Diary Series: Jeremy Ballard, Asst. Coach - Tulsa

Greetings to all of you die-hard college basketball fans! We are at the end of what was truly a phenomenal first month of the college basketball season. While the NBA was hashing out its issues in an attempt to avoid battling it out in a court of law, college basketball was able to grab center stage and showcase the greatness of our game on the actual court! It is exciting to all of those who truly follow college basketball to watch the tremendous non-conference games and tournaments that the month of November had to offer. From New York City to Alaska, there were high level games and tournaments being played all over the country that lacked nothing in terms of intensity, passion, and excitement.

There are different philosophies that basketball programs take in their pre-season scheduling, but the intentions of Tulsa’s non-conference slate are clear – prepare for the Conference USA season and put ourselves in a position to be in contention for an At-Large NCAA Tournament berth. Our Head Coach, Doug Wojcik, was aggressive in putting together a schedule that would challenge us every step of the way and our players have really responded to that challenge. We are off to a 4-4 start but have lost those four games by a mere total of 16 points, one of these losses coming in overtime on the road.

Tulsa was fortunate enough to be invited to the ESPN’s Charleston Classic where we were matched up with a young and hungry Western Kentucky team in the first round. While Western Kentucky is a perennial power that would be a big game regardless of the opponent, the contest had added intrigue because one of our senior captains, DJ Magley, actually transferred to Tulsa from Western Kentucky. It was an emotional game for him and his family, but he helped lead the defensive charge that allowed us to pull out a hard fought victory against the Hill-Toppers.

Our second round match-up was with Northwestern, who had just come off a comeback victory over LSU. The contest was a rematch from a great 2009 First Round NIT game in which Tulsa was able to pull out a win on our home court. Northwestern runs their variation of the Princeton Offense, which under any normal circumstance is difficult to prepare for, but when you throw in the fact that we were playing them in a tournament setting with not even a full day to prepare, it made the task of properly preparing your team and defense that much more daunting. One of the many areas that Coach Wojcik excels in is his scouting preparation and the efficiency and conciseness in which he is able to get his teams ready to play. This ability of Coach Wojcik still rang true despite the short turnaround, as the Tulsa defense proved up to the challenge, by holding Northwestern to 37% FG shooting. The valiant team defensive effort did not prove to be enough as Tulsa was simply unable to pull out the victory and eventually fell short in a 4-point loss that was a one-possession game all the way to the end. Coach Bill Carmody, as always, has done a great job with his team and I fully expect them to have a great year and be in contention for their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance.

Our final game of the Charleston Classic pitted the Golden Hurricane with a talented, young St. Joe’s team. St. Joe’s was coming off a tough, close loss to Seton Hall in the Semi-Finals, but were definitely as good as any team in the tournament. Both well-balanced and well-coached, St. Joe’s stellar guard play is the hallmark of their team. Against us, their offense was hitting on all cylinders, and while we seemingly matched them basket for basket, Tulsa came up just short in losing by a final score of 79-75. While we were undoubtedly disappointed to leave Charleston 1-2 in the tournament, our players and coaching staff fully understood how close we were to winning each game and realize how these early match-ups against quality, well-coached teams will merely help us grow as a team.

For many teams there would be legitimate concern of a loss of confidence in playing such a tough non-conference schedule and taking some early losses. Through Coach Wojcik’s guidance and direction coupled with the leadership provided from our players, our concerns are alleviated. Our team has taken on the approach that the season is a journey that we must take one game at a time and with the schedule that we have, there will be many opportunities to prove ourselves on a national level. Since the tournament in Charleston we have gone on to win a difficult game at Jackson State, lost the aforementioned heartbreaker at undefeated Missouri State, and another tough one on the road against a very talented and dangerous Oklahoma State team.

So while our staff and players are vigorously preparing ourselves for difficult games night in and night out, I hope that you are enjoying all of the high level games being played across the country. There are many coaching staffs that have chosen to challenge their teams with big-time match-ups and the fans of basketball are all the benefactors!

I truly appreciate the opportunity to write for the well-respected National Coaches' Diary Series once again, and hope that you follow our team this year. We are excited about this season’s journey and I look forward to sharing it with you all!

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