Drake is expected to announce Arizona State Associate Head Coach Mark Phelps as the new men’s basketball coach today.

Phelps just finished his 12th season coaching on the collegiate level, including stops at ASU and North Carolina State.

This is AD Sandy Hatfield-Clubb’s first major hire and early indications make it sound like a good one.

It is always amazing how wrong the lists of possible candidates for top coaching jobs are - everyone is quick to point out who the top candidates are, but usually forget to take into account the background of the person doing the hiring.

Sandy came from ASU and was very familiar with the staff, so it is easy to see why she went with Phelps.

More later…

P.S. Did anyone in the world besides the Register’s Sean Keeler really think that Barry Hinson was a serious candidate? I mean seriously, he just got fired from Missouri State.

Drake stars Adam Emmenecker and Klayton Korver stopped by Marty and Miller Friday afternoon to discuss their amazing season. Classy as always, they took phone calls from fans for an hour.

SI.com has a list of their top 10 Greatest NCAA Comebacks. Amazing, the State of Iowa, with our limited NCAA appearances from the Big Four scores 2 out of the top 10 spots.

Rolling in at No. 1, Hampton over Iowa State.

The NCAA tournament is remembered for its upsets, but comebacks are also a big part of the equation. Here’s a look back at some of our favorites, beginning with Hampton, which was down by as many as nine with seven minutes left in a 2001 contest. The 15th-seed, coached by Steve Merfeld, went on a 14-2 run to topple second-seed Iowa State 58-57. It was the first tournament appearance for Hampton, which became the fourth 15th seed in NCAA history to advance.

Iowa makes an appearance at No. 9 with its 2nd half collapse to UNLV in the 1987 Elite Eight game.

After trailing by as many as 18, Jerry Tarkanian’s UNLV Rebels went on a furious second-half comeback to defeat Iowa 84-81. Gary Graham sealed the win with a pair of free throws.

View the whole list at SI.com.

Ok, the pressure is officially on Greg McDermott and Ben Jacobsen.

You see, to coach college basketball in the State of Iowa you must have a little Henry Iba Coach of the Year award dangling around your neck.

Ok, maybe not but it certainly seems that way.

Keno was named the Henry Iba Coach of the Year Award by the U. S. Basketball Writers Association Tuesday. Davis led the Bulldogs to a MVC regular season and conference tournament championship.

Drake plays Western Kentucky Friday in Tampa. You can watch it live on KCCI at 11:30a.m., or you can watch it on your computer via the NCAA March Madness on Demand.

Adam Emmenecker has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year. Emmenecker joins an elite list of players inlcuding Larry Bird, Xavier McDaniel and Hersey Hawkins.

Emmenecker set the Drake single-season assist mark at 177 and led with 6.1 assists per game.

All conference teams were also named today. Emmenecker and teammate Josh Young were names to the first team and Bucky Cox and Leonard Houston to the second team. Eric Coleman from UNI was also named to the second team.

First Team
Jeremy Crouch, Bradley Sr., Osiris Eldridge, Illinois State So., Adam Emmenecker, Drake Sr., Randal Falker, Southern Illinois Sr., Josh Young, Drake So.

Second Team
Eric Coleman, Northern Iowa Sr., Jonathan Cox, Drake Jr., Leonard Houston, Drake Sr., Deven Mitchell, Missouri State Sr., Bryan Mullins, Southern Illinois Jr.

Honorable-Mention Selections
Shy Ely, Evansville Jr., Gabe Moore, Indiana State Sr., Daniel Ruffin, Bradley Sr., Anthony Slack, Illinois State Sr., P’Allen Stinnett, Creighton Fr.

All-Newcomer Team
Ramon Clemente, Wichita State Jr., Sam Maniscalco, Bradley Fr., P’Allen Stinnett, Creighton Fr., Theron Wilson, Bradley Jr., Booker Woodfox, Creighton Jr.

All-Freshman Team
J.T. Durley, Wichita State Fr. Kenny Lawson Jr., Creighton Fr,Sam Maniscalco, Bradley Fr., Isiah Martin, Indiana State Fr., P’Allen Stinnett, Creighton Fr., Pieter van Tongeren, Evansville Fr.

All-Defensive Team (selected by coaches)
PJ Couisnard, Wichita State Sr., Randal Falker, Southern Illinois Sr., Gabe Moore, Indiana State Sr., Bryan Mullins, Southern Illinois Jr., Boo Richardson, Illinois State Sr., Anthony Slack, Illinois State Sr.

Almost everyone was playing for seeding Saturday as the Missouri Valley regular season wrappde up. Drake had already grabbed the top season in next weeks tourney, but still sent the seniors out on a high note beating Wichita State.

Here are the scores from the Valley, as well as seeding for the conference tournament.

Drake 73, Wichita State 63
Northern Iowa 71, Evansville 68
Missouri State 83, Indiana State 73
Illinois State   Southern Illinois
Bradley    Creighton   (2 OT)

Tournament Seedings

Drake carried the day for Iowa basketball Saturday. Playing in historic Hinckle Fieldhouse two of the best student-athlete, “teams” played and Drake pulled out a 71-64 win.

If you want to feel good about college basketball read Pat Forde’s piece on ESPN.com.

This day, the assignment was to cover Drake beating Butler 71-64 in the BracketBusters marquee game. To sum up the experience in a word: Hallelujah.

Here is the link: Drake wins

Drake’s 72-71 loss to Bradley Tuesday had to sting the entire Bulldog locker room. Drake out played the Braves for 39 minutes, proving to be faster and more physical than the visitors from Peroia.

With 5 minutes left in the game Drake went into a ball control game and failed to score after Jonathan Cox tip in a rebound at the 4:57 mark. Most of the night Drake was able to dictate the tempo and proved to be much quicker than Bradley. But holding an 8 point lead with 4:57 to play the Bulldogs tried to slow the game and take the air out of the ball.What ended up happening is Drake took themselves out of “their” ballgame.
Read the rest of this entry »