven seniors. Guys who have played in big-time Valley games. Lucas and I have played in any game imaginable. Just having that confidence and leadership is so big. One strength in this year’s team is our dept. We have a lot of guys who are able to come in and contribute off the bench on any given night, and I think that’s helped us in these back-to-backs and in the Valley tournament. We were able to play eight or nine guys deep and trust everyone coming in to make the right decisions.

If both teams played each other ... I don’t know if you can say a winner one way or another. I think there’s some similarities on defense as well. This team is better at defense than that team. Jus the numbers and the efficiency numbers on offense. There’s a lot of similarities for sure.

I have heard you play the harmonica. How did you pick it up? Have you played for Sister Jean?

I just picked it up in high school as a joke at the start. I don’t know if I’m getting serious about it now, but I’m practicing a little more now. In quarantine you have to pick up new habits and stuff just to stay busy.

Sister Jean has not been around in the flesh for this whole pandemic. I think she’s staying somewhere downtown. She’ll call us instead, sends us emails after every game and before practices sometimes. I actually haven’t seen Sister Jean in quite some time, but she’s always with us virtually. She still does the pre-game prayer just over the phone. It’s cool that we’ve been able to keep that tradition alive even though she can’t come to the games.

I know you’re a big Chicago Bears fan. I also need to know what you want to happen at QB this offseason. Please don’t tell me you’re a Mitch Trubisky guy.

I’m a big Jameis Winston guy honestly. I’m going to stay on that train. I think we can get him for cheap. I don’t know what the Saints plan to do with him, but I know he’s a free agent this year. I think he’s a pretty good thrower. He can throw the ball deep. That’s the one thing the Bears are missing right now is the deep ball. We didn’t throw the ball deep this year, teams aren’t respecting us ever trying to stretch the field. I think if Jameis comes in and throws a couple deep balls that could be good. If he throws a couple picks, that’s alright because the defense is used to turnovers (ed. note: LOL).

Obviously Russell Wilson is a good option too. I just don’t want to give the kitchen sink for the guy. Same with Deshaun Watson. Is it worth giving up all those picks and giving up some pretty good players on our defense to be good at quarterback? Yeah ... probably. But I’d rather see some of those guys stay and pick up a Jameis type, or even keep Nick Foles as crazy as that sounds. We need offense line, too.

[jasonisanerd]

My favorites from 2017!

2017 was a strange year for the people living in America. A reality TV star enjoyed his first year as president of the free world, the most popular smartphone brand just entered the quadruple digit pricing zone, and the biggest entertainment company in the world is dangerously close to becoming a monopoly after accusations of marketing gambling to kids. It’s really easy to be a reactionary critic and just focus on the negatives, but I want to go over what I felt were some of the best things to happen this year. Don’t think of this as a “Top Things of 2017” and more as a “Things that happened in 2017 that I think are interesting and worth thinking about and appreciating.”

--Stuff I didn’t get to--

Nioh, Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds, Black Mirror Season 4, Kendrick LaMar’s DAMN., Your Name’s Dub, and Dragon Ball Super.

-- Under The Covers Vol. 2 --

I was a big fan of Ninja Sex Party’s 2016 Cover Album “Under The Covers”, and it’s nice to see the album get a sequel in the form of “Under The Covers 2”. The concept for the album is to take a handful of 80’s pop songs and have them be performed by Danny Sexband and Ninja Brian, with backup instrumentals by TWRP. This results in some wonderfully catchy tunes and what I believe to be one of the band’s best singles, Like A Record. Definitely worth a listen.

-- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 --

Even though it doesn’t reach the same heights as the first, Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 takes the cake as the best looking film Marvel Studios has ever produced. It also caught me off guard to see it inject some remarkably powerful pathos to it’s ending. It’s a great film, just make sure you watch the first Guardians film first.

