NCDS: Scott Spinelli, Asst. Coach - Texas A&M

By: Scott Spinelli, Asst. Coach - Texas A&M

It is the greatest time of the year!  March is here and the madness has begun.   As a coach and a player, you dream about competing in the NCAA tournament and winning a national championship; this is what we have worked for every single day.  We are tremendously motivated and thrilled for this opportunity to represent the Texas A&M program amongst the best sixty-five teams in the country.  Our players are also elated about going back to the NCAA tournament as well and are more focused as they approach each practice.

Our program ended the concluding week of the regular season on a positive note.  We won three consecutive games, against three high-quality teams (Texas, Oklahoma State, and Oklahoma), two which are NCAA tournament teams.  Overall, we ended the Big 12 regular season with eleven wins and five losses tying for second place overall in the league.  With the impetus on our side, we looked forward to a successful Big 12 tournament run.  On Thursday, March 11, we opened up the Big 12 tournament against a competitive Nebraska team, who came off a first round win against the Missouri Tigers.  We defeated the Huskers 70-64 and advanced to Big 12 tournament semifinals, where we would once again face the Number one team in the country, the Kansas Jayhawks.  After an aggressive highly passionate competition the Jayhawks prevailed 79-66.  Without are starting point guard, Dash Harris, who was sidelined because of a wrist injury, we still managed to outplay the Kansas throughout the first half, forcing them to an uncharacteristic twelve turnovers to seize a 38-35 halftime lead.  We ran into a sudden field goal drought at the 8:33 minute mark in the second half and Kansas suddenly could hardly miss, capitalizing on every empty possession of ours.  Sherron Collins had six of his 26 points in the big run that ultimately led Kansas to a victory.  Kansas is unquestionably the number one team in the country and the number one overall seed in the NCAA tournament for a reason.

On Sunday afternoon, March 14, we were selected as the number five seed in the South Regional in the 2010 NCAA tournament.  Finishing 23-9 overall, and 11-5 in the Big 12 conference, we will face the number twelve seeded Utah State Aggies who are 27-7, 14-2 in the WAC on Friday in Spokane, Washington. 

Playing on Friday gave us more time to prepare and get some guys healthy. We have a lot of confidence and we just wanted to improve between Selection Sunday and Friday.  To make it five years in a row to the NCAA tournament is quite special. Not many teams can say that, and I hope we never take it for granted at A&M.  North Carolina won the national championship last year, but did not make it back. That just shows you how hard it is.  If we win on Friday, we will then play the winner of Siena and Purdue to go to the Sweet Sixteen back in our home state of Texas!  Our bracket is filled with great teams, and we are ready to get the ball up in the air.

Best Regards,

Coach Scott Spinelli