Loyola men’s basketball coach Drew Valentine planned to veg out, kick up his feet and watch the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Well, first he had to drive over to campus and meet with his players before they got treatment from the training staff. Then he had to huddle with his staff, finalize plans for an international recruit coming for a visit this week and catch up on a bunch of other recruiting-related odds and ends. Next, he had to get a full report from assistant Sean Dwyer, who was in charge of the scouting for the Ramblers’ next opponent, Saint Joseph’s, at Gentile Arena on Wednesday. Then, more meetings and work in his office until about 4 p.m. And only then could Valentine head home, see the family and tune into the football game — while working on his laptop, of course.
See? Totally vegging out.
“It never ends,” he said.
At least amid all the busyness, he could be confident that his team will be ready Wednesday — and not only because it’s Valentine’s Day.
Who’s hotter than the Ramblers? Nobody in the Atlantic 10. They flew home buzzing Saturday night after a 2-0 road trip to George Mason and George Washington left them at 9-2 in the league, tied for second place with Dayton and a half-game behind 9-1 Richmond. At 17-7 overall and 5-1 on the road in league games, they’re one of the most improved teams in college basketball after finishing last in the 15-team A-10 last season.
In meetings, walkthroughs and in-game huddles, the Ramblers keep using the word “chasing.” They’re chasing higher-profile opponents, a double-bye in the A-10 tournament and the possibility — however slim — of a return to the NCAA Tournament.
“The vibes are great right now,” Valentine said, “but just like I told the team on the plane, there’s still so much we can grow and get better at.”
As bad as last season was, they’re chasing a lost reputation, too. That goes double for Valentine, 32, whose performance in his third season on the job is answering some hard questions.
“Based on last year, I would’ve had the same doubts about myself as others have,” he said. “ ‘Can this guy coach? Recruit? Build a championship team?’ I get all that.”
We shouldn’t forget how instrumental Valentine was as an assistant to Porter Moser in leading the Ramblers’ defenses and recruiting players who made it to the Sweet 16 in 2021. Since Moser left for Oklahoma, Valentine has had to re-recruit his own players while navigating the explosive rise of the transfer portal and NIL. He’s under contract through 2027, but the school might have some renegotiating to do in the months ahead.
“I’d love to be the head coach at Loyola Chicago for a long time,” he said.
Nothing creates leverage like getting to the Big Dance, but that’s going to be difficult with the A-10 having only one team — Dayton — in strong position for an at-large bid. Loyola has a NET ranking in the 100s and only a couple of regular-season opportunities — at St. Bonaventure on Feb. 27 and against Dayton at home on March 1 — to scratch the Quad 1 win column.
That’s a long way of saying it’s probably win the league tournament or bust for the Ramblers. But why can’t they? There’s no reason at all. The chase is on.
Three-Dot Dash
The Big 12 still has Houston, Iowa State and Kansas battling it out for first place. No. 1 UConn leads Marquette by two games in the Big East, but the Huskies still have to play the Golden Eagles twice. The SEC still could go Alabama’s, South Carolina’s, Auburn’s or Tennessee’s way. North Carolina, Virginia and Duke each have lots to say in the ACC. Somehow, even Arizona still has pesky Washington State just a game back in the Pac-12. Great races everywhere.
Make that almost everywhere. No. 2 Purdue exited the weekend at 11-2 in the Big Ten and with a three-game lead in the win column on second-place Illinois. It’s over-and-out, if it wasn’t obvious enough. Just keep hitting that snooze alarm until the conference tournament. . . .
FIRST CAREER 3 FOR ZACH EDEY!!!!! @Zach_edey x @BoilerBall pic.twitter.com/CIwdFsYQkO
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) February 11, 2024
An all-time rub-your-face-in-it rivalry moment came Saturday when Zach Edey made the first three-pointer of his career, banking one in from straight on, to give Purdue a 69-41 lead against Indiana. What fun for one team and misery for the other. Hoosiers coach Mike Woodson might keep his job — barely — but Florida Atlantic’s Dusty May, a former student manager under Bobby Knight, is standing by just in case. . . .
A classic line delivered at halftime by Michigan State coach Tom Izzo to Illinois’ Brad Underwood, as both coaches were frustrated with the refs in a game that would end 88-80 in favor of the Spartans:
“Maybe we should just take the second half off and go sit and have a drink and watch it on TV, because we’re probably both getting thrown out.”
Neither did, it turned out. But if we were Underwood, we’d be more concerned about not having a point guard to help an otherwise potent offense function in crunch time, when it’s hardest. . . .
Northwestern is 7-0 at home in Big Ten play after beating Penn State on Sunday. How unusual is that? The last time it was the case was 56 seasons ago. Those Wildcats — come on, you know you remember them — were a far less impressive 1-6 in conference road games. These Wildcats have lost four straight on the road, and that was before a knee injury to guard Ty Berry. They won ugly-and-a-half without Berry against the Nittany Lions, but up next are two more road tests. No Berry means trouble.
My ballot for the new AP Top 25, which comes out Monday: 1. UConn, 2. Purdue, 3. Houston, 4. Kansas, 5. Arizona, 6. Marquette, 7. North Carolina, 8. Tennessee, 9. Iowa State, 10. South Carolina, 11. Duke, 12. Auburn, 13. Illinois, 14. Baylor, 15. Virginia, 16. Florida Atlantic, 17. Texas Tech, 18. Alabama, 19. Colorado State, 20. Utah State, 21. Washington State, 22. Saint Mary’s, 23. BYU, 24. Indiana State, 25. Dayton.
