For Jack McCaffery, the Palestra Was Just the Place to Be This Winter

by gordie | Mar 27, 2026 | College Basketball, Journalism

To get to the media room within the Sixers’ arena on game night, you enter through the north side of the building a couple hours before tip-off, exchange how-ya-doins with the always-affable attendants at the security checkpoint, wade through the empty stands to court...

This Just In from the NCAA Tournament: Yakkity-Yak, Much Blow-Back

by gordie | Mar 21, 2026 | College Basketball

On Friday at the NCAA Tournament, Kevin Willard made his voice heard, and Herb Sendek did not. And that allowed observers to revisit old grievances about loyalty and officiating. Start with Willard, Villanova’s first-year head coach. During a timeout early in the...

Regarding the First Full Day of the NCAA Tournament: Let’s Have a Conversation about Cam Boozer

by gordie | Mar 20, 2026 | College Basketball

Haven’t watched much college basketball this year. Saw one game live – Penn State-Rutgers – that made me want to avert my eyes. Watched the ACC Championship Game between Duke and Virginia, and a couple First Four games (OK, RedHawks). But this week, that’s what you do...

F&M point guard Vakaris Grauslys, Forever Charging Forward, Attempts to Continue Not One, But Two Traditions

by gordie | Jan 21, 2026 | College Basketball

Franklin & Marshall point guard Vakaris Grauslys hails from Vilnius, Lithuania, a place so unfamiliar to his teammates that they joke with him: Do they have cars there? Wifi?  In point of fact Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, is home to over a half-million...

No, College Hoops is not Superior to the NBA game, but at this Time of Year, at least, it is Far More Compelling

by gordie | Apr 1, 2023 | College Basketball, NBA

With the college basketball season nearing its culmination, I sat down earlier this week and churned out 1,318 words about how much better the NBA game is than the college game … in months other than March. Mentioned how much more talented pro players are (duh). Threw...

Life as a Corrections Officer: For Former Warwick Hoops Star Dennis Hurd, It’s Always a Matter of Having Eyes Wide Open

by gordie | Aug 27, 2022 | College Basketball, High School Sports

There was reportedly a murder in January at California’s High Desert State Prison. And another in February. And another in July. There was also reportedly a riot there in April. “It can be dangerous, but I don’t look at it that way,” Dennis Hurd said recently over the...