Great story - must read:

On Sunday morning March 12, 1944, during a time of heated racial segregation, the men's basketball team from the North Carolina College for Negroes (now North Carolina Central University) competed against a squad from the Duke School of Medicine on the campus of NCCU in a secret game that was the first racially integrated college-level basketball game in the South.

Whole story here: http://nccueaglepride.com/sports/2011/3/8/MBB_0308110905.aspx?path=mbball

This is a good read. Sac Bee Ailene Voisin article about Jim Les:

Excerpt: “This is kind of who we are,” said Les, still trim and youthful looking with a full head of white hair. “Part of being a good team and a good player is understanding what your strengths are, understanding what your weaknesses are, and we have to play to our strengths. We’re athletic and we have a really good defense that allows us to get in the open court and get some easy baskets. Get stops. Keep the game close until Brynton (Lemar) gets hot, Chima (Moneke) gets going.”

Les? Though the sweats and sneakers have given way to tailored suits and ties, he paces the sideline with enough zest to soak through his dress shirts, hands clasped behind his back, his posture as straight as that of a commanding general. He routinely engages in polite, if high decibel conversations with the referees. He is similarly verbal with his players, though perhaps reflecting his own athletic experiences, displays an intuitive sense of when to chide, when to encourage, when to turn sharply and walk back to his seat.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/ailene-voisin/article138496443.html#storylink=cpy

Transcript of Coach Les' press conference:

Excerpt: “And the process is just our possession-by-possession approach and being the best we can be. These guys, they don’t play for themselves. They play for each other. They have a really tight bond. It’s one of the closest teams I’ve ever been around, whether I was playing or coaching. And they truly feel disappointed if it’s their responsibility to help their teammate and they’re late or they don’t get there.

“There’s a genuine feeling of: ‘I let my guy down, I let my brother down.’ And that’s unique and hard to find these days. And that’s why we’ve been able to get them … to buy into defense, the selfless part of basketball, and take it to heart and have five guys working together in concert to become a good defensive team, and that’s what allowed us to win that championship to get this opportunity.”

http://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/transcript-of-jim-les-ncaa-press-conference/

Transcript form the Aggie players' press conference:

Excerpt: From Darius - “We’re a team full of underdogs by nature. A lot of us have been looked over our whole lives and everything. So to be able to be in this position, first, to play North Carolina Central and then to hopefully to play No. 1 Kansas, it’s very rewarding. We’re excited for it. And just to be able to do that — I like math a little bit, so the law of averages says you’re bound to possibly beat a No. 1 seed, especially since it hasn’t happened yet.

http://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/darius-brynton-and-chima-talk-about-ncaa-experience/

More from the Enterprise about the game in Dayton:

Excerpt: “I don’t know if I’d say mirror image, but they’re a really good basketball team,” says Les, returning to a tournament in which he took Bradley to the Sweet 16 in 2006. “I watched enough film on the flight … they’ve got six seniors, they’ve got experience. Been really impressed. They’re just solid on both sides. They have some really good players.

http://www.davisenterprise.com/?p=714466&preview_id=714466

Bob Dunning chimes in about today's game from his typically unique perspective:

Excerpt: … a secret CIA investigation of the NCAA tournament reveals that 97.4 percent of Davis residents filling out their brackets selected UC Davis to beat North Carolina Central … 14 percent had the Aggies advancing to the Final Four, while 3 percent had the Aggies winning it all and receiving a ticket-tape parade down Russell Boulevard … the CIA conducted its investigation by tapping into microwave ovens, dishwashers and low-flow toilets all over Aggieland …

http://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/dunning/bob-dunning-wearing-glass-slippers-on-the-hardwood/

Cal played without 2 of their top players and came out totally flat with a hangover from being left out of the Big Dance. Bake came out inspired and ran off to a 25 point lead at the half then almost handed it back to the Bears in the second half.

It's true, there were a couple of Gauchos that were ruled academically ineligible but that certainly may of had nothing to do with Bob Williams. I'm sure we've had some athletes in some sports that didn't make their grades. I assume that if these athletes were able to be admitted to UCSB that they met their academic requirements and then didn't get it done in the classroom. A coach can only do so much and the athletes need to do their part in the classroom.

