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When
March Went Mad: The Game That Transformed Basketball
by Seth Davis
Hardcover from Times Books
Media Published: 2009-
The dramatic story of how
two legendary players burst on the scene in an NCAA championship that gave
birth to modern basketball
Thirty years ago, college basketball was not the sport we know today.
Few games were televised nationally and the NCAA tournament had just expanded
from thirty-two to forty teams. Into this world came two exceptional players:
Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Larry Bird. Though they played each other only
once, in the 1979 NCAA finals, that meeting launched an epic rivalry, transformed
the NCAA tournament into the multibillion-dollar event it is today, and
laid the groundwork for the resurgence of the NBA.
In When March Went Mad, Seth Davis recounts the dramatic story
of the season leading up to that game, as Johnson's Michigan State Spartans
and Bird's Indiana State Sycamores overcame long odds and great doubts
that their unheralded teams could compete at the highest level. Davis also
tells the stories of their remarkable coaches, Jud Heathcote and Bill Hodges--who
were new to their schools but who set their own paths to build great teams--and
he shows how tensions over race and class heightened the drama of the competition.
When Magic and Bird squared off in Salt Lake City on March 26, 1979, the
world took notice--to this day it remains the most watched basketball game
in the history of television--and the sport we now know was born. |
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Underdawgs:
How Brad Stevens and the Butler Bulldogs Marched Their Way to the Brink
of College Basketball's National Championship
by David Woods
Hardcover from Scribner
ISBN: 1451610572
Butler University in Indianapolis became the smallest school in 40
years to reach the NCAA championship game. Prior to the tournament, a statistician
calculated the Bulldogs as a 200-to-1 shot to win. But as fascinating as
what Butler accomplished was how they did it. Underdawgs tells the
incredible and uplifting story.
Butler's coach, 33-year-old Brad Stevens, looked so young he was often
mistaken for one of the players, but he had quickly become one of the best
coaches in the nation by employing the "Butler Way." This philosophy of
basketball and life, adopted by former coach Barry Collier, is based on
five principles: humility, passion, unity, servanthood, and thankfulness.
Even the most casual observer could see this in every player, on the court
and off, from NBA first-round draft pick Gordon Hayward to the last guy
on the bench.
Butler was coming off a great 2009-10 regular season, but its longtime
existence on the periphery of major college basketball fostered doubt as
March Madness set in. But after two historic upsets, one of top-seeded
Syracuse and another of second-seeded Kansas State, and making it to the
Final Four, the Bulldogs came within the diameter of a shoelace of beating
the perennial leaders of college basketball: the Duke Blue Devils. Much
more than a sports story, Underdawgs is the consummate David versus
Goliath tale. Despite Duke's winning the championship, the Bulldogs proved
they belonged in the game and, in the process, won the respect of people
who were not even sports fans. |
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Outside
the Limelight: Basketball in the Ivy League
by Kathy Orton
Hardcover from Rutgers University Press
Media Published: 2009-
ISBN: 0813546168
The Ivy League is a place where basketball is neither a pastime nor
a profession. Instead, it is a true passion among players, coaches, and
committed sports enthusiasts who share in its every success and setback.
Outside
the Limelight is the first book to look inside Ivy League basketball
and at the boundless enthusiasm that defines it.
With painstaking reportage, Kathy Orton vividly captures the internal
fervor of the personalities who champion their game--all the triumphs and
disappointments of an Ivy hoop season. Scholarships for student athletes?
None, and this is the only Division I conference that does not offer them.
The
TV spotlight? It barely shines, despite the passion, talent, and commitment
of the players. Megadollar contracts from the NBA? Rarely does a
player receive an offer. These age-old institutions are better known for
turning out presidents, not point guards, and CEOs and captains of industry,
not centers on the court.
Orton weaves together the stories of coaches and players as they move
from fall practice through an entire season and ahead to the NCAA tournament.
From Harvard to Penn, Princeton to Cornell and beyond, players--perhaps
more accustomed to pomp and circumstance--face leaky gyms, endure long
bus rides, rigorous courseloads, and unbearable exam schedules. Why?
