Arnie Ball leaves legendary mark

I don’t really take the time to write much anymore just to write. But this strikes me as one of those things that I really need to put fingers to keyboard about.

Tomorrow night, April 4, I will sit in Hilliard Gates Sports Center for about the 200^th time in my life and I will watch Arnie Ball coach for the final time. Ever.

It is, deep down, mind boggling on about every level. Ball is, more than anyone ever has been to me, the single biggest representation of IPFW. Not volleyball, not coaching, not athletics; Arnie Ball is IPFW.

I was an eighteen-year-old freshman the first time that I ever saw a men’s volleyball contest. It seemed like an odd idea to me when I stepped foot into the Gates Center to cover a match. I don’t remember who they were playing or even if they won that day in early 2003, but I was enthralled. The way that Jeff Ptak and Matt Zbyszewski hit the ball with such velocity was a thing of beauty. I was sold on having the men’s volleyball beat.

Then I wrote a column for the IPFW student newspaper, The Communicator, that didn’t exactly make Coach Ball happy. So I covered men’s volleyball for a full season basically without any quotes from him, instead drawing on the likes of Zbyszewski, Serdar Sikca and Mike Daiga for my stories. But this isn’t about my relationship with Coach Ball, which was healed pretty quickly. Instead, it is about the legacy that he leaves behind.

Ball, simply put, has left a mark on every person he comes into any significant contact with. He taught me a lot of things as a young student writer that I wasn’t getting anywhere else. He wasn’t a journalism guy and couldn’t teach me how to write a lede or about AP style. But he also was the easiest and toughest interview I have ever had and because of that, perhaps my all-time favorite.

If one of my questions was too vague or too dumb, Arnie would answer. And his answer would be vague or unusable. See, for Arnie, if I couldn’t ask him good enough questions, why should he spoon feed me an answer? I don’t know if that was ever his intention or not, but it is how it worked on me. In his own way, sitting on the other end of the phone or of his office, Arnie coached me to become a better interviewer and challenged me to do a better job covering his team and his program.

It propelled me into some of my best stories I ever wrote for The Communicator during the 2006 season, watching the Mastodons break records, including for most consecutive wins and a trip to the Final Four in State College, Pennsylvania. The trip to State College to watch IPFW unsuccessfully challenge UCLA will always be one of my favorites when it comes to covering a sport. I watched the team grow and I grew as a reporter because of Ball’s willingness to keep me in the loop and interest in sitting down with me or being just a phone call away whenever I needed some last second thought.

What also made my time covering men’s volleyball at IPFW easier were the players. From all of the guys previously mentioned to CJ Macias, Brock Ullrich and Elon Fyfield, the players in the system have been nothing short of amazing to interview or simply to talk to. And that isn’t thanks to his coaching as much as it is to his recruiting. The reason that IPFW has been so successful on the volleyball court is because Ball, at least in my time watching the team, has recruited good kids who work hard to be the best but also don’t take life, or the sport, too seriously.

By the time I covered my last IPFW volleyball game in the spring of 2009, sitting down with Arnie in his office weekly on a Monday afternoon for 30-45 minutes became the regular. We would interview and we would just talk. In that time, much more mature than I was when I first met him at eighteen, Coach Ball became a good acquaintance. Back at The Communicator after a couple of years away from school, I really looked forward to nothing more than he and I’s conversations.

Tomorrow night will be surreal knowing it is the last time that I will see him coaching in that gym, on a court that will now be named for him.

In the world of men’s volleyball nationwide, Arnie Ball is a legend, widely respected by his peers. In my 15 and change years of journalism, there has been no story or interview subject that has left as big of an overall impression on me as Coach Ball. His candidness, his swagger, his ability to get the absolute best out of everyone he comes in contact with — they are all legendary.

And after tomorrow night, Arnie Ball Court, surely will never be the same again.

The rise of IPFW: Part 5

Now former IPFW athletic director, Tommy Bell did not waste any time in naming Dane Fife’s replacement. But this time, the decision wasn’t ludicrous to me. We didn’t need months of build up, months of searching: Tony Jasick was the right man at the right time for IPFW.

Jasick is part of what Dane Fife did so right when he blew up the dark years and brought on the new dawn of the program. Jeff Tungate, Jermaine Kimbrough, Tony Jasick: all terrific hires that Fife made. While time will still tell, Jasick may have been the best. He was young, he was hungry, he had a diverse background already coaching at North Alabama, Newberry College and most recently Middle Tennessee State. Tony Jasick was a diamond in the rough and he took on his role at IPFW at full throttle.

For the program to continue what Dane Fife started, Tony Jasick had to be the guy. The day I found out that Dane Fife was leaving, casually and not for any story, I text a former player of mine, Justin Jordan. Justin, who played locally at North Side High School and then at St. Louis, had transferred to IPFW to play for Fife. Fife and Jasick recruited Justin hard in high school, so getting him as a transfer is something I knew they hung their hat on. Like he had for me, I know Dane Fife had grown on Justin, hence the transfer, but what became apparent in that short conversation with JJ was that for all Fife was, Jasick was absolutely the perfect evolution for the program. I don’t know that I have ever heard Justin as jazzed about anything as he was about playing for Tony Jasick.