-- Yakuza 0--

Yakuza 0 snuck up on me and the rest of the gaming public by being a low-budget, charming adventure in 1980’s Japan through the fictitious entertainment and red light district of Tokyo called Kamurocho. Featuring perilous, fierce combat, a collection of diverse minigames, and nearly 100 hilarious, off the wall side quests. I’m obviously a fan of this game, but I can’t help but feel that I’m missing out on something by not having played the rest of the series. Looks like that’s something I’ll have to rectify with the coming year.

-- Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite--

Many people, myself included, dropped Street Fighter 5 after a lackluster second season. Thankfully, Season 3 looks to be a hell of a lot better. In the meantime, we’ve got Marvel vs Capcom Infinite. I understand the disappointment when it comes to the roster and especially the visuals, but in terms of actual gameplay and mechanics, I think it’s phenomenal. Arguably better than Marvel vs Capcom 3. I’m exited to see what characters will get introduced. And if this goes well, this could end up being the best MvC to date.

-- Content Cop: Jake Paul --

The YouTube channel iDubbbzTV has been growing steadily over the years, but grew substantially over 2016 with the erupting success of it’s show Content Cop. Which entered the YouTube zeitgeist with it’s savagely meticulous takedowns of various, sometimes despicable, YouTubers. The show saw it’s creative peak this year with Content Cop - Jake Paul. Despite it’s name it was a 30 minute behemoth of a video of Ian just destroying the human trash bag RiceGum culminating in an incredible diss track with a star studded cast including Boyinaband, H3H3, Jacksfilms, and even Pewdiepie. The Diss Track itself, Asian Jake Paul, is also in a contender for my favorite song of the year.

--Nintendo Switch--

There have been a great deal of great games this year, but how about an entire game console? The Nintendo Switch is Big N’s latest handheld and console as a result of being a hybrid of the two. People have raved about the switch over the past year, with games like Splatoon, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Golf Story, and especially The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild. All of these games are great commercial and critical successes, but my favorite is Super Mario Odyssey. Just about my favorite Super Mario game to date.

--From Zero To Golden--

While all of these were made by people I respect, The two part YouTube series “From Zero To Golden” was made by me! This is by far my favorite thing I’ve made this year, but I also look at it now, almost 8 months later, and can clearly see what I can improve for later videos. 

You can also watch it here!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erzOwj02OTc&list=PLY0SBqI68H4C2bhC4oX9xetEg0BgxnwLz

--Honorable Mentions Rapid Fire--

iOS 11 is robust and incredibly useful. The ProCrastinators Podcast itunes release got me into one of my new favorite podcasts even with it’s slightly yellow tint (Also RIP Mumkey). Binging With Babish is a delicious cooking channel on YT and inspired me so much it got me cooking more robust dishes. It’s not crazy, but it’s great stuff. Played Neir Automata, haven’t finished it (partway through Route C).

--Persona 5--

Taken how big of a fan of Persona 4 I was, Persona 5 had a lot to live up to. Thankfully, Persona 5 exceeded any expectation I had of it and became my favorite game of 2017. A gripping, multi-layered story about how an oppressed group of teenagers battle against the system fueled by a fast, kinesthetically gratifying combat system. I almost want to say it’s better than P3 or even P4 for it’s gameplay, but that’s difficult to say because I feel they stride to do different things. Persona 5 however, is a great addition to the Shin Megami Tensei Canon and I’m definitely going to buy all of the spinoffs.

--Closing--

Look, life gets rough, and sometimes we all need a break. Especially in this day-and-age where it seems the entire world can burn down at the drop of a hat. Either through Violence, Nuclear Warfare, or cancerous fidget spinner memes. But, hey now that we can show our appreciation for the things we love through the power of the internet we can all find new ways to love what we do, as well as find new things to love. Hopefully that can carry over to the new year, and we can make 2018 better than previous years. Have a happy new year and here’s to 2018!

[usatrendingsports]

Northern Iowa can thank Bennett Koch’s brothers for bringing in its prime participant

Bennett Koch has come alongside means since watching his brothers play. USATSI

Almost eight years in the past, Bennett Koch, then a ninth-grader at Ashwaubenon Excessive College close to Inexperienced Bay, Wisc., was awake all evening in a lodge rest room in Oklahoma Metropolis, vomiting.