I just went to the ucdavisaggies.com website and it automatically opened to the Aggie Tournament Central page. They've done a great job on it. Tons of info, live updates, video & pics, bracket and opponent info.

Oh, and right at the top, it's got a box for the Irvine game and for the NC Central but, what's cool is that they have a box for UCD vs Kansas. I love the optimism!

Kudos to the Athletic Department Media folks for creating this excellent page!

Scroll to the 51:49 mark to pick up the Aggies interviews. NC Central precedes the Ags.

Articles from the Davis Enterprise - one on JT and another general article about the Aggies and NCC and a fun read from Bob Dunning from an Aggie basketball historical perspective:

http://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/adenreles-journey-pays-off-in-pride-team-success/

http://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/does-aggie-ncaa-opponent-present-an-almost-mirror-image/

http://www.davisenterprise.com/update/bob-dunning-march-13-aggies-get-a-chance-to-win-on-a-big-stage/

Heartfelt article about the long, hard road that JT has traveled to get to Dayton:

http://www.sacbee.com/sports/college/ncaa/article138341563.html

Yes, that time out with 2.6 left was questionable although they had been successful just moments before on that inbounds play where Nelson nailed that deep 3 to get the Eaters within a point. From my armchair coaching position, I would have let Nelson continue on an try and create a good look for a 3 rather than calling a time out. He had the ball, had momentum and he's a pure shooter that can knock down a fall-away 3 from distance. I'd would have let him go at that point.

Maybe they need more games and venues to generate more money..??

Coach Nosek, in his post-game radio interview, said that they had told the team before the game about bringing the bench in early. He also said they made the decision to hold Darius out because he couldn't find a rhythm offensively. So it was a decision that the coaches made because they saw him struggling. Like you said, when he did return he barely gave Nelson room to breath. There was lots of great coaching decisions made by the Ags in this game that made a big difference in the final outcome.

Getting into the Big Dance makes the front page headlines of today's Sac Bee:

http://www.sacbee.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/ailene-voisin/article138133758.html

The platoon substitution by Coach Les early in the game and again later had nothing to do with the slow offensive start by the Ags. Les had told his team before the game that he would be going to the bench early and they needed to be ready to give the team some solid minutes of play. The Aggies had spent a lot of energy in the first two games, and taking in account the OT game with Fullerton the night before, he wanted to keep his starters as fresh as possible for crunch time in a tight game. It paid off in spades for the Ags as the bench players came in and played solid BB with great energy and it gave the starters a breather and an emotional boost as well.

I thought this was one of Les' best strategic coaching jobs since he's been at Davis. He understands the emotional aspect of the game and knows how much it can affect players in a high pressure, big game like this. The planned use of his bench early was a great decision and his defensive game plan that included double teaming the UCI bigs and sticking to Luke Nelson like glue completely shut down UCI's offense in the first half.

Defense doesn't always get many accolades and won't make the highlight reel unless there is a powerful block that sends the ball deep into the stands, but the Aggies defense in the first half was a thing of beauty. It's hard work to play defense like that and it often doesn't get much credit as most fans simply think the opponent's offense just wasn't playing well. The reason UCI's offense was miserable in the first half was because of the Aggies' smothering defense.

As Les says, defense is underrated and it wins championships. You can't win with defense only but you can keep a game close and frustrate the opponent with great defense. Most college basketball players love to shoot the ball and score. It's the most fun part of the game, but the Aggies have bought into Les' emphasis on defense and take pride in it. It's part of the character of this team now and that's not an easy thing to get a team to buy into. This team doesn't have the offensive firepower of the Hawkins team but they play hard-nosed defense better than any Aggie team I have ever seen.

Thanks 6th. My bad...I corrected it..

Here are the draws and tv schedule for Big West teams who were selected for post-season tournaments:

Men's NCAA Tournament

Wednesday Mar. 15 (First Four Play In Game Dayton, Ohio)
#16 UC Davis vs #16 NC Central 3:40 PM Tru TV

Men's NIT

Wednesday Mar. 15
#8 UC Irvine at #1 Illinois State 6:30 PM ESPNU

CIT

Thursday Mar. 16 Wiley Wallace Classic
Cal State Fullerton vs Weber State 7:00 PM Big West TV/Sidearm Sports?

Women's NCAAT and NIT TBD

Just putting an exclamation point on who the big dog is in the greater Sacramento area!