The praise from one of his future players was clearly justified. In his first year, Jasick took a step back from where IPFW had been but that was expected. He still won 11 games and competed in a tough Summit League. A year later, he improved to 16-17. Through 19 total games this year, he sits just two wins away from tying that mark. Considering he’s already led the Dons past conference favorite North Dakota State, that doesn’t seem like a very big hill to climb.

As of the time I write this, Jasick has won 41 games at IPFW over his two and a half seasons. That is the fourth most ever for an IPFW men’s basketball coach. If his coaching career ended today, only one coach in the program would have a better IPFW career winning percentage.

It has been years since I have been to an IPFW men’s basketball game. There is a disconnect between me now and what I know about the program on a deep level. Both of those are unfortunate because I used to live on knowledge about IPFW basketball, whether out of want or need. But it makes me smile every time I see them win, because they all did it: Jasick, Jordan, Fife, David Carson, Scott, Bell, Pope, Campbell, Pechota, Simon, Noll, Collins…all of those names and hoards more put IPFW in the position they are today.

It has been fun to watch over the years. I really need to get myself over to the Gates Center and see more.

The rise of IPFW: Part 4

Dane Fife was just 25 years old when he was named the head coach at IPFW.

It was a huge story on campus, a big one in the city of Fort Wayne and even had national appeal due to his high profile playing career and his new claim to being the youngest men’s head coach in Division I. No matter how I felt then, how I feel now; I will always love the fact that we, the IPFW Communicator, broke the story.

Throughout the search, myself, Justin Kenny, Nick West and Tony Maurer were all over it. We asked anyone we could, any time we could. Talked to players to find out who interviewed, called candidates, and followed every last lead. The night before the announcement, we got confirmation: Dane Fife was to be the head coach. At the time, IPFW’s web presence was slight, but we had to break the story. We had to beat Sarah Trotto at the Journal Gazette, we had to beat everyone. Just after midnight, my story, with credit to my Communicator colleagues, went live on CollegeHoops.Net. Now, the site sits as an unupdated shell, but then it was one of the biggest hit-garnering websites for college basketball anywhere. And we broke the story. And I will always love that.

The press conference went off without a hitch and Dane Fife said all of the right things, all out of the script he seemed to have written for himself in his mind. Once and now again colleague Justin Kenny and I wrote contrasting columns in the first issue of the IPFW student paper, The Communicator, just days after the hiring. I think Justin was trying to play devil’s advocate in his. In my column, I was honest. The hiring was insane to me.

Looking back to almost nine years ago when the hire was made, I have now spent a lot of time around Dane Fife. Although it has been years, he was once one of the few people that I saw pretty much every single day. I have a greater respect for Dane as a person and as a coach than I could have imagined.

But in May 2005, I was appalled and pretty well thought that IPFW AD Mark Pope was out of his mind. Why? To sell tickets? So the Memorial Coliseum would echo just a little less? To motivate the players by giving them someone who could relate to them? Didn’t you just have the guy to relate to them? I kept my column tame; I kept a lot of questions hid internally.

Mark Pope opened the press conference with a phrase. I opened my news story for the front page of The Communicator quoting the same phrase: “Dane Fife is the right man at the right time for IPFW.”

I didn’t believe a word of it.

And before we could even see who was right and who was wrong, that darkness that began a year or so earlier engulfed the program. In one full swoop, walk-on Andrew Bourne and returning leading scorers Pete Campbell and Beau Bauer were gone, decisions made what we thought to be independently at the time. The next fall, in an interview I did with Campbell about the mass exodus over two years of athletes from the school, he was pretty clear that he left in part because the writing was on the wall. What writing? Within months of Fife’s hire, he cleaned house. While the squad lost Simon to graduation and the three others before school was out, Fife’s summer cleaning list was long: Byron Malone, Jason Malone, Charles Campbell, Quintin Butler. And all of the sudden, there stood the transfers, Scott and Pompey, with returners Justin Hawkins, Quintin Carouthers and Zeljko Egeric and it looked like an atomic bomb had been dropped on the program.

When 'Soup' left,
things looked fishy.

If I questioned the hiring before, I was mortified now. So, we don’t need any starters back? Seven players are just gone? The entire backcourt?

And then Dane grew on me. His personality, his friendship, his work ethic. He didn’t always do things the way that was expected. He, like Doug Noll, drew criticism. But he pressed on. Dane Fife did things Dane Fife’s way for his entire tenure. And it wasn’t just the right way, it was the only way. He let Scott shine, becoming then one of IPFW’s all-time great scorers. He brought it strong recruits like NJCAA All-American Jaraun Burrows and Kansas State transfer Deilvez Yearby. He recruited locally hard and while not landing a big local talent for years, he was persistent.

