I arrived in Orlando this afternoon and stumbled upon Chuck’s golf gear on my way to lunch. I’m a little concerned that my GM isn’t totally focused on tomorrow night’s Rising Stars Challenge.
Mike Looks Back
January 25 by 1 Comment
I stumbled upon this blast from the past on the JMU Sports Blog. The Dukes team photo was taken back when I was Lou Campanelli’s assistant coach at James Madison University in the early seventies.
University of Iowa assistant basketball coach Sherman Dillard is in the picture standing next to Coach Campanelli. Sherman played at the guard position and was our best player. The Academic All-American was also a star off the court and graduated magna cum laude. Sherman went on to carve out a successful career coaching college ball and was the head men’s basketball coach at Indiana State and James Madison, where he was named CAA Coach of the Year in 2000.
Sherman was recruiting in the Cleveland area a couple months ago so we had an opportunity to grab dinner together and catch up. We both look a little older now, but Sherman remains an outstanding human being and one of my all-time favorite people.
Ukraine and The Czar
December 20 by Leave a Comment
Over the weekend I joined the Ukrainian delegation in Munich, Germany to support their bid to host the FIBA European Basketball Championship in 2015. The campaign was truly a team effort.
Sports and entertainment marketing specialist Impact34 worked with the Ukrainian Basketball Federation to deliver the proposal, and Our Agency assembled the hardcover bid book. National Olympic Committee President Sergey Bubka (the legendary pole vaulter who won six consecutive IAAF World Championships and Olympic gold in 1988) fronted the bid. Deputy Prime Minister Boris Kolesnikov made the trip to Munich to demonstrate the Ukrainian government’s commitment, while AeroSvit Airlines volunteered to transport the players during the tournament.
Sasha Volkov and Sasha Larin both worked unbelievably hard to make this happen. Thanks to the tremendous support they received, and perhaps in part the candle I lit for them at the cathedral, they succeeded. On Sunday FIBA Europe President Olafur Rafnsson announced the Board’s decision to award Ukraine the bid. It was a great moment for the country and for Ukrainian basketball. No doubt staging this prestigious tournament will help Ukraine in its endeavor to become one of the European powerhouses.
Now the hard work begins. This is going to be a massive undertaking. 180 million euros will be allocated for preparations for EuroBasket 2015, including the building of new hotels, the construction of three new arenas and the re-developing of four existing arenas.