This was less-than-perfect timing to get the flu. Koch’s two older brothers – Adam, a school senior and the Missouri Valley Convention participant of the 12 months, and Jake, a redshirt freshman – had been forwards for one of the crucial shocking groups in school basketball, the Northern Iowa Panthers. UNI blasted into the NCAA Event with a 28-Four document as a No. 9 seed, after which upset No. eight seed UNLV in its opening recreation. The following day, UNI was set to play the match’s No. 1 general seed, the Kansas Jayhawks of Sherron Collins, Xavier Henry and the Morris twins – Marcus and Markieff. That morning, weak from the flu, Bennett informed his mother and father: “I do not suppose I could make it to the sport.”

They did not drive him by hook or by crook. As an alternative, they nudged.

“You positive you need to keep right here on the lodge?” they requested. “You might by no means have one other alternative to see one thing like this.”

Bennett cherished basketball, like all three Koch boys did. Their father had performed Division III ball at College of Wisconsin-Stevens Level, the place he’d met their mother. Because the boys had been rising up, their father had popped into previous VHS tapes of his favourite participant, Michael Jordan, and confirmed them tape of the best participant of all time.

Adam Koch, the oldest little one, had as a highschool senior been deciding between West Virginia, Wichita State, Northern Iowa. After a couple of bumps within the highway – particularly, UNI pulling its scholarship provide when one other participant dedicated, then providing the scholarship as soon as once more when that participant decommitted, then watching head coach Greg McDermott depart for the Iowa State job and assistant coach Ben Jacobson taking on – Adam had ended up at UNI. Jake did, too. And Bennett would go to Cedar Falls, Iowa to go to his brothers, play video video games, shoot hoops and get a style of the faculty life.

So he wished to go to this NCAA Event recreation, the most important recreation in his household’s historical past, and the most important recreation in UNI historical past.

So he pressured himself to go to this recreation, flu be damned.

And as he walked as much as the world, with Jayhawk followers teasing him for his UNI gear – “You wasted your time coming right here,” one mentioned – all that nausea disappeared, as if by a stroke of magic. He sat within the stands along with his mother and father and youthful sister. UNI jumped out to an eight-point lead throughout the first jiffy. At halftime, UNI was nonetheless up eight. That lead stretched to 11 on his oldest brother’s layup with 10 minutes left within the recreation; Kansas hadn’t led since its first basket of the sport. An unheard-of upset all of the sudden appeared inside attain. Then the lead dwindled. After a few Northern Iowa turnovers, Kansas was all of the sudden down solely some extent with 42 seconds left.

After a timeout, UNI inbounded the ball beneath its personal hoop. Kansas’ protection swarmed. Within the stands, Bennett Koch stood and watched. His center brother, freshman Jake, inbounded the ball to his older brother, senior Adam. Adam tossed it proper again to Jake. Jake threw a bounce cross up the sidelines. A Kansas defender shot the hole, and the cross almost obtained picked off. However UNI’s Kwadzo Ahelegbe snagged the ball and gunned it previous halfcourt, breaking the press. Ali Farokhmanesh took the cross simply exterior the Three-point line. He hesitated for only a second – there was nonetheless 38 seconds left on the sport clock, 30 seconds left on the shot clock – then let it fly. From the stands, Bennett Koch remembers pondering: What are you doing?

“Proper when he let it go, the whole stadium was useless quiet,” Bennett Koch mentioned. “I do not suppose a single individual was respiration. It was all only one huge gasp. Then you would see it undergo.”

Eight years later, he paused for a second as he relived this reminiscence.

“Man – I am getting excited even interested by it proper now,” he mentioned. “Then it went from the quietest area I had ever been in to the loudest I would ever been in. Proper when it went by means of, the entire place erupted.”

Seconds later, on the opposite finish of the courtroom, Jake Koch took a cost that each one however sealed a 69-67 victory for Northern Iowa over Kansas in one of the crucial iconic first-weekend upsets in NCAA Event historical past.