Furthermore, IPFW had never had a winning record in its D1 tenure, but Fife took them to 10 wins in his first season. The next it was 12 wins and the following season he was where some thought we needed Dement to get us: a conference.

Dane Fife’s win total always grew. 13 wins in the first season in the new Summit League (formerly the Mid-Continent Conference), 13 more in the second year, then 16. Then in 2010-2011, Dane Fife took the Mastodons of IPFW to 18-12, 11-7 in the conference. It was the first winning record in the program since Andy Piazza took them to their best record ever, 23-6 in the 1992-1993 season. Dane Fife was 13.

When looking at the grand landscape of the program, Dane Fife was the lynchpin. Not only was Dane the “right man at the right time for IPFW,” I now believe he was the only man for the job. That’s not to say that lighting a candle wouldn’t have ended the dark years, but Dane had the testicular fortitude to drop a bomb on the dark years and say, “it’s over, let’s move on.”

Losing Dane Fife to Michigan State in 2011 looked like it was going to be the biggest loss in the history of IPFW athletics.

The rise of IPFW: Part 3

Joe Pechota kind of gets lost in the transition of things with the program. Gangster Joe, with his gold bracelet, nice suits and slicked back hair, was a total change from Noll. At this point, I was totally engrained in the story of it all, getting whatever info I could whenever I could. I was at every game and the change that came in Pechota’s first game, a win against Youngstown State was not just crystal clear, it screamed at you. ‘Coach P’ as they called him, brought out the best in his players and their personalities. During that Youngstown State game, they all seemed looser, more jovial, and happier.

It is amazing what a different atmosphere will do for a team. The Malone brother (Jason and Byron) were hustling, Simon was light on his feet and in his head and Pete Campbell broke out and showed that he was clearly the heir apparent to Simon’s reign.

Did they win a lot? No. They won just three more games, all against fellow Independents, all while Pechota was embroiled with a tough head coaching national search.

Joe Pechota did a great job. When we, at The Communicator, found out the final four candidates, I did my homework. All of us doing sports at the paper did. The pros and cons were debated often.

Joe Pechota, the current interim head coach who had a golden report with his players. He proved he could win some; can he win more with a full team back? After all, he was losing just Simon and adding red shirt guards Brad Pompey and DeWitt Scott, who was a D1 transfer.

Tracy Dildy, the unproven Ole Miss assistant coach who was a world class recruiter. Once recruiting the likes of future NBA prospects Bonzi Wells and Quentin Richardson to their respective schools. Who could Dildy bring in to IPFW? Could he make his whole thing blow up in a positive way? Can he win games at all?

 

At the time, Fife seemed like
an odd choice over (from left to right)
Dildy, Pechota and Dement.

Mike Dement, the former Southern Methodist (SMU) coach who had gone through the find-a-conference transition before at UNC-Greensboro. After all, this was the thing on the top of Athletic Director Mark Pope’s list: get IPFW to a conference. Mid-Continent Conference, Horizon League – he, as an AD, needed to be one of these places to sustain the school’s D1 status. And he can win; he was 138-120 in seven-plus seasons at SMU.

Dane Fife, the Indiana University video coordinator with no head, or really any, coaching experience on any level. Dane would bring a youthful exuberance and an ability to relate to the young players, he was young himself, shortly out of a brief pro career with Gary in the CBA. Not to mention he led IU on the court to a National Title game a few years earlier. So he had been there, and was going to put butts in the seats in the pro-IU area. But not only could he win, but could he even coach?

I had my opinion then and I won’t be shy about it. I talked to three of these four guys briefly about the search. Coach P was as he always was, candid and hopeful but didn’t go to deep. Dement was very PR-motivated and gave copy and paste answers. Dildy was full of conversation. We had multiple hour-long or so phone conversations, he was personable and polite. Dane Fife did not answer the phone, he did not return calls.

When it was time to make the decision, my opinion was clear: hit reset and take the chance on Tracy Dildy. When he withdrew his name about a week before the decision was made, there was only one answer: ride it out with Joe Pechota. Imagine my surprise when the name that came back was Dane Fife.

The rise of IPFW: Part 2

Say what you will about any coach during IPFW’s 12-plus year tenure as Division I program, but this very season is a testament to them all. The rise of IPFW has been a visionary one. Different visions? Sure. Always correct visions? No way. But they have climbed to get here. Every coach, with the exception of one year…the worst year, has avoided a back slide from their previous year.

There should have been no D1 program in 2001-2002, but yet there was. Doug Noll was not a D1 coach and Mark Pope was not a D1 Athletic Director. But I will be damned if they didn’t strap on their boots and get to work. 7-21 in the program’s first year as a D1 Independent, 9-19 the following season.

Doug Noll was the first, but not last, highly polarizing head coach in the Mastodons’ D1 era. Anyone who watched games or covered games was critical of him at times, myself included. It comes with the territory, something I am sure he was and is aware of. But he was handed a losing desk and made the best out of it those first two seasons. He also signed an Indiana All-Star in Beau Bauer and found a diamond in the rough in Loyola volleyball player David Simon.