Just to prove they can hang with the big boys despite juggling multiple
non-athletic responsibilities? Maybe. But more importantly, for the
sincere love of the game.
Outside the Limelight provides frontcourt vision for college
basketball fans everywhere to achieve an appreciation of this captivating
conference and for diehard enthusiasts to gain greater insight into what
brings Ivy League basketball to center circle. |
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The
Men of March: A Season Inside the Lives of College Basketball Coaches
by Brian Curtis
Hardcover from Taylor Trade Publishing
ISBN: 0878333134
The Men of March: A Season Inside the Lives of College Basketball Coaches
is a one-of-a kind look at what it means, and what it takes to be a head
coach in the college arena of the new millennium. Granted extensive access
to the locker rooms, practices, offices, sidelines and homes of four of
the nations leading coaches and their programs (Mike Brey, Notre Dame;
Steve Lavin, UCLA; Bill Self, Illinois and Steve Alford, Iowa), the author
lays bare the forces that make coaches tick. From upset losses and recruiting
wars, to the mounting frenzy of March Madness and the fierce rivalries
played out through long winters under the brightest, hottest spotlight
in college sports, readers gain a true respect for men who choose, and
excel at, this roller coaster ride profession. With candid comments from
over fifty college coaches, including Lute Olson, Roy Williams and John
Chaney, in addition to perspectives from Dick Vitale, John Wooden, John
Feinstein and many others, The Men of March provides an in-depth look at
some of the major issues facing coaches in the game today. Among the many
considerations of the college basketball pressure cooker are recruiting,
graduation rates, hirings and firings, media relations and the influence
of volatile social issues such as race and religion on the game's participants
and leaders. |
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Cinderella
Ball: A Look Inside Small-College Basketball in West Virginia
by Bob Kuska
Paperback from Bison Books
ISBN: 0803213921
For most of the twentieth century,
West Virginia was a college basketball hotbed. Its major programs were
a success, but perhaps even more successful was the West Virginia Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference, composed of fifteen schools that rarely earned headlines
but set many records and became an identifiable part of small town culture
and a source of state pride. This ethos exists today in small town Kentucky
and Indiana but struggles to survive in West Virginia. Part of the reason
is the state's population decline since the 1950s. That, author Bob Kuska
argues, along with the rise of cable and satellite TV and the major college
basketball empire, stole the thunder--and the crowds--from these small
town communities.And yet, these teams play on in obscurity and still find
success. Against the backdrop of West Virginia's great small college history,
Kuska chronicles the day-to-day struggles and triumphs of one modern school,
Alderson-Broaddus College in Philippi, West Virginia. What happened to
that team during a rags-to-riches yearlong stretch would've been remarkable
at any level, let alone at a school with very low athletic department budgets
and low visibility that makes recruiting talented players almost impossible.As
he alternates between coaches and players, past and present, Kuska contrasts
the fan enthusiasm of the conference's early years with the apathy that
plagues the teams of the twenty-first century. If sports fans can get past
the media and the madness that has made college basketball increasingly
similar to professional basketball in its self-indulgence and sensationalism,
they are left with leagues like the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference--scrappy, intelligent, and spirited--and still finding ways
to succeed and thrive. |
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Investing
in College Basketball
by Larry R. Seidel
Hardcover from AuthorHouse
ISBN: 1418481394
Investing in College Basketball provides a comprehensive set of tools
and techniques for successfully wagering on college basketball. It shows
how the returns - winnings -- from investing in college basketball can
be far greater than investing in stocks and bonds. These returns can be
achieved by anyone with an interest in basketball, basic mathematical skills,
and a computer with spreadsheet programs and Internet access. The power
of the methodology is demonstrated by actual investing results for the
2003-2004 season of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The book includes an analysis
of investment outcomes for the A-10 Conference, the working papers for
assessing each team, and the analysis of each game for which an investment
was made. There are extensive examples of how theory is applied in analyzing
actual games and showing how good analysis consistently pays off. |
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Carolina
Basketball: A Century of Excellence
by Adam Lucas
Hardcover from The University of North Carolina Press
Media Published: 2010-
ISBN: 0807834106
This is the must-have book for Tar Heel fans and college basketball
lovers everywhere. Boasting six national championships and scores of Hall
of Fame coaches and players, Carolina Basketball has come a long way from
the first season--when the campus newspaper published a notice asking an
unknown culprit to return the team's basketball. These pages are packed
with little-known stories from the program's earliest days and new insights
into its best-loved moments. All the greats are here, from Jack Cobb and
the "Blind Bomber" George Glamack to Lennie Rosenbluth, Phil Ford, James
Worthy, Michael Jordan, Antawn Jamison, and Tyler Hansbrough. Lucas reveals
the meaning of the "Carolina family" and the origins and evolution of Tar
Heel traditions that have made North Carolina one of the premier teams
in men's college basketball.