“This nearly by no means began,” UNI coach Ben Jacobson mentioned the opposite day.

When McDermott left Northern Iowa to take the Iowa State job and Jacobson was named the brand new coach in March 2006, Jacobson was instantly in a scramble. It had been a outstanding run beneath McDermott. A program that had solely made one NCAA Event in its historical past had simply come off a streak of three match bids in a row. And McDermott had simply signed one of the best recruiting class within the faculty’s historical past, which included Adam Koch.

That recruitment had been troublesome to start with. The evening earlier than he dedicated to a faculty, Adam thought he was going to decide to Wichita State. “The best way my dad tells it,” Bennett recalled, “is, my dad informed Adam, ‘I need you to go to mattress and give it some thought, and for those who change your thoughts, you alter your thoughts. As a result of it is a huge resolution.”http://ift.tt/1OPItWM; He wakened and picked Northern Iowa as an alternative. Later, an additional wrench was thrown in when the coach who recruited him took one other job. Jacobson’s first couple days on the job had been spent calling after which visiting all 4 gamers in that recruiting class: Jordan Eglseder, Adam Koch, Kwadzo Ahelegbe and Kerwin Dunham. The query every of these gamers requested Jacobson was this: What are the opposite three doing?

“We fall into Adam, and that results in Jake, and that results in Bennett. It is wild.”Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson 

When Eglseder mentioned he was sticking with UNI, the opposite three adopted go well with. It was acceptable that the 4 commits cared a lot about what the others had been doing; when Jacobson took the job, he dedicated to constructing a program primarily based on household. And that second would, 4 years later, result in the most important recreation in UNI historical past. All 4 performed within the recreation in Oklahoma Metropolis when UNI upset top-ranked Kansas.

Almost 12 years after Adam Koch determined to stay with UNI, here’s a outstanding reality: In 12 years as UNI’s coach – a run that included the Kansas upset but in addition two Valley regular-season titles, 4 Valley convention match titles, and 4 NCAA match appearances – Jacobson has had 12 seasons of teaching Koch brothers .

“We fall into Adam, and that results in Jake, and that results in Bennett,” Jacobson mentioned. “It is wild.”

Adam was a 1,000-point scorer at UNI. So was Jake. Bennett is a senior this season. Going into Friday’s huge residence recreation (9 p.m. ET on CBS Sports activities Community) towards ninth-ranked Xavier  – the kind of recreation that would once more remind the nation that Northern Iowa has change into one of many nation’s prime mid-major packages – Koch is main UNI with 14.1 factors per recreation and is properly on his approach to becoming a member of the 1,000-point membership.

“This might have simply gone one other course,” Jacobson mentioned. “If we did not get Adam, if that recruiting class breaks up, you by no means is aware of what follows. And also you by no means know what would have occurred over the subsequent 12 years.”

I will take a stab at what would have occurred: If Adam Koch did not go to Northern Iowa, Jake Koch would not have both. Nor would have Bennett Koch. Jake wouldn’t have inbounded the ball to Adam in that Kansas recreation, and Farokhmanesh wouldn’t have made that Three-pointer. And Ben Jacobson wouldn’t have such a training stellar resume – heck, who is aware of if he’d even nonetheless be teaching at UNI? – with out this one resolution 12 years in the past by a teenage child from exterior Inexperienced Bay, Wisc.

Bennett Koch is a school senior now, and filled with these wistful collegiate recollections that school seniors are inclined to have. He remembers visiting his older brothers’ home close to campus, and the way they all the time had been positive to wash all of the purple solo cups off the pingpong desk earlier than their little brother got here to city. He remembers staying up late to play Minecraft along with his school roommates his freshman 12 months. He remembers laughing at teammates who got here from warm-weather states – like Texas native Isaiah Brown – after they skilled for the primary time the winter winds from the plains blasted them. He remembers the enormous pancakes at J’s Homestyle Cooking on the town, and the late summer season nights taking part in sand volleyball with the ladies’s volleyball staff.