Then came 2003-2004. There is no official name, no real long standing nightmare, but it was the start of the ‘dark years’ for the program. They went 3-25, the second worst record in the program’s history while losing leading scorer and team leader Terry Collins along the way. Despite all of that, they had a guy who averaged 18 rebounds per game, and that guy, David Simon, was widely considered the second best center in the country behind eventual top draft pick Emeka Okafor. David went on to declare for the NBA Draft, and while it was an awesome thing for the program, as was the attention he was getting, it hinted at the cracks.

 

David Simon

I interviewed both David and Coach Noll on the day that the IPFW student newspaper, The Communicator, found out about his decision. It was a day before his press conference and the two were far apart on their idea of what the plan was. For David, this was his time and he planned to go all out with it. For Noll, it was just to take a sampling and David was absolutely returning to school. The decision, lost in translation between head coach and star player, showed that there was no foundation to build on anymore.

Sadly, David Simon never went to the NBA. Invited to the prestigious pre-draft camp in his native Chicago, the IPFW center tore his ACL at camp as was never the same in my opinion. He came back the following year and the disconnect was clear.

The next year, they were worse, even with a better record. Noll was out midseason, replaced by Joe Pechota and ultimately replaced in the offseason by Dane Fife. The team showed signs of life early in 2004-2005 and won their, then biggest, game in their short D1 history beating Utah State at home. But after the win, the squad lost eight in a row, finalized by a 100-59 loss at Wyoming.

The Rise of IPFW: Part 1

I haven’t been to an IPFW men’s basketball game in years. And that is sad.

These games, at my college, were once a staple of life, as a fan or as a writer. I saw them all, I witnessed some crazy moments at the Memorial Coliseum, in the cozy confines of the Gates Center and on the road with rabid home crowds at Oakland, Purdue and Notre Dame.

And as we sit today, IPFW is atop of the Summit League. That, in itself, is somewhat shocking when you have see all of what I have seen.

The struggles, where a win would be great, let alone a sniff at a sub-winning record.

The coaching swaps, when a mid-season replacement yields happiness but a following off-season swap leaves those in the know skeptical.

The exiles, whose careers at the school ended prematurely, be it at the hands of the old coach, their own doing or one of those aforementioned coaching swaps.

The injuries, which cut down big pieces of the puzzle. As great as it would be to add Justin Jordan to this year’s team, imagine the transition phase with a healthy David Simon. Even more, imagine if he hadn’t been hurt in 2004 and ended up being the first IPFW player to go in the NBA Draft. Sadly, the letters A, C and L stop us from seeing any of those realities.

A healthy David Simon could have gone to the NBA.
And even more, helped IPFW to be better way faster.

Yet here they sit. One year after just missing out on the 12^th winning season in school history, they are kings of their own domain. Humble, fierce, coming into a 2013-2014 season after graduating arguably the best player to ever wear a Mastodon basketball jersey; they lead the Summit League in mid-January.

A school that has just 11 winning seasons, had only won 20-plus games four times and has never hauled in more that 18 wins since becoming a Division 1 program, is currently sitting at 14 wins and sure took shots at Dayton and Illinois, schools who escaped the Mastodons by the skin of their teeth.

And that is magnificent.

College Basketball Preview: Fringe Conferences Part Two

MID-AMERICAN

This is one of those rare and odd Midwest conferences where the best schools usually aren't draped with the best players. Shayne Whittington has the chance to be dominant inside for Western Michigan in a league without much knowledgeable size. They may be the dark horse with 3 guys who red shirted last year as true freshmen. How those three do against Toledo will determine the West Division and possibly conference winner.

MISSOURI VALLEY

Wichita State is by far the class of this conference and should run away with it behind Cleanthony Early, a potential future NBA prospect. The Shockers lost 4 players from a 30-win team, but could repeat that number again. Indiana State will be a distant, but interesting second place team behind Jake Odum and newcomer Brenton Scott.

Cleanthony Early is going to be one of the best
mid-majorplayers in the nation.

NORTHEAST

Bryant may be an interesting choice because of newcomer Daniel Garvin, who has a lot of talent for this level, but Julian Boyd at Long Island may change all of that. Boyd, if healthy, is a 18-25 point per night guy which is the kind of scoring you need to be a breakout team in a league this small.

OHIO VALLEY

In the Ohio Valley, Murray State is always a frontrunner because of their history and consistency. They have some intriguing kids coming into the program, but with that said, they are quite young. I look for Belmont to top Eastern Kentucky, easier than some might thing, in the East with Southeast Missouri State leading the West. Overall, SEMS has more talent with Tyler Stone, but Belmont just has more experience and will win the Ohio Valley.

PATRIOT

Bucknell is intriguing as a repeat champion, but I just don't know if Cameron Ayers is enough fire power when it comes to topping Boston, who has a lot of depth. D.J. Irving, Dom Morris and Maurice Watson Jr. is a hell of a triple threat.