These stories are brought to life with more than 200 color and black-and-white
photos; a foreword by Hall of Fame coach Dean Smith and an afterword by
fellow Hall of Famer Roy Williams; and an appendix of records and statistics.
Some 30 sidebars feature first-person recollections from prominent players
including Rosenbluth, Ford, and Jordan; opposing coaches like Lefty Driesell;
and national broadcasters like Dick Vitale. |
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Put
Me In, Coach: A Parent's Guide to Winning the Game of College Recruiting
(Volume 1)
by Laurie A. Richter
Paperback from Right Fit Press
ISBN: 0615213332
PUT ME IN, COACH is an award winning, must-have guidebook for parents
and their student-athletes who want to be recruited to compete in athletics
at the college level. Because of limited roster spots, only a handful of
high school athletes will play their sport competitively in college and
even fewer will get NCAA or NAIA scholarships. For your child to be one
of them, you need a game plan, and the earlier you start, the better. If
you are the parent of a student-athlete who is better than most in high
school athletics, but college coaches aren't lining up at your door, you
will find PUT ME IN, COACH indispensable. Advice and personal observations
from 40 college coaches will help you understand how to market your child
so coaches take notice, how to get money from any school even those that
don t give athletic scholarships, how to identify the colleges that are
the right fit for your child, how to understand recruiting from the coaches
point of view, and how to make the right impression and get the most out
of campus visits. PUT ME IN, COACH has won the Pinnacle Book Achievement
Award and the Next Generation Indie Book Award, and was a finalist for
the USA Best Books Award. |
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Tales
from the Syracuse Hardwood
by Bud Poliquin
Orange is a state of mind for fans of Syracuse University basketball.
Think Orange and images of greatness appear, from Vic Hanson in the Roaring
'20s through Carmelo Anthony in the 21 st century. Think Orange and the
sounds of glory are heard, from old Archbold Gym to the gleaming Carrier
Dome. Think Orange and the memories of 1,607 victories are stirred, from
SU's first win in 1901 over Cornell to its 2003 triumph over Kansas that
brought home the national championship. Many of the stories that have contributed
to the phenomenon known as Orangemen basketball now come to life in Bud
Poliquin's Tales from the Syracuse Hardwood. Dave Bing, Jim Boeheim, Jim
Brown (yes, he played hoops, too), Bouie and Louie, Leo Rautins, Pearl
Washington, and Derrick Coleman -- all of them and numerous other SU legends
join Hanson and Anthony in the pages of this anecdotal anthology of Syracuse
University basketball, certain to complete the bookshelf of any Orangemen
fan. Tales from the Syracuse Hardwood looks at the team's infamous 27-game
losing streak in the early 1960s, Roy's Runts, the Pearl's stunning halfcourt
buzzer-beater that knocked off Boston College in 1984, the fabulous Final
Four runs of 1975, 1996, and 2003; and Anthony's freshman brilliance that
delivered the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament title in the very New
Orleans building haunted by Indiana's Keith Smart and his game-winning
shot in the 1987 national championship game.
Hardcover from Sports Publishing, Inc.
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They Call Me Coach
by John R. Wooden, Jack Tobin, Bill Walton
Listed under Basketball Coaching
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