Koch contrubutions

A have a look at the careers of the Koch brothers at Northern Iowa. 

Participant

Years at UNI

Notable

Adam Koch

2006-10

MVC POY in 2009-10, AP Honorable point out All-American

Jake Koch

2009-13

No. 2 in video games performed at UNI with 138, blocked pictures with 123

Bennett Koch 

2013-current

Leads staff im scoring with 14.1 ppg and is 2nd in rebounding with 7.7 rpg

Most of all, he remembers being part of this continued run of basketball excellence. The highs included NCAA Event bids his freshman and sophomore 12 months, and one NCAA Event win every season, together with the absurd Paul Jesperson half-courter that downed Texas in 2016, and beating No. 1 North Carolina in 2015. He remembers his teammate Wes Washpun’s buzzer-beater to win the 2016 Valley match. The lows included the subsequent recreation in that 2016 match, when Northern Iowa was on the cusp of the Candy 16 earlier than an all-time collapse towards Texas A&M. From the second his oldest brother dedicated, by means of the Farokhmanesh shot and so many different loopy occasions, and to right now, this household has had one wild experience in Cedar Falls.

The following and youngest member of the Koch clan is in highschool now, and likewise is planning to attend school on an athletic scholarship. However she won’t be taking part in for Ben Jacobson’s basketball staff. Highschool junior Maddie Koch has accepted a volleyball scholarship to play at Purdue College. The Koch household run at Northern Iowa will finish after this season, a 12-year stretch that’s the most outstanding within the faculty’s historical past, and one of the crucial underrated mid-major achievements of the previous decade.

And however for one middle-of-night change of coronary heart high-school senior had when he modified his thoughts from Wichita State to Northern Iowa, it might by no means have occurred.

“I had already grown up so conversant in the campus, so conversant in the teaching workers, simply knew this household surroundings,” Bennett Koch mentioned. “I developed such an amazing relationship with them. They recruited me, clearly, however in my head, I’ve all the time been round them. To consider going wherever else simply felt bizarre. And to be leaving right here quickly – properly, that feels bizarre too.”

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[beverlymunoz]

Profile of a possible savior: Tim Jankovich

This guy’s been coaching for longer than Will Wade’s been alive.

Southern Methodist University hasn’t made it past the second round of the NCAA tournament since the 1960s, but that could change this spring under Tim Jankovich, who is in his first full year as head man on the Mustangs’ sidelines. Despite a gaudy 24-4 record, SMU is ranked just 17th in the AP poll thanks to the subpar competition in the American Athletic Conference (sorry, PirateWolf), but Jank’s ‘stangs have a championship résumé in KenPom’s rankings with both a top 25 offense and defense.

Jankovich’s squad has won 20 of its last 21 games, with the only defeat coming on the road by two points against fellow POAPSter Mick Cronin’s Cincinnati Bearcats. Though he’s primarily patrolled the sidelines in flyover country, could Jankovich make the leap east and replicate his AAC success for NC State in the ACC?

Important Questions, In Rough Order Of Importance:

1. Has he coached teams that have won a national title, made multiple deep NCAA tournament runs, and/or consistently been highly ranked?

Jankovich, serving in an interim capacity while Larry Brown was golfing due to an NCAA suspension, piloted the Mustangs to a 9-0 start and top 10 ranking a year ago, and, as mentioned above, what is now his team—Brown abruptly resigned over the summer—is in the top 20 now. He’s a ridiculous 33-4 at SMU, but this will be his first NCAA tournament as a head coach.

Previously, he piloted Illinois State to four 21-or-more-win seasons in five years but never made the big dance, falling in the MVC championship game three times (twice in overtime). Jankovich was also unable to make postseason play at North Texas, his first gig as a head coach. Additionally, he had a stint as the head coach at Hutchinson Community College.

The well-traveled Jankovich has had 10 different stops as an assistant, most notably a four-year stint at Kansas. He was part of Bill Self’s original staff that replaced Ol’ Roy after Ol’ Roy changed his mind and decided that he did, in fact, give a shit about Carolina.