SOUTHERN

There may no longer be a Curry in town, but it is about time that Davidson rises back to power in this conference and as a legit March Cinderella threat. De'mon Brooks is going to be the Player of the Year and Andrew McAuliffe may be the best freshman at 6'8'', 225 pounds.

SOUTHLAND

The Southland is a mess. I can name 5-6 teams who shouldn't even be Division I. I mean, who is Incarnate Word? Are we taking everyone now? Eventually, this league will be like the Summit League was (Mid-Con before that) with Oral Roberts dominating year after year. But they are still feeling things out, so I'll give McNeese State the benefit of the doubt this season behind Desharick Guidry.

SUMMIT LEAGUE

I am a homer of sorts and would love to see IPFW make a run, but that is going to be hard after losing all-time leading scorer Frank Gaines, now in the NBDL. IPFW's season could be impacted by the debut of redshirt Stetson transfer Steve Forbes, Taylor Braun leads a versatile North Dakota State lineup, South Dakota State has depth with Jordan Dykstra leading the way, and Denver has the overall best player in Chris Udofia. This conference should be a sprint between these four schools, I am going to guess Denver rises to the top in the end.

Steve Forbes could be a beast at IPFW.

SUN BELT

Somehow, and for some reason, Georgia State has become an athletic darling of the low grade conferences. They are attracting decent athletes for no discernible reason. In their first year in the Sun Belt, a sophomore in R.J. Hunter is going to dominate. Behind him, Manny Atkins is strong. Louisiana-Lafayette will also be a contender, but just aren't as athletically deep as the Panthers and Coach Ron Hunter.

The fact that RJ Hunter is only a sophomore is just insane.
He is a NBA prospect with a lot more time to
make Georgia State relevant.

SWAC

The lowest of the low on the totem pole is the Southwestern Athletic Conference, who wouldn't come close to field a tournament team unless they were required to do so. If it wasn't for the explosive Demarquelle Tabb, this conference would be lost. Because of Tabb, who at 6'5'', almost averaged a double-double in points and rebounds last season, Alabama A&M will plow through the conference.

WESTERN ATHLETIC

In this geographically irresponsible conference, familiarity is king. New Mexico State is always the class of this field and they have a great coach back that probably should have left for greener pastures in the off season. Travel lag may become an issue, especially for the Chicago States and UMKCs of the world.

> Resolutions for (other people in) 2011

7. Can they dance?
IPFW is having a great year in mens basketball, so let's see them go dancing. It will be hard with Oakland in league, but this is by far the most realistic chance Dane Fife and company have had.

6. Can I get Michael Bisping a title shot?
Look, Bisping is a solid two wins away from being back at the top of the heap that he is the 'gatekeeper' to. He'll beat Jorge Rivera (lotta good that'll do in the rankings), so then it just depends on who wins the 'Fight Wanderlei Silva' sweepstakes. Chris Leben probably lost his pull to get Wandi by losing to start the year, but now Brian Stann wants in. I say give Stann the old man and then have the winner face Bisping for a title shot. Or, if Chael Sonnen is gonna get screwed out of a shot (see #2), then let's have Stann/Wandi and Bisping/Sonnen in a little playoff for the Anderson Silva/Vitor Belfort winner. If you did this, imagine the ratings for The Ultimate Fighter with Bisping and Sonnen jawing back and forth as coaches.

5. Beat LA....but BEAT the HEAT first.
I am all about the Celtics winning banner 18 this year, but also I could deal with several other teams betting the Lakers in the final too. But alas, they aren't the true evil this year. Someone, anyone, has to eliminate the Heat. If it comes down finally to LeBron vs. Kobe, I may have to (ugh) find myself cheering for the purple and gold.

4. Is He finally done?!
Brett Favre, please go away! Don't come back later in the season for some 2-12 team...just go away.

3. Hey, um....TCU wants a college football playoff
I don't even know who is going to win the National Title in a week or so (my money, if I had any, would be on Oregon), but here we are again with another year where there is more than one undefeated team at the end of the season. Wake up already.

2. Chael Sonnen gets his rematch with Anderson Silva
I have little hope that Vitor Belfort will be the one to out duel The Spider when they meet next month. So my hope is that once Chael Sonnen gets through with his BS suspension, that Dana White and the powers that be in the UFC give him his due second shot. BJ Penn and Gray Maynard got immediate rematches and they didn't dominate a champion like Sonnen did, let alone a champ who is one of the most dominant ever.

1. Coach K breaks Bobby Knight's All-Time Win Record
Lets face it, this is bound to happen and if the start align right and the Blue Devils stay healthy, it could happen before Spring is fully in bloom and with a 5th title for the Duke boys.

> Dear NBA, this is Ben Woodside

Dear NBA,

I am scouring the Mock Draft boards and I don't see his name. I'm looking, maybe he's listed under something different? But I don't see the phrase "Almost Upset Kansas," I don't see "Made Sherron Collins look like his bitch," I don't see "Best Low-to-Mid Major player in the country," and I don't even see "Captain Underrated."

