Dad being stationed in Tidewater meant following ODU and Virginia Wesleyan on the hardwood courts back in the late 70’s. Once a fan, always a fan so it was really fun to be on the court a couple years back when the DIII Marlins captured the National Championship down in Salem.
Still have my “Fear the Fish” t-shirt from the Final Four and now 30 years after watching Nancy Lieberman, Anne Donovan and Company dominate for the Lady Monarchs as well as Ronnie Valentine play for Coach Paul Webb, I was once aagin able to watch ODU win a crown. Have to add that Valentine set a then record of I believe 106 straight games in double figures for the Monarchs. AIAW champs(not called NCAA yet) back in 1979 & 1980 after Lieberman played for the USA as a 16-year old in the 1976 Montrael Olympics. The team went 72-2 over that span.
I was a big fan of Webb as a coach and was quite bummed when he was passed over for the Duke job when Bill Foster left the Blue Devils but I guess it worked out for that Coach K fella.
Last night, in front of 8,000+ plus Bradley Braves fans wearing Red, ODU won the first ever College Insider.com tournament. The Monarchs captured the crown with a 66-62 victory over the BU Braves and both schools made a bit of history in the process. Both BU and ODU have played in four straight post seasons in four different events. The two schools both competed in the initial College Basketball Insider tournament.
BU advanced to the finals last year in the CBI but settled for second place when the loss the best 2 of 3 to the Golden Hurricanes of Tulsa. ODU made the Braves brides maids again by holding off a late rally by the home team.While they weren’t in Detroit for THE Final Four, head coach Blaine Taylor and his squad ended the season on quite a roll to finish 25-10.
Taylor was enjoying the moment right after the victory in Peoria. If you look closely you can see Taylor spinning the ball on his finger. Congrats to the ODU Monarchs!
A.S.P.N on The Hill 