2. Has he built a program from the ground up?

The Mean Green have a brutal basketball history. They have been ranked once in the AP poll, back in 75-76, and they have never won an NCAA tournament game (in their three whole trips) during an existence that dates to the 20s. Jankovich inherited a 5-21 North Texas team and promptly won 14 games in his first year. He went from the ground to basically .500. Unfortunately, he never did much better and decided to jettison that basketball desert after four years for Hutchison. The dude that followed him for the Mean Green managed a high of seven wins during his four-year stint.

I think of ISU as one of those sneaky mid-majors that springs Big Dance upsets, but the Redbirds actually haven’t been to the tournament since ’98 (under Kevin Stallings, whose name seems to keep coming up in my POAPSmears in some sort of Kevin Bacon degrees of separation sort of way). The Redbirds, in fact, were coming off a couple of losing seasons when Jankovich arrived, including one where it managed a brutal 55 points per game. Jank’s first team improved by 10 wins over his predecessor, Porter Moser, but he could never break through and win the MVC tournament in his time in Normal. While Dan Muller is thought of as a hot name in the “up-and-coming” ranks, ISU declined significantly in the couple years subsequent to his taking over for Jank.

3. Has he substantially improved the program from when he took over?

That’s more or less alluded to above, but heck yes. North Texas’s 9-win improvement was the second most in the NCAA that year. And he did it with…(wait for it)…defense! The Mean Green went from 298th to 99th in points allowed from pre-Jank to Jank. (Sorry, no fancy KenPom numbers from way back then.) Same story at ISU; his first team climbed from 67th before him to 26th in KenPom’s defensive metrics. That rise led to the aforementioned 10-win improvement. Last year he was undefeated at SMU; when Larry Brown came back, the ‘stangs were a still respectable but less impressive 16-5. Now, SMU is arguably the best it’s ever been.

4. Has he succeeded at more than one head coaching job?

The answer here depends on how you define success. Until now, he’s never been a head coach at a school with a genuine opportunity to make a sustained run in the tournament, but he’s been much better than the status quo wherever he’s coached. In short, I’d say yes.

5. Does he have significant high-major experience as either a head coach or an assistant?

His head coaching exploits are already well chronicled above. In chronological order, Jankovich has been an assistant at the following high-major (and high-majorish) programs: Kansas State, Texas, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Vanderbilt (under Stallings!), Illinois, and Kansas. He’s got a total of 34 years under his belt as a college coach; I’d say that’s pretty significant.

6. Is his team one of the best in its conference right now?

SMU is the best in just about every measure, leading Cincinnati in KenPom, the AAC standings (by half a game), but trailing the Bearcats by a hair in RPI.

7. Do his teams actually play, what is this thing called, "defense"?

I give you this delicious quote: “If they…play their tail off on defense and rebound at a high level. If they do that, they earn more freedom on the offensive end.” Defense is first in Jankovich’s philosophy, and the numbers bear it out. The Mustangs are 20th in AdjD. If he had just said fannies, a la Chuck Amato, we’d know he’d be a perfect fit at State.

8. So how about offense?

Jankovich, unlike his predecessor, is a proponent of the three-point shot. The Mustangs are 122nd in percentage of points from the bonusphere this season, up from 275th a year ago. His teams seem to understand shot selection, taking over 70% of their total shots from either the arc or at the rim. His teams are, however, deliberate, like Virginia deliberate. It might not be fun and gun, but SMU’s offense is resulting in 1.12 points per possession this year and a KenPom AdjO ranking of 21st.

9. Any indication that he can recruit McDonald’s All-American-type players?

Jankovich’s first pledge as head coach at SMU was Elijah Landrum, a three-star point guard who also held offers from Houston, Texas Tech, and VCU. There are a couple of other three-star pledges in the class of 2017, both top 300 type guys. The top recruit is William Douglas, who is ranked 115th by 247sports. Shake Milton is the only SMU-recruited consensus four-star on the roster, though Duke transfer (and former top 30 prospect) Semi Ojeleye has blossomed into a stud after not getting much floor time for Coach K.