So I certainly don't see "Ben Woodside."

Over four years, I saw Woodside patrol the court a handful of times against the local IPFW Mastodon team who have shared both Independent and Summit League affiliations with Woodside's North Dakota State. And no, I've never particularly been a fan of his. Then again, that may have been due to the fact that Woodside's skill and maturity (even in his freshman season) was just that far ahead of everyone else on the court. He never was flustered, never showed signs that he was worried about he or his fellow Bisons when they went the limit in this year's Summit League title game with Oakland. Instead, he calmly stepped up and knocked down a buzzer beating 15-footer to send the Bison to their first NCAA Tournament in their first year of tournament eligibility.

I watched him calmly put up 37 and almost beat Kansas in the opening round of that tournament. Oh yeah, he scored 60 in the 2008-2009 season against Stephen F. Austin.

So, why don't I see his name?

I think it's great that his home state Timberwolves and also the Oklahoma City Thunder have brought Woodside in for workouts, showing they aren't scared off by his 5'10'' frame. And yeah, he has worked out in front of representatives from the majority of teams in the league in camps this summer. But why in the hell is there not more interest in this kid?

The OKC is not going to take Woodside at number three, so unless they trade for a pick, that workout is pretty much for naught. Yes, Minnesota is the most logical, he's a homerun local pick with the 45th or 47th pick and I pray that is where Woodside goes as he can be very useful on a team looking for an identity with young players who need some peer guidance. Portland should be another team on the lookout for Woodside at 55 and 56 and what about Utah? I'm told by a friend with much more knowledge of that franchise that if Kyle Korver bolts, they may need another shooter so taking Woodside at 50 wouldn't be a stretch pending on who they take in the first round.

Either way this pans out, Woodside is going to get a shot this summer and there is little doubt in that. He will get a spot on a summer league roster, may get invited to camp and might even slip onto an opening day roster. But Ben Woodside deserves better. The second round is a crap shoot of longshots and ANYBODY could go ANYWHERE. So all I am saying is this: take Ben Woodside. It's not a request, not a plea, it's more like an order. Slip outside of VCU's Eric Maynor and find me a more poised, reliable, adult point guard who can also score off the dribble and I will tell you that you are lying.

Dear NBA, this is Ben Woodside. Get used to him, he's no joke.

> Book on Lloy Ball gives unrivaled insight

Sports biographies are not a rare thing these days, but to find one of relevance on a local level is.

Published in late November by AuthorHouse, “The Biggest Mistake I Never Made” tells a unique and interesting tale of former IPFW volleyball sensation Lloy Ball, in his own words, as told to News Sentinel sports writer Blake Sebring.

The tagline on the front cover of the book really does no justice in summing up this tale: “How an Indiana boy gave up basketball to become a world-class volleyball player.”

I really enjoy that Ball and Sebring did not rush along the story, taking plenty of time throughout the 188 pages to transition from event to event. Even the tale of Lloy choosing between playing Division I basketball at Indiana University and coming here to IPFW to play volleyball for his father is not rushed and starts mainly in chapter six.

Chapter one discusses the Ball family and then the tale goes forward into some Team USA stories before delving back into Lloy’s life and moving forward chronologically.

One of my favorite parts of the entire book however comes in that afformentioned chapter six where Ball talks about the first time he told his father, legendary IPFW coach Arnie, that he was coming to IPFW.

In Lloy’s words, after he told his father he was going to play at IPFW, just before the press conference where he would announce the same to the rest of his community, Ball says this of his father’s reaction:

“It was awkward but he didn’t say anything. He just nodded his head.”

This is one of my favorite lines, in part from knowing Arnie and that general Arnie Ball reaction.

Reading Lloy’s insights on his entire storied volleyball career is great. From the first practice of his IPFW career to the gold medal ceremony of the 2008Olympic Games, the whole story is beautifully illustrated by a guy who has been through so much.

The book is available in local bookstores for $17.50 and also online. If you are a fan of local sports, Lloy or Arnie Ball, it is a must have for your collection.

> New IAD Feature

Starting this Saturday, there will be live blogs from certain IPFW sporting events on IAD's new page at: thesessions-iad.blogspot.com.

The first event will be Saturday's mens and womens basketball double header with IUPUI. The women start at 1:30, followed by the men at 4.

>Resolutions for 2009

Unlike most people in the world, I don't like to make resolutions at the new year that I know I just won't keep. So instead, I like to make resolutions for others. So, in no particular order, here are my ten (sports related) resolutions for others as we get ready to ring in 2009:

A legit prospect for the Lions
Like everyone else, I feel for the Detroit Lions of 2008, aka the worst team in NFL history. They need a whole new team, but that trend needs to start with one great franchise player. Sadly, I don't see them getting that man with the first pick in the Draft. God willing, some player looking to make a big mark takes a chance and signs on to be the face of this crummy program.

