Guest Post: Brandeis University In the Sweet 16

When I was a senior at Brandeis University, the school had a basketball team reach the NCAA tournament for the first time. The cool part about that was I was also the Sports Director of WBRS, the campus radio station, so myself and a group of WBRSers drove up to Bowdoin College in Maine to broadcast the games. It was a thrill I'll never forget and I still will sometimes listen to the play-by-play I did for the second game, one of the most thrilling I ever covered (even though the Judges lost at the very end). Since my senior year, it has changed from a chance that Brandeis would make the tournament to an expectation.

So this year when my Alma Mater men's team made it, I wasn't too surprised. But I was surprised to see them sweep through their tough road matches and end up in the Sweet 16. So tonight, when Brandeis plays in the Sweet 16, I will be listening in to WBRS to hear a new generation of sportscasters broadcast the game. One of those broadcasters will be the current WBRS Sports Director, Adam Rosen. Adam has done great things with the department including having them travel all across the country to broadcast games and increasing the popularity of the station. He will be heading up to Williamstown, Massachusetts tonight, but before he does he was kind enough to write a guest blog post for us about the game:
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The Brandeis men's team has been fascinating to cover this year. After losing their two best players last year to graduation (Steve DeLuca and Kevin Olson), I think everyone was cautiously optimistic about the team this year. They have surpassed most people’s expectations, coming into this weekend's game(s) at 21-6. They finished second place in the UAA with a 9-5 Conference record.

Brandeis is a team that relies very heavily on its seniors: Kenny Small (14.2ppg), Terrell Hollins (13.6ppg) and Andre Roberson (10.7ppg). Hollins in particular has been a beast all yearlong, also averaging 10.1 boards despite just his 6'4'' frame. Hollins and Small both made the All-UAA First Team.

The Judges have overcome quite a bit of adversity this year. Obviously losing DeLuca and Olson was big, but they also had various issues with recruits (One got homesick and left the school, another suffered a serious injury, I think there were a few other random occurrences), and on the last road trip of the season they lost their starting center and second-tallest player Rich Magee for the season with an ankle injury. Magee is not the most offensively-gifted player in the world, but provided a solid defensive presence, and more importantly, great senior leadership.

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Brandeis Judges Basketball Off to a Great Start

When I was at Brandeis University, one of my favorite activities was calling the men's and women's basketball games for WBRS, the campus radio station. One of the coolest things was being able to announce an NCAA tournament game during my senior year.

Since I've graduated, I've tried to keep up with the team and was excited to see the season had started when I saw Facebook invite to Red Auerbach Arena in the Gosman Sports Center. So I decided to check out the results on the Brandeis website tonight.

According to Brandeis, "The Brandeis University men's basketball team, ranked No. 22 in the nation by D3hoops.com in the preseason, opened the season with a 90-79 victory over local rival Lasell College tonight in Red Auerbach Arena."

And as far as the women's team? "Brandeis, ranked ninth in the D3hoops.com preseason poll, improved to 2-0."

Brandeis has a new look as you can see by the new logos on the right--which is mostly a shame because it loses Ollie the Owl. But I feel like it's a continuation of the same success that started while I was at Brandeis. And it was good to see Jessica Chapin and Andre Roberson, who I saw as freshmen at Brandeis but are now seniors, with big games in tonight's win--Chapin with 33 points and 10 rebounds and Roberson with 20 points, eight rebounds (a career high), and seven assists.

But mostly it was good to see the Judges continue their successful climb to an NCAA championship. Let's hope they continue that journey this season.

Brandeis' Name Back in the News Again for all the Wrong Reasons

I was reading through the news today about the Cambridge Police officer who arrested Harvard scholar, Henry Louis Gates Jr., on the front steps of his house, and the scandal that has surrounded that, and I was quite surprised to see a connection to my alma mater, Brandeis University, and to the Boston Celtics. Via the Boston Globe:

"When Sergeant James M. Crowley climbed the front steps of Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s house last week and unexpectedly placed himself in international headlines, it was not the first time he had a memorable encounter in the line of duty with a prominent black man. Nearly 16 years ago, as a Brandeis University police officer, Crowley desperately tried to save the life of Reggie Lewis after the Boston Celtics star collapsed while practicing in the school gym....