This is not ACC level recruiting, but it’s good enough for a 24-4 record with an experienced and competent coach. Jankovich, who was well regarded as a recruiter when an assistant at high-major programs, would likely lure better talent to Raleigh. He’s also been handcuffed a bit by scholarship reductions due to an NCAA violation that occurred under Brown’s watch. He has a slew of top 100 recruits listing SMU from the class of 2018, when scholarship levels will return to normal.

10. Does he have any connection to NC State, North Carolina, or the ACC?

He was “coach in waiting” under Brown, but his footprint is basically Texas and the Midwest.

11. Any other random red flags or positives?

The major red flag for Jankovich is his association with some pretty shady dudes, Brown chief among them. The Dean Smith protégé had numerous run-ins with the NCAA, most recently an academic fraud scandal (gasp!) that cost him nine games. It was more costly for SMU, which was given a postseason ban a year ago and a loss of scholarships. (Aside: note that this bit of justice was meted out for exactly ONE case of academic fraud that occurred before a recruit was even enrolled at SMU. Meanwhile, a decades-long, institutionalized system of academic fraud designed to keep players eligible at UNC is yet unpunished).

Eddie Sutton, who Jankovich also coached under, nearly killed Kentucky, getting the school a two-year postseason ban and one-year TV ban for a laundry list of violations that included bribing recruits, though Jank joined Sutton much later when he was at Oklahoma State.

Some of us who are getting long in the tooth might consider this a positive, but Jank has coached for longer than some POAPS candidates have been on the planet. He’ll be 58 when next season gets underway. That still gives him 7-10 years of coaching life in all likelihood, but can he relate to the kids these days? Do you want to bring in a guy that, even if he’s wildly successful, will in all likelihood have a short tenure? In just a few years, opposing whippersnapper coaches will be whispering in players ears: “You sure you want to play for a guy that might not be around to see you graduate?”

On the positive spectrum, the dude shot 91.7% from the line in his college career and over 50% from the floor from the guard position. Maybe he can teach some free throwing around here?

Another bit of intrigue is that Semi Ojeleye should be a grad transfer possibility. Could Jank bring him along?

Summary:

Would he be better than Gottfried?

I don’t think there’s any question that Jankovich could beat Gott’s players with his players, or his players with Gott’s players, and his history of immediately improving programs from year one is intriguing.

OK, so what is his ceiling?

Let’s see how far he takes the Mustangs. If he makes a run with the talent gap he’ll face perhaps as soon as the second round, then there is no ceiling on what he could accomplish with ACC talent, provided he can lure said talent to Raleigh. If he doesn’t recruit at a high level by ACC standards, he’s probably Jim Larrañaga. Hey, if that’s your floor, that’s pretty good.

Would he take the job if offered?

Probably not. Damn, I spent all this time on this for nothing. Despite the fact that he’s not a 40 or even 30-something, Jankovich should be a hot commodity for high-major schools coach shopping this offseason. An Indiana native who has spent nearly his entire career in flyover country probably has his sights sets on a Big 10 or Big 12 job. Maybe he returns to K-State, his alma mater, after we hire Bruce Weber! (I kid, I kid.)

Indiana, Ohio State, Oklahoma…those would probably be Jank’s dream jobs if he is even job hunting, and he may well have a shot at all of the above.

How would I feel if he were hired?

I can get past the age thing. I love the experience and the results he’s had as a head coach, especially this year at SMU. As the weight of losing buries my moral compass, I find the association with a who’s who in crooked coaches to be less untenable, but Larry Brown? Larry Brown??? I question the man’s judgment there.

How would the fan base as a whole feel if he were hired?

The answer here is also dependent on how SMU does in the tournament. If the Mustangs were to make the Final Four, I think the average State fan would be pretty excited to get the guy that led little old SMU to college basketball’s biggest stage for the first time since it fell to the San Francisco Dons in the 1956 Final Four. If Jank gets jerked from the tourney early, I think the response would largely be, “Who? We totally screwed this up again!”

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