Ring number 18 in Boston
Sure Christmas day was a hurter, but hardly a setback. Boston is still the best team in the league and nobody has proven that they can beat them consistently, which is what it will take in the playoffs. Sure, 73-9 would be a nice new record, but I want the big three to end up with three rings, so it has to continue sometime. Why not in 2009?

Dewitt Scott; IPFW's first NBA player
The Mad Ants had their first player worked out by an NBA team in their second season recently. And while his name wasn't Dewitt Scott, I hope the former Mastodon keeps putting up decent numbers and gets a chance either this season or if he decides to return to the D-League for 2009-2010. As it looks less and less like former IPFW standout David Simon will get to the league, Witt may be the schools best chance in the near future.

Brett Favre retires...for good
Get it over with already!

The Yankees still lose
I hate rich snobs, therefore I hate the Yankees. Here's hoping that hundreds of millions in free agency doesn't land them squat. Go Sox.

Stephon Marbury returns and wins a title
If anyone deserves good karma, its Marbury for all the crap he has put up with in 2008. While the Knicks keep fumbling around, I hope someone with half a brain is able to land this talent and take him to the promised land.

Someone gets off Sean Avery's back
Oh no, someone didn't like a Sean Avery comment! Is bad press better than no press for the faultering NHL? If anyone gets ragged on more than Marbury, its this poor guy. At least he is a character for your faceless league. Go ahead, be a non-hockey person and name 5 current NHL players that haven't been in the league 10-plus years...yeah, didn't think so. Wake up NHL, embrace him, don't discourage him.

A college football playoff
Do I really need to say more? I know Texas, Texas Tech, Alabama and Utah are with me.

IPFW goes dancing
The program is showing that they can kinda hang this year, even in several defeats. Usually teams that can "kinda hang" during the regular season make good Cinderellas come March.

Coach K gets #4
This has been on my resolution list since 2002 rolled around, Coach K is due and he has the right crop to win now. Waiting until next year is overrated and I am ready for this to happen. Not many people are with me, but honestly there are also way too many haters out there when it comes to Duke basketball. For all of you, focus your attention on the upside of a Duke title: it keeps Tyler Hansbrough's crybaby hands off a title for his college career so he can go flourish as a 12th man in the NBA.

>Men's College Basketball Preview Week

For the next week, there will be a brand new blog each day in the massive and OFFICIAL "In All Directions Men's College Basketball Preview."

The week will culminate in the preview of the IPFW Mastodons, which will appear in the IPFW Communicator on November 12.

Check back each evening for the brand new preview.

>Now I can sleep easier at night

It was 2005 the only other time I have seen something the likes of what I saw when watching back-to-back-to-back IPFW volleyball exhibition matches last Sunday. It was a completely revamped scene that sometimes saw all six active players on the court as new faces to everyone.

A big senior class last year had to breed a new, big freshman class this year, we all knew that. But that concept scared me a bit. It scared me just as much as it did in 2005 when unfamiliar names like Brock Ullrich and Josh Stewart joined the familiar’s of Matt Zybyszewski and Serdar Sikca.

I guess I can rest easy now. Because what I saw made me crack a reminiscent smile. Much like that January day in 2005, I have found myself thinking “these new kids- they are going to do alright.”

More than alright, they were pretty impressive on a 2-1 day where they hung with a pretty experienced Ball State, even in a loss.

To me, last year’s team and the personality driven spark that they put out cannot be replaced. But this team has already, in one day, gone a long way in reminding me that I also once had to adjust to those departed ex-players.

The roster has the names of twelve players who, coming into this year, have never worn the blue and white in a match. Eight of them did it for the first time Sunday in Gates and for the most part, they did it delightfully.

While familiar faces of ex-IPFW players Dan McNerney and Jason Yhost watched from the stands and another former player, Jon Bassillo, sat nearby on the sidelines as part of the Quincy coaching staff- it was the sight of Phil Peterson, Jonathan Meyer, Eric Hardek and a host of others that peaked my interest the most.

Peterson, thus far, is the most impressive I have seen a freshman be since Josh Stewart in the 2005 regular season. He led IPFW in kills against Carthage and Ball State as well as overall for the day with a powerfully fast spike. Filling in the void of CJ Macias, Ullrich and Yhost on the outside will be a difficult task, but Peterson showed that he will be a big part of that. And while his passing and defense sometimes looked weak, he also led IPFW on the block. I can see his versatility being the main ingredient in how successful this team can be from the early going.

I’m equally impressed by the power, control and emotion of sophomore Darryl Shank, who played little as a freshman. Arnie Ball is going to have his hands full in deciding the balance between these two, as well as freshmen Hardek and Ivan Matos on the outsides as all four showed a major upside over the weekend with day-totals of 28, 24, 18 and 10 kills (more than 60 percent of the team’s total).

And if it was only the outside hitters, I would still be impressed. But it was much more.