Crowley was a certified emergency medical technician when he performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Lewis, to no avail, after the player’s heart stopped on July 27, 1993. In a Globe interview later that day, Crowley said he rushed to the university’s Shapiro Gymnasium, confirmed that Lewis had no pulse, and frantically tried to revive him."

Yeah...nice publicity for Brandeis. This story has gone beyond Massachusetts as President Obama has gotten involve and put a real racial charge into this incident.

And then Deadspin released a column titled "Cop Who Arrested Henry Louis Gates Not A Racist Because He Once Put His Lips On A Dying Black Athlete". Oh joy:

The Cambridge, Mass., cop who arrested (black) Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the same guy who tried to resuscitate a dying (and black) Reggie Lewis 16 years ago and is therefore in no way a racist, OK?

Reports the Boston Herald:

The Cambridge cop prominent Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. claims is a racist gave a dying Reggie Lewis mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in a desperate bid to save the Celtics superstar's life 16 years ago Monday.

"I wasn't working on Reggie Lewis the basketball star. I wasn't working on a black man. I was working on another human being," Sgt. James Crowley, in an exclusive interview with the Herald, said of the forward's fatal heart attack July 27, 1993, at age 27 during an off-season practice at Brandeis University, where Crowley was a campus police officer.

It's a date Crowley still can recite by rote - and he still recalls the pain he suffered when people back then questioned whether he had done enough to save the black athlete...

Crowley, 42, said he's not a racist, despite how some have cast his actions in the Gates case. "Those who know me know I'm not," he said.

So, because a black guy was dying in front of him, and because he was so broad-minded as to give this dying black guy mouth-to-mouth, Crowley is demonstrably not a racist. Got it.

Go Judges?

Chris Ford interviews for vacant 76ers head coaching job

Chris Ford, the former head basketball coach at Brandeis and current Sixers scout, has interviewed for the vacant Philadelphia 76ers head coaching job. Ford coached at Brandeis University for two seasons, 2001-02 and 2002-03. (He also racked up 311 professional wins, by the way, in his ten-year NBA head coaching career, including stints with the Celtics, Bucks, and Clippers.) Ford left Brandeis in 2003 to coach the Sixers on an interim basis. Apparently, five years as an anonymous scout has given Ford the itch to coach again. Philadelphia, which fired Maurice Cheeks mid-season, wants to make a move before the draft since interim coach Tony DiLeo, who led the 76ers to the playoffs this season, intends to return to the front office.

Former Nets executive Ed Stefanski, now the Sixers GM, really wanted to interview Villanova head coach Jay Wright. And who could blame him or the team -- Wright is a master motivator who is also excellent at developing young talent. He'd be perfect for the job. But Wright declined consideration, saying Villanova is "where I want to be." Apparently, a small suburban campus is a "better fit" than getting a big pay raise on a big stage in a huge sports town like Philly. Hmmm.

Anyway, the Sixers are also interviewing ex-Wizards coach Eddie Jordan, Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau, Lakers assistant Kurt Rambis, and Mavericks assistant Dwane Casey.

You may remember Kurt Rambis for this outstanding porn-star mustache and for these fashionable glasses that have spawned these commemorative t-shirts. Rambis was also the recipient of the most famous clothesline in NBA history.

But seriously, Thibodeau is the guy Philadelphia should really hire since Wright is unavailable. He's a defensive expert who would do wonders for a team that allowed opponents to shoot a better FG% than it did, and also gave up more turnovers that it forced. In a relatively weak Eastern Conference, a coach like Thibodeau could turn the Sixers into a more serious contender, much like Thibodeau beefed up the Celtics' defense to the extent that the team won a title. Of course, Philly doesn't have a Big Three, but since defense wins championships, hiring this guy is a good start.

Or Stefanski could just re-hire Ford. That's what I would do. Three cheers for Brandeis!