Chris Brigson showed much of that freshman inexperience early on the offensive side but also helped stuff down the opponent with big middle blocks alongside Oliver Kook and Nathaniel Berg. Freshman Dan Mader is going to give Corey Stewart and Kevin Goncalves a run for their money at the setter spot where both Mader and Stewart showed Sunday that they are very capable of handling one of the most important positions of any IPFW team. And, I cannot wait to see the battle at libero between the veterans Mike Morici and Matt Pliske, each of whom has led IPFW to a Final Four appearance. Not to mention, they have a little libero in the wings in Garrett Bitter who will be anxiously waiting, watching and learning.

This team has restored hope in my mind (not that all of it was lost). If they continue to develop over these next two months of practice, I can only imagine that they will be a special thing to watch in many ways come that January 9 home opener.

>West Coast Evils

I feel like I need a therapist for this one...

Doctor, I hate the West Coast and I really don't know why.

I guess it started in 2006 with this fellow named Steve Klosterman. He had these easy-t0-mock friends named Dennis Gonzales, Damien Scott, Paul George, Jamie Diefenbach, Nick Scheftic and this feathery haired jerk named Tony Ker.

Last year, I thought I was content until some guy who can't spell Jason right (yeah, you Jayson Jablonsky) and his buddy Brian Thornton came along.

And now, I have this strange desire to punch an Aussie named Paul.

Why do I have such rage when it comes to the volleyball programs of the West Coast?

Tonight, Pepperdine (who got royally ousted by the Mastodons last year) advanced to the National Title Game. And with the wave they are riding (no pun intended), it may be hard for the Nittany Lions of Penn State to get by them. And that really, really irritates me. If Paul Carroll and JD Schleppenbach out-do Matt Anderson and Luke Murray, I may go insane.

This time, my boys aren't even involved. So why the rage? Why do I wish that Penn State ends Saturday night in some fashion that resembles 30-0, 30-0, 30-1? (Yeah, I'll give Pepperdine a point for a ridiculous mascot)

The hatred I feel for UCLA, UC-Irvine, Pepperdine and yes you UC-Santa Barbara (turn around and watch the game!) is unrivaled!

Maybe I need help. I don't even get this upset for Duke basketball sometimes. But I am sick of this "west coast dominance" shit. It's time to put these boys and their old, tired coaches in their place.

Go Penn State.

>Ex-Mastodon shines in Madness

In the vast Madness that is college basketball in March, one ex-IPFW Mastodon used 2008 as another year to stand out.

Let us all reminisce and remember Pete Campbell, a guy we in Fort Wayne all once knew as 'Soup.'

Hearing or reading his name on ESPN or in Sports Illustrated has been really cool over the last year. But nothing was as good as watching three-pointer after three-pointer swish through the net in an opening round victory over South Alabama.

Campbell, who spent two years at IPFW (only one playing),was the Independent Newcomer of the Year in 2005. He left shortly after the hiring of Dane Fife, citing that he wanted a guaranteed chance to play in the NCAA Tournament.

And Pete made the right choice.

He has been there twice in his two years as a Butler Bulldog, going to the Sweet 16 in 2007. He scored a big 26 points last Friday in a first round win. Though the Bulldogs lost on Sunday to Tennessee, his 8-for-10 shooting clinic from three-point range in round one was definitely his shining moment.

In his five tournament games, Pete averaged 14/game, hitting a massive 21 three-pointers along the way.

Kudos to Campbell for making a decision for the right reason and sticking to it despite losing a season of eligibility. As much as I have missed Pete Campbell at IPFW, his five game NCAA Tournament career was well worth the move that he made.

(This column originally appeared in the IPFW Communicator on March 26)

>I do care about IPFW

Dear Readers, I'm sorry for being right.

I am sorry that I wrote a column in the March 5 edition of the IPFW Communicator that said that Oral Roberts would eliminate both the men and women basketball teams from the Summit League Tournament. I am sorry that both the men and women basketball teams were eliminated by Oral Roberts in the Summit League Tournament. I am sorry that I exercised my right to pen a column expressing my opinion.

In all seriousness, I do apologize if I offended Dane Fife, Chris Paul and/or any of their players. That was not my intention.

But any implication, true or not, that I do not support IPFW athletics is a joke. I have been covering IPFW sports for the past six years in some way or another for four different publications. I attend every home men's volleyball game, I have written about every sport during that time and I have attended more basketball games (men and women) then probably 97 percent of the student body at IPFW over that time. Oh yeah, I have also been trying to convince players I have coached (on the high school basketball level) to play at IPFW.

I value IPFW and what the department has accomplished probably as much as anyone who really doesn't have anything to do with the department first hand.

So if anybody thinks that I believe IPFW is a joke. You are wrong.

But I was honest when I said that the chances for IPFW basketball, either gender, to get by Oral Roberts were not good. I thought the chances were low and yes, both teams lost to the Golden Eagles. Does that mean I was cheering against the Mastodons?

I am sorry for any offense taken. But I will not apologize for expressing my personal, professional and educated opinion of what events would transpire. So understand, when I say "better luck next year IPFW," it is not out of cynical spite. I mean it and I always stand by the Mastodons.

So don't second guess me.